དཔལ་གྱ་སྡའ་རྟགས་པ་བརྗད་པ 10

10

The preceptor clearly wants to place a curse on me.’

“The change in the boy’s facial expression allowed the sage to realize his thoughts, and the sage said, ‘Son, do not be afraid. Why are you so depressed? The king is a great being. He gives away everything. He lets go of everything. He lets go of everything completely and without attachment. He would even give away his own flesh. There is nothing that he would not relinquish in this way. Therefore, son, do not despair; the king will give you his supreme queen.’

“Then the boy thought, ‘If I do not go, I will be cursed.’ And out of fear of this curse, he said to the sage, ‘Preceptor, if that is so, I will go.’ After touching the sage’s feet, he traveled to the king’s estate, Ariṣṭa.

“Having applied dust to his body, wearing tree-bark cloth, and holding a staff and a little vase in his hands, the boy went to the site where King Śrīsena was and exclaimed, ‘May the king be victorious and may his life be long!’ Then he thought, ‘Should I ask? Or will he give her to me without my having to ask? Or will he not give her to me? Will my wishes be fulfilled or not?’ And he stood in front of the king with an unsettled look on his face, castigating himself, not speaking.

“Thinking that the brahmin boy had come to beg something from him, King Śrīsena asked him, ‘Brahmin, what is it that you want? Today, I will fulfill your wishes completely.’

When the king said this, the brahmin boy gained confidence and replied to the bodhisattva, ‘This is good. Lord, on a certain mountain my preceptor lives with his companions; they are five hundred sages who recite the Vedas. I have completed my Vedic studies with him. Great King, through your compassion give me Queen Jayaprabhā, and I will offer her to my preceptor as a gift,