མ་ག་དྷ་བཟང་མའ་རྟགས་པ་བརྗད་པ 11

11

to pay her respects to the perfectly complete Buddha Kāśyapa. Because they had faith in him, for as long as they lived they continued to serve that perfectly complete buddha, the blessed Kāśyapa, providing him with robes, alms, food, bedding, medicines for curing illness, and other necessities.

“During that time, one night, King Kṛkin dreamed ten dreams. As he recalled, ‘I dreamed of a king of elephants who, emerging from a window, was caught by its thin tail; I dreamed of hastening to a well when no longer thirsty; I saw the sale of a measure of pearls for a measure of flour; I saw sandalwood and ordinary wood being given equal value; I saw thieves stealing sumptuous fruits from a garden; I saw an elephant calf scaring a rutting elephant; I saw a dirty monkey smearing others with filth; I saw a monkey who was consecrated as king; I saw a piece of cloth not being torn though it was pulled⁴² by eighteen men; and I saw a great crowd of people assembled together who passed the time⁴³ quarreling, arguing, fighting, and criticizing one another.’

“Then the king awoke, distraught with fear and apprehension, thinking, ‘Has my life been threatened, or am I to fall from power?’ So he gathered some brahmins who were learned in the interpretation of dream signs, and he described his dreams to them.

“However, because the brahmins despised Kāñcanamālā, they said, ‘Your Majesty, you must make a sacrificial offering to the fire with the heart of the one who is most dear to you of all.’

“In despair, the king thought, ‘The one who is to me the sweetest of all is my Kāñcanamālā!’

“Kāñcanamālā heard about this, and since she was learned, she approached the king. ‘Your Majesty, when the sun is shining, what need is there for the flame of a lamp? The perfectly complete Buddha, the blessed Kāśyapa, is dwelling at the Ṛṣivadana in Deer Park—you should go there and ask him. That blessed one will give you an accurate prophecy, to which you should adhere.’

“Then King Kṛkin sounded a great gong and announced, ‘Now I will go to the city of Vārāṇasī, to the presence of that blessed one,’ and together with Kāñcanamālā and a retinue of many hundreds of thousands, he went to where the Blessed One was. There, they bowed their heads to the feet of the Blessed One