經律異相 32.10

32.10

Formerly, the king of the kingdom of Cāra had a principal queen who had no heir. The king grieved deeply over this and commanded her, saying: 'Return to your clan to seek an art for obtaining an heir.' Weeping, the queen took her leave and withdrew. Vowing to sacrifice her own life, she cast herself down a precipitous mountain into the dense forest. Śakra was moved and said: 'This king's queen was my sister in a former life. Now, because she has no heir, she is abandoning her body on this dangerous mountain.' Grieved with pity for her, he suddenly descended, presented her with fruit in a vessel, and said to her: 'Sister, if you swallow this fruit, you will surely bear a noble heir who will become a hero of the world. If the king has doubts, show him this vessel. This is a divine vessel of the Heavenly King, a supreme and luminous proof.' The queen looked up to the sky and swallowed the fruit, and instantly it was gone from sight. She immediately felt heavy with child. She returned to see the king and reported the truth in full. When her months were complete, she gave birth to a son whose appearance was frail and hideous, rare in all the world. While yet a child shedding his milk teeth, he was intelligent, broadly learned, and peerless in wisdom and strategy. In strength he could knock down an elephant, running he could catch a flying eagle, and when he raised his voice, the reverberating sound was like a lion's roar. His fame spread near and far, and the eight directions all praised him. The king took a wife for him, a maiden from a neighboring kingdom whose name was Yuéguāng (Candraprabhā), who was upright, refined, and elegant, fully endowed with worldly beauties. Next after her she had seven younger sisters, who were also lovely and fine. The queen feared that Yuéguāng would loathe the crown prince's appearance, so she falsely said: 'According to our kingdom's ancient custom, spouses do not see one another in broad daylight; looking upon one another is treated with great solemnity. Consort, do not violate this propriety.' She replied: 'Respectfully I obey; I would not dare disregard your venerable instruction.' From this time forth, when the crown prince came and went, she had never distinguished his appearance. The prince reflected deeply: 'My home country is at enmity with seven kingdoms, struggling by force without peace, so that the myriad people lament. I must use skillful means to bring them peace.' He thought to himself: 'My body is extremely hideous; if the consort sees it, she will surely flee.' He reported to his mother that he wished to look upon the consort's countenance once. The queen said: 'Your appearance is ugly, while the consort's visage is radiant and splendid.' The crown prince pleaded repeatedly, and the queen, pitying him, took the consort to look around. The crown prince pretended to be a herdsman. The consort saw him and said: 'How ugly that herdsman is!' The queen said: 'He is a herdsman of the late king.' Later, the queen took her to view the elephants, and the consort saw him again. She grew suspicious, saying: 'Wherever I go, I always see this man; could he be the crown prince?' The consort said: 'I wish to see the crown prince's luminous countenance.' The queen then used a skillful means, ordering his younger brother to go out touring, escorted by the crown prince's officials. The consort looked upon him and her heart was slightly pleased. Later she went into the park again; the crown prince climbed a tree and threw fruit at her back. The consort said: 'This is definitely the crown prince.' At night, waiting until he was asleep, she quietly illuminated him with a lamp, saw his form and appearance, and fled back [to her home kingdom] in terror. The queen and king were indignant and said: 'Why did you let the consort return?' The prince replied: 'The consort's flight is the foundation for peace under heaven; the people will finally bring peace to their kin.' Bowing in farewell, he went in search of her and arrived at the consort's kingdom. He pretended to be a potter, working for hire making earthenware. He also entered the city and worked for hire dyeing clothes; he also worked for an eminent minister, tending horses so that they grew fat; and he also served as a supervisor of the royal chefs overseeing various delicacies, bringing soups into the palace. The king had eight daughters, and all of them took delight in his work, but Yuéguāng would not even look at him. Śakra sighed and said: 'The Bodhisattva's care to save sentient beings has reached even to this! I must use skillful means to assist him.' He provoked the seven enemy kingdoms by magically producing a letter in the handwriting of Yuéguāng's royal father, promising Yuéguāng as wife to each of them. The seven kingdoms prepared gifts and set out for the kingdom to welcome her in person. All said: 'We have come to marry the king's daughter named Yuéguāng.' The disputes arose in confusion, each displaying the handwritten letter. In their grievance they said with one voice: 'We shall annihilate your lineage! We will not tolerate deceit!' Envoys returned the letters and all rebuked him, saying: 'Because of your single daughter, seven kingdoms are aggrieved. Our combined armies are launched in force; reflect that the ruin of your kingdom will be today!' Hearing this, the king was terrified and said: 'That this calamity is about to arrive is brought on by past deeds.' He said to Yuéguāng: 'You are another man's consort. Whether a husband is wise or foolish, fortunate or disastrous, handsome or ugly, it stems from past karma—who can avert it? Yet you were not loyal and devoted, nor did you practice utmost filial respect and reverent service, but with shallow wisdom returned to our kingdom, bringing disaster to this point. Today I must divide your corpse into seven parts to apologize to the seven kings, and that is all.' Yuéguāng wept and said: 'I beg you to grant me life for the space of a brief moment. Solicit a wise man; there surely must be someone who can repel the danger of the seven kingdoms.' The king immediately issued a call, saying: 'Whoever can avert this calamity, I will give him Yuéguāng as wife and endow him with supreme fortune.' The crown prince said: 'Quickly build a high observation tower; I can avert it.' When the tower was completed, the crown prince feigned illness, faltered in his steps, and fell to the ground, [saying]: 'Yuéguāng must carry me on her back, and only then can I repel the enemies.' Yuéguāng, in terror and fearing she would be slaughtered, supported him and climbed the tower. The crown prince cried out in a loud voice: 'O kings of the seven kingdoms!' His voice reverberated far and wide like a lion's roar, instructing them with the Buddha's teaching as supreme: 'To win over the people, one must rely on the way of benevolence. But now you have given rise to blazing anger, so calamity will follow; when calamity follows, your bodies will be lost and your kingdoms will perish. Does this not arise from name-and-form?' The champion hosts of the seven kingdoms all fell as if dead. After a moment they revived and wished to turn back to their native lands. The crown prince addressed the king: 'For the way of marriage, none is better than these kings. Why not marry your seven daughters to those seven princes? With the sons-in-law serving as protective screens, Your Majesty will have great well-being, the ministers and people will find rest, and your parents will receive care.' The king said: 'Splendid! Great indeed is this joy!' He then commanded the seven kings and gave them his daughters as wives. The eight sons-in-law showed ritual reverence, and ruler and ministers were joyful. Only then did the king, his ministers, and people learn that the crown prince was Yuéguāng's former husband. Thereupon, selecting fine counselors and warriors as escorts, each returned to his own kingdom. The nine kingdoms were peaceful and harmonious, and the myriad people danced with joy. All praised him, saying: 'Heaven has sent a holy master of expedient means, beyond what ordinary minds can fathom; virtue is gathered and merit accomplished, and all is tranquil without blame.' Several years after returning to his kingdom, the great king passed away. The crown prince ascended the throne and proclaimed a great amnesty for all crimes. With the five precepts, the six perfections, the eight purifications, and the ten wholesome deeds, he transformed the myriad people. Disasters and calamities were completely extinguished; the kingdom was prosperous, the multitude was at peace, the great teaching prevailed, and all revered the Three Jewels. Virtue flourished and blessings gathered; all diseases vanished. Why was this so? In a past life, when the Bodhisattva was a householder, he was plowing together [with his family] and told his wife to fetch food. Gazing in the distance, he saw his wife returning, walking together with a pratyekabuddha, secluded beside a mountain cliff. When she did not arrive for a long time, suspicion arose in his heart. Aroused to anger, he seized a hoe and wished to go and beat her. When he arrived, he saw his wife offering a portion of the food to the śramaṇa. He withdrew, standing with hands folded. When the śramaṇa had finished eating, he tossed his bowl into the air, radiant with bright light, and flew away through the sky. In his heart the husband felt remorse and shame, thinking: 'My wife possesses virtue, which brought forth this venerable one. I have deep ignorance and am about to suffer retribution for it.' He immediately said to his wife: 'The merit of your offering, I should share in it. Let us eat the remaining food together; do not go without.' When their lives ended, each was reborn in a royal household. Because the wife possessed the kindness of pure compassion, she was born upright and beautiful. Because the husband was angry first and compassionate later, he was ugly at first and handsome afterward. The crown prince was my own person; the wife was Gopī; the father king was King Śuddhodana; the mother was my mother Māyā; and the heavenly king Śakra was Maitreya. Life after life the Bodhisattva is deeply concerned for sentient beings and rescues them from misery and suffering. (Extracted from the Sūtra of the King of the Kingdom of Cāra).