法苑珠林 43.24

43.24

The Buddha told Ānanda, "Take this sand given into the bowl and scatter it along the Tathāgata's walkway, causing him to be born in that place." Ānanda received the instruction, took the sand from the bowl, and scattered it along the walkway. [The Buddha said,] "Ānanda, you should know that in the city of Pāṭaliputra there will be a king named Candragupta. That king will father a son named Bindusāra, who will rule that country. He in turn will have a son named Suśīma. At that time, in the country of Campā, there will be a brahman maiden, exceedingly beautiful and delightful to behold, cherished by the entire country. The physiognomists, seeing her features, will prophesy that she is destined to become the king's consort and give birth to two sons: one will rule the world under heaven, and the other will leave home to study the Path and attain the sacred traces. The brahman, hearing what the physiognomists said, was immeasurably joyful; he at once adorned his daughter and gave her in marriage to this king. The king, seeing that the maiden was beautiful and virtuous, made her his consort. The former consorts and the palace ladies, seeing this consort arrive, thought to themselves: 'This maiden is beautiful and cherished by the country; the king will cast us aside, to the point of not even looking upon us.' The women then had her learn the trade of a barber. Once she had learned it all, she trimmed the king's beard and hair. While she was grooming him, the king was greatly delighted and asked her, 'What is it that you desire?' The maiden addressed the king, 'My only wish is that the king's heart will cherish me with love.' Thus she petitioned three times. Then the king said, 'I am a kṣatriya consecrated king, and you are a barber. How could I cherish you with love?' The maiden said to the king, 'I was not born of a low caste; I am the daughter of an exalted and noble brahman. A physiognomist told my father, "This maiden should marry a king." It was for this reason that I came here.' The king said, 'If that is so, who made you learn such a base trade?' The maiden addressed the king, 'It was the former consorts and palace ladies who made me learn this.' The king at once ordered, 'From now on, do not practice this base trade again.' The king then established her as his principal consort. The king regularly took delight in her, whereupon she became pregnant. When her months were full, she gave birth to a son; at the time of birth all was peaceful, and the mother was free from grief and distress. After seven days had passed, she gave him the name Aśoka (Wuyou, 'Free from Grief'). Furthermore, she gave birth to another son, named Vītāśoka (Liyou, 'Apart from Grief'). As for Aśoka, his body was rough and coarse (having obtained a corresponding retribution because of offering sand), and the father-king did not hold him close or care for him in his heart. Furthermore, the king, wishing to test his two sons, summoned the Ājīvika brahman Piṅgala and said, 'Upādhyāya, examine my sons: after my death, who should become king?' The brahman said, 'Take these sons out of the city to the Golden Palace Garden Pavilion; there I shall examine their physiognomy.' Thereupon they went out to that garden. Then King Aśoka's mother said, 'I hear that the king has gone out to the Golden Palace Garden Pavilion to examine the princes as to who should become king. Why do you not go now?' Aśoka replied, 'Since the king does not care for me, neither does he take pleasure in seeing me.' His mother spoke to him again, 'Just go to that place.' Aśoka replied to his mother again, 'I will go right away. I only ask that mother send food.' His mother said, 'So be it.' As he was about to leave the city gate, he met a great minister named Aniruddha. This minister asked Aśoka, 'Where is the prince going now?' Aśoka answered, 'I heard that the Great King went out to the Golden Palace Garden Pavilion to examine the princes as to who should become king after his death. I am going there now.' The king had previously ordered the ministers, 'If Aśoka comes, make him ride an old, dull elephant and have old men as his attendants.' Then Aśoka rode this old elephant to the garden pavilion and sat on the ground among the princes. Then each of the princes had food served. Aśoka's mother placed curds and rice in an earthenware vessel and sent it to Aśoka. Thus the princes each partook of their food and drink. Then the father-king asked the master, 'Among these, who has the marks of a king and should succeed to my throne?' Then that physiognomist looked at the princes and saw that Aśoka fully possessed the marks of a king and should succeed to the throne. [He thought:] 'If I speak [the truth], the king will be sorrowful and displeased.' So he said, 'I shall now make a general prophecy.' The king replied, 'As the master instructs.' The master said, 'Among these, whoever has the best mount, that person shall become king.' When the princes heard what he said, each thought, 'I have the best mount.' Then Aśoka said, 'I ride an old elephant; I shall become king.' [The master] also said, 'Whoever among these has the foremost seat, he shall become king.' The princes each said to one another, 'I sit on the foremost seat.' Aśoka said, 'I now sit on the ground; this is the supreme seat. I shall become king.' [The master] also said, 'Whoever among these eats from the superior vessel, he shall become king.' And so forth, until Aśoka thought, 'I have the supreme mount, the supreme seat, and the supreme food.' When the king finished examining his sons' marks, he at once returned to the palace. Then Aśoka's mother asked Aśoka, 'Who shall become king? For whom did the brahman make the prophecy?' Aśoka replied, 'He who has the superior mount, superior seat, superior vessel, and superior food shall become king. I, the prince, saw for myself that I shall become king: with an old elephant as my mount, the ground as my seat, an unadorned earthenware vessel holding the food, and coarse rice mixed with curds for food.' Then that brahman, knowing that Aśoka would become king, frequently paid respect to his mother, and his mother also gave lavish gifts to the brahman, [saying:] 'If my son becomes king, the master shall obtain all blessings and auspicious fortune, and I will make offerings to you for the rest of my life.' At that time, the frontier country of Takṣaśilā rebelled against King Bindusāra. The king then said to Aśoka, 'Take the fourfold army and subjugate that country.' When the prince set out, [the king] gave him no weapons or armor at all. Then his attendants addressed the prince, 'We are now going to subjugate that country, yet we have no military weapons; how can it be pacified?' Aśoka said, 'If I am destined to be king, through the retribution of my wholesome roots, weapons and armor will naturally appear in response.' When he uttered these words, instantly the earth split open and weapons and armor emerged from the ground. He then led the fourfold army to subjugate that country. When the people of those lands heard that Aśoka was coming, they leveled the roads, adorned the city walls, held vessels of auspicious water, and presented various offerings to welcome the prince, saying: 'We do not rebel against the Great King or Prince Aśoka, but the ministers brought harm to us; therefore we disobeyed the sacred governance.' They then made various offerings to the prince and invited him to enter the city. Having pacified this country, he was further dispatched to subjugate the country of Khaśa. At that time, two great warriors leveled the roads for the king, and the devas proclaimed the command: 'Aśoka is destined to rule this world under heaven; do not give rise to rebellious intentions.' The king of that country thereupon surrendered. In this way he pacified this world under heaven, right up to the edge of the ocean. At that time, the father-king contracted a severe illness. The king spoke to his ministers, 'I now wish to install Suśīma as king and send Aśoka to that country.' At that time, the ministers, wishing to make Aśoka king, smeared Aśoka's body, face, hands, and feet with yellow substance. The ministers addressed the king, 'Prince Aśoka has now contracted a severe illness.' The ministers then adorned Aśoka and brought him to the king's presence, [saying:] 'For now, let this son be installed as king; later we will gradually install Suśīma as king.' When the king heard these words, he was extremely displeased and remained silent without answering. At that time, Aśoka thought in his mind and spoke aloud: 'If I am truly destined to obtain the royal throne, let the devas spontaneously come to consecrate my crown with water and bind my head with white silk.' When the king saw these signs, he gave rise to extreme sorrow and distress, and thereupon breathed his last. After King Aśoka had buried his father according to ritual decorum, he appointed Aniruddha as prime minister. When Prince Suśīma heard that his father had passed away and that Aśoka was now installed as king, he could not bear it in his heart, and he assembled an army to attack Aśoka. At the four gates of King Aśoka's city, two warriors were stationed at two of the gates, a minister was stationed at the third gate, and the king himself guarded the eastern gate. At that time, Aniruddha constructed a large mechanical wooden elephant and also made a likeness of King Aśoka, mounting it on the elephant and placing it outside the eastern gate; he also made a pit of smokeless fire and covered it with a cloth. When Suśīma arrived, Minister Aniruddha said to Prince Suśīma, 'If you wish to be king, Aśoka is at the eastern gate; you may go and attack him. If you can capture this king, you will naturally become king.' The prince then rushed toward the eastern gate, fell into the fire pit, and died immediately. There was a great warrior named Bhadraśreṣṭhin who, hearing that Suśīma was dead, was filled with revulsion toward the world; he took his countless followers, went forth from home into the Buddha's Dharma, practiced the Path, and attained arhatship. At that time, the ministers [thought:] 'We jointly installed Aśoka as king,' and therefore slighted the king and did not observe the etiquette of ruler and minister. The king also knew himself that the ministers slighted him. The king then spoke to the ministers, saying, 'Cut down the flowering and fruiting trees and plant thorns.' The ministers replied, 'We have never seen or heard of clearing away flowers and fruits to plant thorny trees; one should cut down thorny trees to plant fruits.' Even though ordered two or three times to cut them down, they did not comply. At that time, the king became furious with the ministers, drew a sharp sword, and killed five hundred ministers. At another time, the king took his palace ladies and attendants out to play in a park. Seeing an aśoka tree whose flowers were in full bloom, the king, seeing that this flowering tree shared his name, was filled with joy. The king's physical form was ugly, and his skin was rough and coarse. The palace ladies did not love the king in their hearts; out of hatred for the king, they broke and tore off the flowers of the aśoka tree with their hands. When the king awoke from his sleep and saw the flowers of the aśoka tree strewn about in disarray on the ground, he was enraged; he bound the palace ladies and burned them to death with fire. Because the king engaged in such violent cruelty, he was called Fierce Aśoka (Caṇḍāśoka). Then Minister Aniruddha said to the king, 'A king should not act in this manner. How can you kill the ministers and palace ladies with your own hand? The king should now appoint an executioner; whoever deserves to be killed should be handed over to that person.' The king then issued an edict to appoint an executioner. In that land was a mountain called Giri, where there was a weaver's household. The weaver had a son, also named Giri, who was ferocious and cruel, flogging and binding young boys and girls, catching the living creatures of water and land, and even defying his parents; hence people passed on the name 'Cruel Girika'. The king's envoy spoke to him, 'Can you behead wicked people for the king?' He answered, 'I can wipe out all the guilty ones in the entire Jambudvīpa, let alone this one region.' The envoys returned and reported to the king, 'We have found the man.' The king said, 'Bring him here.' The envoys called him, and he answered, 'Wait a moment. First let me take leave of my parents and explain the matter.' His parents said, 'Son, you should not do such a thing.' After they admonished him three times, unfilial thoughts arose in him, and he killed his parents before arriving. The envoys asked, 'Why took you so long and did not come quickly?' The cruel man related the matter in full, and reported it completely to the king. The king then instructed him, 'All my guilty subjects whose crimes warrant death shall be in your charge.' He addressed the king, 'Build me a house.' The king built him an extremely magnificent house, with only one gate opened, which was also extremely refined and grand; inside it he arranged methods of punishing crimes just like those in hell. That cruel man petitioned the king with a request: 'If anyone enters herein, they must never be allowed to leave.' The king answered, 'I shall grant your wish.' That executioner went to a monastery to listen to the monks preaching on the matters of hell. At that time, a monk was reciting the Hell Sūtra: 'When beings are born in hell, their mouths are pried open with heated iron pincers, and heated iron pellets are placed into their mouths. Next, molten copper is poured into their mouths, and their bodies are chopped and severed with iron axes. Next, their bodies are bound and restrained with stocks, manacles, and chains. Next are fire-carts and burning coals; next are iron caldrons; next is the river of ash; next are mountains of knives and trees of swords'—just as spoken in the Sūtra of the Five Messengers of Deva (Devadūta-sūtra). When the executioner had heard in full all these matters spoken by the monk, he opened his dwelling and prepared methods of punishing crimes just as described, punishing criminals according to these methods. Furthermore, a merchant chief went out to sea for ten years, gathered heavy treasures, and returned to his home country. On the road, he encountered a band of five hundred thieves who killed the merchant chief. The merchant chief's son, seeing his father die and his treasures lost, felt revulsion toward the world, left home, and wandered through various countries. Next he arrived at Pāṭaliputra. When that night had passed, in the morning he donned his robes, held his bowl, and entered the city to beg for food, mistakenly entering the executioner's house. At that time, that monk, seeing from afar the fire-carts, burning coals, and the like inside the house, and the punishment of various beings as if in hell, immediately gave rise to terror, his hairs standing on end, and he wished to leave through the gate. At that time, the cruel master went over, seized that monk, and said, 'Whoever enters here never gets to leave. You shall die here today.' Hearing these words, the monk gave rise to deep sorrow and anguish in his heart, his eyes full of tears. The cruel master asked, 'Why do you weep like a little child?' At that time, the monk answered in verse: