法苑珠林 56.7

56.7

As the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says: In the past, when the Buddha was in the world, there was an elder in the kingdom of Śrāvastī who was noble, prestigious, and immensely wealthy. A son was born to him, whose facial features were upright and handsome, rare in the world. His parents rejoiced, and because of this, they gave him the name Danmili (Dhammila). As he gradually grew up, his father passed away. King Prasenajit then enfeoffed him with his father's rank. After he received the royal investiture, his family dwelling transformed into the seven treasures, and all the storehouses became completely filled with various precious things. At that time, the crown prince of the king, named Virūḍhaka, contracted a fever. The physicians prescribed medicine and reported to the king, saying: “We require ox-head candana [sandalwood] to smear upon his body, and then he will be cured.” The king immediately sought it through a reward, stating: “If anyone possesses it, the value of a single ounce will be rewarded with a thousand ounces of gold.” Yet no one brought any. Someone informed the king: “Within the residence of Danmili, there is a great abundance.” When the king heard this, he personally went to seek it. Arriving before the outer gate of Elder Danmili, he saw that the outer gate was of pure white silver. He then sent the gatekeeper within to announce the news. The gatekeeper entered and informed the elder: “King Prasenajit is now outside the gate.” Hearing this, the elder came out to receive him and invited the king to enter the palace. Entering the gate, the king saw a woman whose facial features were upright and handsome, peerless in the world, seated on a white silver couch spinning white silver thread, with ten maidens attending to her left and right. The king asked: “Is this your wife?” The elder answered: “She is a gate-keeping maidservant, and those young maidens convey announcements.” Next, entering the middle gate, it was of pure dark-blue lapis lazuli. Inside the gate was a woman seated on a lapis lazuli couch, whose facial features were twice as beautiful as the previous one, and the attendants to her left and right were twice the previous number. Next, entering the inner gate, it was purely of yellow gold. Inside the gate was a woman whose facial features were even twice as beautiful again, seated on a gold couch spinning gold thread, with attendants to her left and right twice the previous count. The king again asked: “Is this your wife?” The elder answered: “She is a gate-keeping maidservant.” Entering into the inner residence, [the king] saw a floor of lapis lazuli. Between the chambers were carved representations of the various hundreds of beasts, which swayed when blown by the wind, casting their reflections upon the ground. Seeing them, the king thought it was water and was frightened, not daring to advance. He said to the elder: “Was there no other ground, that you made a sea before the hall?” Mili informed the king: “This is a lapis lazuli floor; it is not water.” He then took off a bracelet of the seven treasures from his arm and threw it onto the ground; it slid until it was stopped by the wall. Knowing it was solid ground, the king then entered together with him and ascended the hall of the seven treasures. The wife was in the hall seated on a lapis lazuli couch. There was another precious couch, and she invited the king to be seated. At that moment, when the wife saw the king, tears came from her eyes. The king asked her: “Why are you displeased, that tears come from your eyes?” The wife answered: “Great King, it is only that just now I smelled the odor of smoke on the king's body, and therefore my tears fell.” The king then asked: “Does your family not light fires?” She answered: “No.” The king again asked: “What do you use to prepare food?” The wife answered: “When it is time to eat, the hundred delicacies arrive of their own accord.” The king again asked: “Do you not require illumination at night?” The wife answered the king: “We use maṇi jewels to illuminate it, and the entire room is brilliantly lit.” Then Danmili knelt and said to the king: “Great King, for what reason have you troubled your noble majesty to come here?” King Prasenajit answered him fully with the circumstances. Having heard this, the elder took the king within and showed him all the storehouses; they were filled with the seven treasures, and the heaps of ox-head incense were incalculable. The king was free to take whatever he needed. The king took two ounces and sent someone to deliver them ahead. The king respectfully said to him: “Now a Buddha has appeared in the world. Have you heard of him?” Mili replied: “What is meant by ‘Buddha’?” The king then explained it to him. Mili rejoiced and immediately went to the Buddha's presence. The Buddha preached the Dharma for him, and he attained the fruit of srotāpanna. Soon after, he went forth from the household life and attained arhatship, endowed with the three knowledges, the six supernatural powers, and the eight liberations. Seeing this, Ānanda said to the Buddha: “What karma did this Danmili plant in the past, that he was born among humans yet enjoyed the blessed retribution of a deva, and furthermore encountered the World-Honoured One, went forth from the household life, and attained the Way?” The Buddha told Ānanda: “Ninety-one kalpas ago in the distant past, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world named Vipaśyin. After he entered nirvāṇa, during the Semblance Dharma, there were five bhikṣus who made a mutual agreement to dwell in a forest and diligently cultivate the Way. They said to one bhikṣu: ‘This place is far from the city, and begging for food is toil and hardship. For the sake of merit, you should beg for food for one summer to make offerings to us.’ That one bhikṣu thereupon entered the city and exhorted various dānapatis to deliver food daily. With their bodies at peace, the four individuals concentrated their efforts, practiced the Way, and attained arhatship. They then said to this person: ‘Because of you, we are secure and at peace, and what was to be done has been accomplished. What do you wish for?’ Having heard this, that person rejoiced and made a vow: ‘May I in future lives, whether in the heavens or among humans, naturally enjoy wealth and honor, encounter a Buddha, and attain the Way.’ On account of this merit, from that time onward for ninety-one kalpas he did not fall into the evil destinies. In the heavens and among humans he was always among the noble and wealthy, with whatever he required coming naturally. Now, having encountered me, he has gone forth from the household life and attained the Way.”