Sutra of Miscellaneous Precious Deposits Vol. 2
It happened a long time ago. King
Prasenajit was lying in bed when he overheard an argument between two of his internal
officials on the fact of karmic principle (truth underlying the causative event).
One said, "I have always depended on
the king to be alive."
The other replied, "I have never
depended on anyone but my own karma to survive."
King Prasenajit was pleased with the
official who said he had always relied on him (the king) to survive, so he
wanted to reward him. He sent this message to his wife, the queen, through his
attendant on duty: "I will send someone to your place later, and you will grant
him abundant rewards, money, possessions, clothes, and decorative ornaments. "After
that, the king ordered the official who had said that his life depended on him to
deliver his leftover wine to the queen.
The moment the official stepped outside the
door of
the king's palace with the wine, blood gushed out of his nose for no apparent reason, and he couldn't stop it. He thus couldn't take another step
to accomplish his task. Meanwhile, the other official, who knew his survival solely depended on his own karma, happened to pass by. The official whose nose was bleeding quickly
sought his help to deliver the wine to the queen, and he obliged. When the queen saw the courtier with the wine, she remembered the king’s
message so she gave him lots of expensive gifts before sending him back to the king.
When the king found out that the official
who had returned and had been rewarded profusely was not the one who had said that his
life depended on him (the king), but the one who had claimed
that his life is governed by his own karma, he was confused. He then asked the
former official whom he had personally sent to the queen: "I asked you to
bring the wine to my wife. Why didn’t you go?"
The official replied, "The moment I
stepped out of the door of the king’s palace, my nose suddenly bled, and it wouldn’t
stop. I’m so sorry, but I could not have accomplished the task you had given me.
I had no other recourse but to ask the other official for help in delivering the
wine to the queen.”
Having heard this, King Prasenajit sighed
and said, "Today, I finally understand that what the Buddha had taught is
the truth, without exaggeration. All sentient beings have earned various good
and evil karma in their past lifetimes, which they will have to enjoy or bear in this
life. All are self-inflicted,
and this kind of karma cannot be changed or taken away by any external
force."
We learn from this story that all sentient
beings have various good and evil physical, verbal, and mental karma from their
past lives, and no power or authority from gods or kings can intervene with or
change these.
Annotation:
The person who said he depended on the king
for his survival was ignorant of karmic fruitions. He didn’t understand that the
merits he had accumulated in his past lives had given him limited access to grants
in this life. That is, the merits he had gained in his past lives were not
enough to generate good karma for him to receive blessings or rewards from the king.
He reckoned that the good things he was enjoying in his life, such as his internal-official
position and the food and drinks on his table, all came from the king. He thus
did not make any effort to cultivate good karma. On the contrary, the
other official, who had said that he survived solely through his self-karma,
was well aware of the karmic principle of cause and effect. He firmly believed
that everything he had in his life, including his position and pay, came from
what he had done in his past lives, and that if he was not worthy of his good
blessings, he would not be able to receive whatever the king would grant him.
Therefore, one’s life indeed depends on one's karma.
The foregoing Buddhist historical allusion
also proves that not everyone can accept and believe in the principle of cause
and effect. Although King Prasenajit lived during the period of the Buddha and
attained the Buddha Dharma benefits and fruition, in his heart he didn’t
completely believe and accept the view of causality. The event recounted
earlier has thus been recorded.
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