The Story of the Garuḍa Birds and the Dragons—The Dragon Clans Receive the Buddha’s Robe

   Reflection and Insights 

In the vast transmigration river of birth and death, sentient beings are often like dragons and Garuḍa birds—fighting each other, trapped in cycles of vengeance, unable to escape. Dragons fear bird attacks, while birds depend on dragons for survival. What appears to be survival of the fittest is actually woven from collective karma. There are no true victors, only suffering and terror cycling endlessly through samsara.

When the four dragon kings prostrated themselves before the Buddha and tearfully recounted their clans’ suffering caused by the Garuḍa birds, the Buddha did not punish the birds or stop their evil actions. Instead, He gave his own robe—the Dharma robe symbolizing “pure precept substance and flawless merit”—to the dragon kings and instructed them to distribute portions of it to all dragon clans. Not a single thread increased or decreased, and myriad beings all received protection. This manifested not only the Tathāgata’s miraculous transformational power but, more profoundly, also the Buddha’s compassion and the sublime power of His precepts. True protection emanates not from outward actions but from the depth of one's compassion; true guardianship lies not in material abundance but in the breadth of one’s compassionate vows. The Buddha’s robe could prevent harm from the Garuḍa birds not because its fabric was special but because it carried the supreme merit of “the Buddha’s words, which are never false; the Buddha’s precepts, which are never ineffective; and the Buddha’s vows, which are always fulfilled.” Precepts are the embodiment of compassion, vows are the driving force that propels wisdom forward, and transforming compassion into action enables the deliverance of all sentient beings.

The story teaches us something profound: All beings, including celestial Garuḍa birds and dragons with miraculous powers, have limited strength and finite lives. No one can escape suffering and decay. Yet, here’s the remarkable truth: Even when trapped in the lowest destiny of existence, one can find liberation through faith in the Buddha. Observing the Buddha’s precepts faithfully is like being clothed in the Dharma robe blessed by the Buddha, which shields the wearer from harm. We can attain true liberation and eternal perfection only by taking refuge in the World-Honored One, acknowledging and abandoning our wrongdoings, keeping the precepts, and following the compassionate path taught by the bodhisattvas. (Part 3/3)

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