The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish, Fascicle 11
Once upon a time, King
Prasenajit led his soldiers on a procession outside the city. As they passed by
the Buddha’s Jetavana Monastery, a celestial chant suddenly rang out from the
sky, its melody echoing throughout the valley. All the people and horses came
to a standstill, and the crowd held their breaths to listen to the pure and
elegant sound. King Prasenajit drove his carriage to the monastery to pay respects
to the Buddha, hoping to meet in person the monk who had chanted and make an
offering of one hundred thousand coins to him. However, upon seeing the monk,
King Prasenajit thought to himself, “Heavens! How can there be such an ugly
person in the world? How strange! What kind of fruition could have blessed this
monk with such a pure and divine voice, and what evil deeds could have brought
about such an unattractive appearance?” King Prasenajit kneeled with joined
palms and beseeched the Buddha to answer his questions.
The Buddha taught the
following: Many kalpas ago, a devout king of the kingdom of Jīlīpí was
preparing to build a stupa to enshrine the relics of Kāśyapa Buddha, who had
just entered nirvāṇa. At that time, the dragon kings of the four directions came before
the king and said, “We are the dragon kings of the four directions. Having
heard that you intend to build a stupa to make offerings to the Buddha’s relics,
we have come to join in this noble endeavor. For the precious materials needed
to build the stupa, you may draw water from the four wells outside the
city gates and mix it with clay to produce bricks of blue lapis lazuli, gold,
silver, and white jade.” The king immediately dispatched four foremen to
oversee the construction.
One foreman grumbled in
his heart, “Such a massive stupa! When will its construction ever be completed?”
He had no choice but to lead the workers to press on with the construction day
and night. However, when the stupa’s construction was completed, he beheld the
structure’s shimmering light and magnificent form rising high into the sky. He felt
an inexpressible joy in his heart and deep repentance for the disrespect he had
harbored toward the stupa during its construction. He then respectfully hung a
golden bell as an offering to the stupa and said, “May I, in my future lives,
obtain a pure and wonderful voice that brings joy to all who hear it. May I
also be born during the time of the Buddha, see the Buddha, be liberated, and
free myself from cyclic existence.” Because this foreman had previously
resented the stupa for being too large, he incurred five hundred lifetimes of
unsightly skin sores and a repulsive appearance that caused others to shun him.
Yet, because he devoutly generated a vow and, with the utmost sincerity, hung a
bell as an offering to the Buddha, he not only obtained a wondrous voice for
five hundred lifetimes but also incurred the fruition of renouncing worldly
life and attaining the path in this present life by following the Buddha. (Part 1)
#Buddha #Buddhiststory #stupa #karma #liberation
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