The Dhammapada with Parables, Fascicle 1
The merchant whose mind had given rise to
wholesome thoughts traveled to another kingdom. It so happened that the king of
that land had just passed away, leaving behind a prophecy: “A humble person
will one day arrive in our kingdom, and if he is the one destined to inherit
the throne, my sacred horse will bow down and kneel before him.” Thus, the
ministers took this divine horse out to search for the future king. Along the
way, the royal civil servant encountered this merchant and remarked, “This
person appears to possess the demeanor and bearing of a ruler.” Upon seeing the
merchant, the divine horse kneeled down before him and licked his feet. The
ministers, overjoyed, recognized the merchant as the king they had been seeking
and invited him back to the palace to inherit the throne.
After the merchant with wholesome thoughts
became king, he and his ministers turned to face the direction where the Buddha
resided, bowed reverently from afar, and requested that the Buddha come to his
kingdom to receive offerings. On the day of the offering, he asked the Buddha,
“I originally possessed no great merits of blessing. Why was I able to attain
this throne?”
The Buddha preached to the king, saying,
“In the past, when King Pasenadi made offerings to the Three Jewels, the
thought that arose in you was one of utmost sincerity—reverent rejoicing and
praising. You generated a wholesome thought: ‘The Buddha is like a king, and
the disciples are like subjects.’ Therefore, you planted the virtuous cause for
becoming a king in the future, and thus ascended to the throne. However, your
other companion gave rise to arrogance and brought forth unwholesome thoughts, such
as ‘The Buddha is like an ox, and the disciples are like a cart.’ As a result,
he sowed the seeds of malevolent thoughts, which led to the karmic retribution
of being crushed to death by a cart in this very lifetime. After death, he must
undergo another rebirth in the hell of fiery chariots to suffer further
retribution there. All causes and conditions, along with their resulting
fruition, are drawn forth by a person’s arising thoughts and intentions and are
created by that person alone. Heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits cannot interfere
with them and cannot bestow them as fruition.”
After hearing the aforementioned anecdote
of the Buddha, some might wonder: Why does the mere arising of wholesome and
unwholesome intentions lead to such a vast difference in the fruition of
wholesome and unwholesome deeds? (Part 2/3)
#Buddha #karma #retribution #fruition #Dharma #Buddhism #Buddhiststory
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