Master Says

The Story of a Saintly King

Ananda (Shakyamuni Buddha’s attendant) asked the Buddha: "My Lord, could you please tell us disciples what You’ve done in Your past lives that is beneficial to sentient beings?"

In reply, the Buddha told Ananda the following story:

Eons ago, on our planet Earth there were four rivers and two great kings. One of the kings was named Brahmadeva, which means the Brahma (supreme force of creation), and his land contained three rivers. His country was rich, and so were his people. However, they were weak with respect to military power. The territory of the other king, called Vajradati, had only one river and a smaller population, but his people were superior in terms of military strategy.

"My soldiers are valiant, yet there is only one river in my country, and it’s barely large enough to supply us with water. King Brahmadeva's army is weak, but his land contains three rivers. We should ask him for one,” thought King Vajradati. “If he agrees, we’ll make friends and maintain good relations with him. Should he refuse, I’ll plan an invasion of his country. If he gives me a river, I’ll share everything with him, and come to the rescue of his people should disaster befall them. Otherwise, I’ll attack him!" So King Vajradati summoned his counselors to discuss the issue, and then wrote a letter to King Brahmadeva.

When King Brahmadeva received the letter, he was reluctant to yield and thought to himself, "Hey! This nation was passed down to me by my ancestors. I didn’t seize it from King Vajradati. On what grounds can he make such a demand?" So he told the messenger, "I didn’t found this country. It was passed down to me by my father and ancestors. It’s very unreasonable for your king to demand that I cede my land! If you wish to wage war, we too will not be courteous!" Then the messenger returned to his country to report the situation to King Vajradati.

Soon King Vajradati sent a powerful army to invade King Brahmadeva’s country, and Brahmadeva’s army was totally defeated. Next King Vajradati marched straight into the capital and besieged the royal palace, causing King Brahmadeva to be so overwhelmed by fear that he dared not confront the aggressors. Observing the perilous situation, his counselors advised him, "Your Majesty, their men are brave and powerful, while ours are weak. Why does your Majesty remain so attached to a river and thus place his people in jeopardy? Should you remain so, we might even lose our country. Please reconsider your decision and give King Vajradati the river."

King Brahmadeva consented, and his counselors went out to talk to King Vajradati, saying, "Our king has conceded to your demand. He’ll also offer you a princess. From now on, our two countries shall maintain a good relationship, share good things with each other and protect and help each other when in danger." Then the two kings were reconciled, each returned to his own country, and King Vajradati brought home the princess to be his wife.

One Virtuously Benefits All

After some time, the princess became pregnant and during her pregnancy, a precious canopy appeared over her head. No matter what she did—sleep, walk or sit—the canopy followed her constantly. When the time came, she gave birth to a baby boy whose body shone radiantly like gold, and whose hair was beautiful. After his birth, the canopy followed him instead of his mother because it was for the child that the canopy had come.

Many soothsayers came to see the child and had only words of praise for him: "Your Majesty! This baby is exceptional! The prince's appearance and countenance show that he has great blessings and virtues that are supreme in the world. No one can match him." The king and queen were delighted to hear this, and tradition had it that the child should be named according to two conditions: first, the occurrence of a peculiar phenomenon; and second, the child’s natal horoscope (the position of the stars and planets at the time of birth). "Your Majesty, did any fantastic phenomenon occur during the queen's pregnancy?" asked the soothsayers. "When the queen was pregnant, a canopy composed of seven priceless items* constantly hovered over her head and followed her wherever she went," replied the king. Thus, the prince was named "Precious Canopy."

When the prince came of age, King Vajradati died and the prince succeeded him to the throne. As king, Precious Canopy often left his palace to observe the lives of his people, and one hot summer day he went out and saw some farmers cultivating their fields unprotected by clothing under the scorching sun. He also saw cows laboriously plowing the land, trudging through the mud dragging heavy plows, and noted that both men and animals were exhausted from their arduous toil. Then the king asked his entourage why the farmers were working so intensely.

"Our country relies on agriculture, and most of our people are farmers. If they don’t work hard, we can’t survive and our people will starve. And if the people live in poverty and starvation, our country will be in danger," replied the officials by his side. On hearing this, the king made a vow: "If I am truly a king with great blessings, my people will have no need to toil so diligently in farming, and yet there will be enough rice and other crops to satisfy everyone’s needs." After Precious Canopy made this vow, for every family in the country, all sorts of rice and other produce grew naturally in sufficient quantities for all. Whatever kind of rice or vegetable the people wished for would appear in their homes.

Some time later, the king again went out to see his people, and this time saw many chopping timber, carrying water and pounding rice. They were sweating profusely and looked exhausted so he asked his counselors, "Why are my people working so hard?" And the counselors replied, "Your Majesty, thanks to your grace, our people now have enough rice and vegetables to eat, and no longer need to work in the fields. However, they nonetheless have to pound rice and chop timber in order to light fires to cook the rice. So they still have to work relentlessly." Upon hearing this, the king made another vow: "If I truly have the divine sanction and virtues to be king of this land, may my people have whatever cooked food they desire appear automatically in their homes. Then they won't have to expend so much effort in cooking their meals." And as before, the king’s wishes came true. From that point onward food appeared automatically for his people without having to be cooked.

After some time, the king again went out to have some fun, and on this occasion he saw some people working vigorously spinning cotton yarn and weaving cloth. Again he asked his counselors about the situation, and they reported, “If the people don’t weave cloth, they won’t have any clothes to wear, and they will thus suffer from the cold so they still have to work.” Again, the king made a vow: "If I truly have the grace and righteousness to be king of this land, may my people have any clothing they wish, and not have to labor so hard spinning and weaving." And indeed, it came to pass that from that day on, his people had whatever garments they desired. Instead of growing leaves, the trees yielded clothes. People simply chose the items they liked and took them home. It was fantastic!

Later, the king again went out to have some fun and saw many people making musical instruments so he asked, "What are these people doing? Why do they have to work so arduously?" And the counselors replied, "Now that the people have enough to eat, drink and wear, they want to listen to music. They wish to play musical instruments to amuse themselves." Oh! So again the king made a vow: "If I have the merits and noble qualities to be king, may music sound from the trees in my country, and entertain my people with any music they wish to hear." And so it was realized! Countless musical instruments grew from trees for the people. And if they didn’t want to play the instruments themselves, music would still come from the instruments automatically.

Then after a while, the king’s counselors went to see him, and it was mealtime so the king invited them to share a meal with him. After sharing the king's food, the counselors found it delicious and the best they had ever eaten. It made them feel healthy, spirited and happy so they said, "Your majesty, we’ve never enjoyed such good food before. It’s delicious and healthy, and makes us feel joyful in both body and mind!"

"Should you wish to enjoy the same food that I do, you have to eat at the same time I do. Then you’ll definitely have the same good food at home," the king replied. So the king issued a nationwide proclamation that all his people should eat at the same time he did. And from that moment on, when the king ate, drums were sounded to let the people know it was mealtime. As they all ate at the same time, they could enjoy the same good food that the king ate, which enlivened them both physically and mentally.

Brahmadeva Seeks the River’s Return

Meanwhile, King Brahmadeva sent a messenger to pay his respects and convey the following message to King Precious Canopy: "When your father was alive, we ceded one of my country’s rivers to your country. Now that your father has passed away, would you please return the river to us?" And King Precious Canopy's reply was: "I did not seize your river to build my country. Now that I’m king, I won’t let my people suffer. This is a trivial matter. Please be patient. I’ll try to meet with your king to discuss issues that are more important to our two countries."

The messenger then conveyed the message from King Precious Canopy to King Brahmadeva, who consented to the proposed meeting, and they agreed about a time to meet. So the kings, accompanied by their armies, arrived on the bank of the river, which now separated the two countries. They met on a ship in the middle of the river, where they held their negotiations.

Upon seeing King Precious Canopy, King Brahmadeva was filled with admiration, being impressed by his dignified figure, which was radiant like a gold mountain, his hair which shone like crystal, his eyes which glittered like stars, his mouth which was as beautiful as a flower, his nose which was high and straight, his face which was square and majestic, and his ears which were long and authoritative. Oh! The more he observed King Precious Canopy, the more awestruck he was. He thought perhaps that he was an incarnation of the great Brahma for this king was no ordinary human!

Then the two kings talked about the weather and how good the climate was. "People in my country have enough food to eat and objects to use, which all come naturally with little effort. They don’t need to offer me anything. We don’t collect taxes or fines, and don’t need to enforce the law. For these reasons, I cannot return this river to you and let my people toil for you. In my country, our citizens do virtually nothing for the king. Everything they want to eat, drink or use comes naturally. Even their clothes and music arise naturally. They have everything so they don't have to do anything to serve the king," said King Precious Canopy.

This extraordinary account brought tremors to the heart of King Brahmadeva, who was terrified even further when King Precious Canopy's men began to beat the drums that signaled lunch time. Brahmadeva began to tremble, thinking that they were going to seize and kill him, and stood up to apologize, his limbs weak and quivering. King Precious Canopy also stood up to pacify him and asked him to sit down, saying, "You have no cause for alarm. It’s time for lunch so my soldiers are beating the drums to notify our people for if they eat at the same time I do, they will surely get delicious and exotic food. This is a custom in our country!"

Upon hearing these words, King Brahmadeva closed his palms and said, "Your Majesty, please extend your love to our people, too. Please also give us food that appears spontaneously as it does in your country. Then we’ll become your subjects. We’ll surrender to you today!"

The Perfect Reign of a Saintly King

King Precious Canopy consented to King Brahmadeva’s request, and from that day on ruled both countries. Thereafter, all his counselors were on standby day and night in a solemn court that governed with diligence.

Then early one morning, a precious vehicle with golden wheels flew over the kingdom from the eastern sky. It looked beautiful and glorious, its radiance illuminating the great earth below. Witnessing this event, King Precious Canopy descended from his throne and knelt down to pray to Heaven and earth, saying, "If I had the blessings and high merit to become a chakravartin, (Sanskrit term for a ruler whose virtue, earned by good deeds in former lifetimes, allows him to effortlessly subjugate all lesser kings and govern the world) please let this awesome vehicle stay!" Just as he spoke, the vehicle stopped in mid-air in front of the palace, and many sacred objects fit for a chakravartin flew over as well, including priceless elephants, women, pearls and electronic soldiers,* which were perhaps robots. There were all kinds of items. This vehicle sent to the holy king might have been a UFO of ancient times because UFOs existed even in those days! It came from another planet and was wonderful! There were many blessed instruments fit for the holy king.

From that day forward, King Precious Canopy became a chakravartin possessing opulent treasures and ruling the four continents. His grace and merits brought peace and happiness to all sentient beings, and allowed their every need to be met. Under his reign, the people observed the following ten precepts: 1. no killing; 2. no stealing; 3. no sexual misconduct; 4. no lying; 5. no sowing discord, meaning no gossiping and stirring up disputes between parties by talking badly about one to the other; 6. no malicious speech; 7. no exaggeration, for instance, about what really happened in a given situation, without adding fabrications that confuse people; 8. no greed; 9. no wrath and 10. no infatuation.
Everyone in the land adhered to these precepts and ascended to Heaven after their demise.

Cause Dating back Eons

At this point, the Buddha said, "Ananda, you have to realize that King Precious Canopy was actually "me" in a previous incarnation! And King Vajradati is now my father and his queen is now my mother."

The Buddha continued by saying, "At that time, I was very compassionate and loved everyone like my own child. I shared my wealth and teachings in order to edify them. It’s for this reason that I’ve become a Buddha today, supreme in the three realms, and paralleled by no one. It’s also for this reason and affinity that those who followed me during that period learned how to practice spiritually, to show compassion for the benefit of others and to meditate together."

Ananda then asked the Buddha, "My Lord, may I ask what cause and affinity led King Precious Canopy to become a chakravartin and to be protected by the precious canopy even before his birth?”

So the Buddha replied, "Ananda, long, long ago, innumerable eons ago on this planet Earth was a holy mountain. And a Pratyeka (self-enlightened) Buddha living on that mountain fell ill after suffering a stroke, and his doctor prescribed milk for his condition. So the Pratyeka Buddha went to see a merchant named Seng-you, told him about his illness and asked for some milk. The merchant happily offered the milk to him, and after drinking milk for three months, the Pratyeka Buddha recovered from his illness. Then out of gratitude to his benefactor, he wished that Seng-you would receive enormous amounts of divine grace and merit. So he flew into the air and manifested in the form of an Arhat. Perhaps he manifested in a massive form as huge as the sky, and then shrank into a very small form as thin as a strand of hair. In this way he changed shape alternately thirteen times, and Seng-you was overjoyed at the sight. Finally, the Pratyeka Buddha descended from the sky and accepted his offering. Some time later, the Pratyeka Buddha entered nirvana, and Seng-you missed him very much. So after the Buddha was cremated, Seng-you gathered his sarira (sacred pebble-like relics left after cremation of a saint) and put them in a golden urn. He next built a costly pagoda to house the urn, and a precious canopy as a shade over the pagoda. He then made offerings to it for the rest of his life, providing incense, flowers, fruit and music; nothing was missing."

The Buddha then said to Ananda, "You ought to know that the merit derived from making offerings to the Pratyeka Buddha earned infinite blessed reward for Seng-you, and so both in Heaven and on earth he always enjoyed a glorious status and lived in great contentment. Each time he was in the embryonic stage of life, he was protected from above by a precious canopy. You should also understand that the Seng-you of that time was actually "me." So everyone, both lay people and monastics, should practice to accrue merits, and then life after life they will enjoy infinite reward." Upon hearing this discourse, everyone became very delighted and vowed to make offerings. This is the end of the story! (Applause)