Part i
The Story of a Zombie is a fascinating tale said to have been written by Nagarjuna. In the previous issue of Palyul Times was the prologue where a young beggar was given the name Dechö Sangpo by a spiritual master, who saw in him certain good qualities. The master instructed him in the processes of retrieving a zombie named Siddhi Sagar, who would be key to acquiring a gold mine at Mount Parvata that could benefit many beings. The main instruction was not to utter a single word to the zombie no matter how much it tried to speak to him. If a single word slipped from Dechö Sangpo then the zombie would instantly return to its place and the boy would have to start the retrieval process again.
Here’s the first part of the story where Dechö Sangpo tries to retrieve the zombie but the zombie lulls him by narrating another story of a girl named De-Nyid Bum who remembers her past lives.
Then the prince approached near the tree and saw a big zombie on top of it. The zombie begged, “Don’t take me! Don’t take me!” But the surrounding servant zombies said, “Take me, take me!” Then, the prince took out his sword and went to cut the tree, proclaiming thus:
My teacher is Nagarjuna.
I am the prince Dechö Sangpo.
I have a sharp sword that can chop stones
And an iron net of nine holes.
My stick is the red acacia
And my rope is the magical hook.
I’ve eaten abundant flour with ghee.
Will you come down or shall I cut the tree down?
Hearing this the zombie descended from the tree. The prince beat it with the stick, put it into the net, fastened it with a rope and carried it on his back. After taking just seven steps into his journey, the zombie said, “O prince, O prince! One of us should tell a story.” However, the prince remained unmoved, thinking about his teacher’s advice not to reply to the zombie at any cost. The zombie then said to the prince, “You, prince with exhausted karma, seem to have nothing to say, so I am going to tell you a story. Listen to me.
“There once was a prince in a certain country and among the king’s subjects there was also a rich boy and a poor boy. The three of them—the prince, the rich boy and the poor boy—each set off uphill where there was a girl called De-nyid Bum, who was very attractive, could remember her past lives, and wouldn’t speak to any man. The king of the country said that if the prince could make the girl speak, then the rich boy should give him half of his wealth and the poor boy should be his servant for his whole life. If the rich boy could make the girl speak, then half of the king’s power should be given to him and the poor boy should be his servant for his whole life. But if the poor boy could make the girl speak, then the king should give half of his power to him and the rich boy should give half of his wealth. Thus, this agreement was made among them.
“One day, the prince adorned his ministers and elephants with beautiful ornaments and set off uphill. They danced, sang and engaged in great amusements, but couldn’t make the girl speak. Then the rich boy set forth with varieties of his wealth to make the girl speak, but that too was in vain and he went back. Now they wondered if the poor boy could make the girl speak.
“The next day, the poor boy set forth to the place wearing rags. On his way, he met an old woman who came from the same place. The woman asked him, ‘Where are you going?’ He replied, ‘Old woman, I am going uphill to speak to a girl.’ The woman gave a derisive laugh and said, ‘The day before yesterday, the prince came with his beautiful elephants and performed all sorts of amusing dances, but couldn’t make her speak. Yesterday, the rich boy from the valley came with his abundance of wealth, but couldn’t make her speak either, and thus he went back. So, do you, a poor boy, think you can ever make her speak?’ Then the poor boy said this to the old woman: ‘If the girl didn’t speak even to the prince, or the rich boy who came with bountiful wealth, then was she not a fool?’ But the old woman said that the girl was not a fool. Instead, she was eloquent, clean in her sense faculties and had the quality of remembering her past lives. The poor boy replied that there was no one more powerful than the prince and if she refused even to speak to the king, then she was nothing but a fool.
The old woman got irritated and said, ‘O poor boy, listen carefully. That girl has the quality of remembering limitless past lives like this: In the past when she was born as a tigress, her husband was killed by a hunter and when she went in search of food for her five cubs, but they too were killed. She herself was also killed when she ran after her cubs in anguish. That was one sad thought that turned her away from samsara. Again, in her next life, she was born as a bird who was burned alive. She had a nest made in between tamarisk plants, but her chicks were burned alive by cowherds and shepherds before they were fully feathered. She was burned when she came to attend to her chicks. Her husband rushed in, dipping his feathers in water to put out the fire, but he was also burned alive along with the whole family. That was another thought of sadness, which grew in her towards the worldly life. Again in her next life, she was born as a lark and made a peaceful nest in the middle of a rich man’s field where she gave birth to three chicks from the eggs she laid. During the time when the field was watered, the water source had changed its course and all of them were buried under the mud. Because of this, for eons, she has not spoken to any man.’
“Then the poor boy went to the place and saw the girl weaving. He went near her weaving loom and said, ‘My dear, so it was like that,’ and he cried. But the girl didn’t even look at him and shifted to her next loom. He went near her again and said the same thing, crying. However, she did not reply to him and went inside her house. Again, he approached the door that had been closed by her as tightly as horse’s teeth. He slept there with the threshold as a pillow and said this, crying, ‘Alas! My dear, so it was like that. At first, we were born as tigers and I was killed by a hunter. You couldn’t bear the pain of losing the cubs and were killed by the hunter. You were the tigress at that time and then when I was born as a bird, you were my wife. When the chicks were not fully feathered, they were burned alive by cowherds and when you went to save them, almost all were burned like that. After that when we were born as larks, I went in search of food and all the chicks along with you were buried under the mud during the change of the water course in the time of watering. It was like that. When I came back, I was also killed.’
“When he cried like that, saying she was his wife in those successive past lives, she could remember her past lives and also cried, the tears rolling down her cheeks. She opened the door and went near him. He repeated once again all the aforementioned points. She then said that the remembering of those past lives and giving rise to a thought of weariness was one, and she called him in, saying that he had been her companion for many past lives. She said that the past karmic debt had not been repaid and called him in. She removed his old shoes and set his clothing aside and let him get dressed in full adornments. He was bathed, scented and then he stayed there for a night. The next day, they went to the king’s palace. The king gave him half of his power and the rich boy gave him half of his wealth. Then after a few years, the boy was enthroned as the king of that country and thereafter, the country was very prosperous.”
Thus, the zombie ended the story like this. The prince replied without thinking, “He was a very fortunate and lucky person.” The zombie then said, “Talk to a zombie and swish goes the hawk (refers to himself)” and slapped the prince severely three times and escaped.
By Lopon Pema Wangdak
Padma Mani Translation Committee, NNI
