Once the Bodhisattva was born as a king in a village called Shevi. He ruled his country with love, protecting people from harm, both from inside and outside, and treated them with justice. He let his people follow good religion and never humiliated other religions. In that village, there was a beautiful lady, who had a glorious body and a face like the new moon, full of joy and who had a radiant smile. She resembled an angel. If any lay people happened to see her glorious body, then they would get engrossed in the qualities of this body and also in her wisdom. That is why her relatives always called her “Intoxicating Lady”.
One of the ministers said to the king, “If we offered this beautiful lady from our country, would you accept her or not?” Without responding, the king ordered the sages, expert in judging beautiful women, to search for that perfect lady. The sages went to that lady’s home, and when they reached the house, her father requested her to offer water and food to the sages. She began to serve them one by one, while their eyes stared at her without blinking. Their usually stable minds started to get spoiled by lust looking at her, their eyes and minds became powerless, and there was no free space in their hearts other than her image. She then swiftly vanished like a free cloud.
The sages didn’t know how they finished eating their food. They thought, “She had a perfect body, without even a single black dot on her white, moon-like face, along with an attractive figure, which stole the heart of every man. It’s neither acceptable nor a good idea to offer her to the king. The king would not work for the country because he might become intoxicated by her beautiful figure and would neglect fulfilling the desires of the people. Even we, being sages, are distracted by her beauty, then lustful people will naturally get engrossed by her. So, there is no way the king would not be drawn into her beauty. Probably the king will get deeply involved with her.”
Thinking thus about the disadvantages, they decided to lie to the king. They said, “My lord, we went to her house. She is so beautiful but she has bad signs. She is not appropriate to be our queen. The low caste women have neither fame nor qualities. It’s just like the bright moon being blocked by dark clouds.” After hearing their words, the king thought, “A low caste woman would be suitable to be my queen.” As they came to know that the king was not interested in that lady, they offered Intoxicating Lady to a minister.
One day, the king went out of the palace to celebrate the Lotus Festival with his people in a nearby village. The people around welcomed their king by playing beautiful music and blowing trumpets. Every corner of the walls were decorated with different coloured flags. They burnt sweet incense, sang songs, and the ground was fully covered with lotuses. At the same time, Intoxicating Lady heard the news of king’s arrival at the festival. She was deeply hurt at being rejected to become queen. Inside she was upset, thinking, “I was rejected by the king since he thought that I had bad signs,” but she had to act like she was desperate to see the king as she was also his subject. So, with her glamour she went on the top of the roof. She thought, “He said that I had bad signs, but let me see whether I can attract his attention or not.”
When the king came around to her house, his eyes caught sight of her. He thought, “Although it is inappropriate to look at another’s wife, an uncontrollable craving has driven me to her moon-like face. Who is she? Is she the goddess of this home? Or the wife of a god or of a demigod? I am sure that she is not from the human realm.”
As king was asking himself these questions, his charioteer turned forcefully, drawing the king out of sight of the lady. So, he had to sadly return to the palace with a strong thirst in his heart. He told his servant secretly, “Today I am so excited. Attachment changed my mind. Do you know who that beautiful lady is?”
“She is the wife of your minister Abhiparaka and the daughter of Kiritavasta. Her name is Intoxicating lady,” replied the servant.
After hearing that she was married to one of his ministers, his heart broke into pieces and sadness overtook his facial expression. With such a broken heart he silently murmured, “Oh, they have given her a sweet name that is agreeable in its meaning; it’s pleasant to hear her name, Intoxicating Lady. I too felt intoxicated. Now my soul exists in her. She has empowered my soul. Not realising that she is another man’s wife, I am intoxicated. I have no shame and I am unable to sleep. Her glamourous body has filled my mind with craving. But now that I’ve come to know the reality, hatred is beginning to rise in me.”
Because of love and attachment, the king could not control his mind. Though he tried to deny the fact, his body became dry and his skin pale. He became emaciated because of love sickness. He yawned again and again and the signs of lust were vivid in him.
Abhiparaka, the minister who was expert in logic and verbal expression, came to know the situation of the king. He was disheartened and went to the palace. “Your Majesty, when I was praying at my altar, a guardian spirit suddenly appeared above me and said, ‘You idiot! Don’t you know that your king fell in love with Intoxicated Lady?’ and then he disappeared. So, I came here to inquire. If this is true, why did you remain silent? Why didn’t you order me? Anyhow, I would have offered her to you out of a true heart. O mighty one! Please receive her as my token of faithfulness.”
Although the king’s head dropped down out of embarrassment, he didn’t let his mind stray from the practice of Dharma. He gave his answer: “I can’t accept your offer. It is not possible at all because it will crumple my merits and the fact is I must die one day or the other. My misdeed would become known by others and if I go against Dharma then I will regret it later. Moreover, your heart will also get crushed like grass burned down by fire. Moreover, it will be harmful both in this life as well as in the next life. So, be wise.”
Then the minister requested, “Your Highness, please, never get the impression that this goes against the practice of Dharma. Rather, I would accumulate merit by offering her to you. That would be an act of generosity. Moreover, if you do not accept my offering, you would be going against the practice of Dharma, since you are rejecting an act of generosity. On top of that, except for me and you, no other person knows about this, so, never think of getting embarrassed by the people. If you accept her, I would be overjoyed. I would never feel hurt. I offer her out of my gratitude. Please do not hesitate—accept her. There is no harm if you accept her from your pure heart. Do not hesitate thinking about me getting hurt. I will be alright.”
The king in return said, “Please lord! Free me this non-virtuous act! For the sake of expressing your love and respect towards me, please do not bring me into this non-virtuous act without examining the matter properly. Not every act of giving is a practice of Dharma. You gave me what is most significant by sacrificing your life, but the wife of a friend should not be taken for granted. It is an inappropriate act. You are saying that sacrificing her is not a sin—why is it not a sin? You say that sacrificing her will purify the sin, but how could one be happy after eating poison? The eyes of gods and yogis are always truthful. Their eyes cannot be blurred and always watch us. If you gave her as a sacrifice and you pretended not to be hurt, how could that be true? Who would believe you when you say you are not hurt?”
“I and my wife are your subjects and you are my king and my lord. She is under your command, so offering her would not be against the Dharma. You say that it is me who is pitying you but who would say so? In fact you would be doing me a favour if you accepted her. If you accept my offer out of sympathy, you would benefit me in this and the next life too. So, my king! Please accept her,” insisted the minister.
“This is not right. Please, do not speak like this. It is good that you relate with the Dharma but this is hurting me simultaneously. It would be easier for me to cut myself with a sharp knife or stay in a burning fire than to accept your offer,” said the king.
“Although you do not accept others’ belongings, accept her as a prostitute. Please accept her,” the minister pleaded.
But the king replied, “Have you gone mad? I would better avoid the flawless wife of others rather than committing a non-virtuous deed. Should I go in a wrong direction, I will not escape from misery in this life and the next ones too. So, this is not a good idea. Don’t get distressed and be happy with my reasoning.”
The minister still could not accept the rejection of his offer, so he said, “If you are happy, my heart too will be peaceful. Even if this goes against Dharma practice or bring sadness to an innocent person like me, I do not care. I will bear it. There is no other greater person than you for me in this world. So, please accept Intoxicating Lady as an annual offering.”
“You are doing this for me without a thought of self-benefit or self-detriment, but I do not want you to follow the wrong path. We cannot break the trust of people. See, if we do not concern ourselves with peoples’ trust, if we are not concerned about Dharma practice and its effect in our next life, then they will not have faith in us and the gods will also avoid us. Because of this, I want to tell you that it is not a good idea to sacrifice one’s wife in the name of gratitude by going against Dharma practice. You are committing a great misdeed and accumulating demerit without any hesitation. Moreover, noble beings do not practise the path to peace by letting other people suffer. So, I do not want to hurt anyone. I simply want to practise the Dharma that is so peaceful to me,” said the king in justification.
“There is no way to tell me that this is not a Dharma practice because your devoted people respect you. There is no way to make me regret what I am offering you. None of the people of Shevi would say that my act is against Dharma practice. Hence, my lord, please accept her,” the minister continued to insist.
“I do accept that you are working hard for me. But we should analyse: among the people of Shevi, who has better knowledge of Dharma practice? Is it you, me or someone else?” questioned the king.
“With great respect for my king,” said the minister with humbleness, “I fully trust and respect you from bottom of my heart. It is you who have the highest knowledge and intellect.”
Then the king said, “Anyhow, you cannot deceive me, since bringing benefit or harm to the people depends on how the king analyses matters. Who would follow the path of fame if one desperately loved one’s subjects? If the leader is good who will doubt him, wondering if he is being true or false? People follow the king as a perfect leader. Look at you, you tried to protect me and yourself but you failed. I try to help and protect people as per the changes in the times and conditions. Because of my faith in the Dharma, I will not be overwhelmed by negative thought. Like a flawless leader, I will be the protector of the people.”
After seeing the fortitude of the king, the minister bowed his head, prostrated, and with folded hands uttered this praise: “Your people are fortunate to have a king and protector like you, who has a great devotion towards the Dharma and is not attached to his own happiness. It is very rare to find a king like you. The majesty of command suits you. The ocean is the source of precious jewels; likewise you are the source of all knowledge. How miraculous it is to see you so peaceful!”
This is one of the examples of great beings who sacrifice their own life for the sake of Dharma practice. Though they undergo unbearable suffering, they never follow the wrong path. Therefore, one should practise patience and strive to habituate oneself with the practice of Dharma.
To be continued
By Sangay Wangchuk
5th Year, NNI
