Long long ago in a beautiful kingdom called Shaketa, there lived a mighty king called ‘Sergi Tsugphed’ who was brave and powerful, yet kind and humble to his people. He was a man who would always live up to others’ expectations and never take advantage of his superiority. He was the king who was known for his benevolence and not for the number of battles he fought. His people enjoyed peace, and tranquility prevailed in the kingdom.
One day his queen ‘Lhamo Zeden’ known for her exquisite beauty and generosity gave birth to an extraordinary child. It is said that, from the very time she got pregnant, she was more inclined towards giving charity and alms to the poor. She could even preach the doctrine so well. The child was miraculously born with jewel on his head and the beam of light that radiated from his jewel could overcome the darkness of the silent night, turning it into a hopeful daylight arena. Overwhelmed by the birth of the child, the gods sprinkled flowers in the form of light rain and lifted victory banners in order to pay homage.
Soon the child grew into a young talented handsome prince. He gained every quality needed in a king, all from his father. Just as it is said that everything in this world is subject to death and decay, so did a time come when the mighty king ‘Sergi Tsugphed’ passed away leaving all the worldly materials behind. The young prince came to the throne to rule the kingdom. Like his father, he was very kind and humble to his people and fulfilled their every wish. Thus, he was known to his people as king ‘Tsugna Norbu’, the jeweled crown king.
One day an old sage came to the royal court and presented a beautiful young girl called ‘Pema Den’ to the king. The sage introduced her to the king saying that she was born from the core of a lotus. He said that he brought her up by feeding the leftover milk which he used in the fire rituals. The sage bowed and offered the girl to the king. With immense pleasure, the king accepted the girl and asked the sage what he wished for in return. The sage humbly asked the king to perform the fire ritual thereafter. Soon the royal wedding was proclaimed throughout the country and everybody in the country enjoyed the auspicious occasion. As the time passed by, the royal couple gave birth to a baby boy. The newborn prince seemed very brilliant and bright like his father. The child was named ‘Duetsi Pedmai Tsug’, which literally means the crown of nectar giving lotus. The king was very much pleased by the birth of the new prince and decided to host a huge fire ritual to repay the kindness of the old Sage. When the ceremonial procession went by and huge fire was lit, lord Indra manifested himself as an old wicked ogre and appeared amidst the huge fire, fiercely-looking with his magical powers. The wicked ogre wailed in anguish and asked for food. King served him all kinds of food but he refused everything and demanded fresh blood and flesh. King was really into somebody’s shoe. He thought in his dismay, that if the ogre wasn’t offered what he demanded, he wouldn’t be satisfied and if he was offered fresh blood and flesh, it would be a great sin to take somebody’s life, just for that sake. After a while, as there was no other way, the king decided to take a slice off his own flesh and feed him. Queen Pema Den couldn’t bear the pain in witnessing the dying king soaked in his own blood. She felt dizzy, her vision appeared blurred and she felt her grips slowly fading away, the very next moment the queen collapsed and lay unconscious. An eerie of silence broke out through the crowds; it seemed as if everything paused for a moment. The earth shook, the sky grew dark and thunders roared to mark the great act of compassion, everyone present there was amazed by the bravery of their king. Lord Indra was very much embarrassed after seeing the fearless act of the brave king. He revealed his true form and healed the king with his divine herb. Thereafter, the king became more determined to give away anything one wished from him. It is said that he even gave away his magical elephant that could walk thousand miles in a day to his minister called Tsangpai Shingta.
One day a man called Bahika came to the royal court and introduced himself as a student of Master Mari Tse. He prostrated to the king and narrated his story of being a student under the great master Mari Tse and hardship he faced while studying. Bahika was very much thankful to his master that he decided to repay his kindness through anything he could offer, but his master demanded an extraordinary woman as his servant. So he asked the king to give his queen along with the prince to him, so that he could offer them to his master. The grief-stricken king totally sunk in sorrows and gazed for a long time and slowly said that, “my beautiful Pema Den is my heart without whom I can’t live. My beloved son, he is the direct heir to the throne. I can’t bear losing them, yet if you wish to have them, then all I have is just yours, my fellow friend.” Thus, the mighty king gave his queen and prince to the man.
At the time when the country was mourning the great loss, the king of Kuru sent one of his men to the court of King Tsugna Norbu and told him to beg for the magical elephant which was already given to Tsangpai Shingta before. The king of Kuru was always unhappy and jealous about the wealth and the power that the King Tsugna Norbu was endowed with. So having understood the situation and the generosity of the king he sent his men to get hold of the elephant. The ministers couldn’t tolerate such humiliation and declared war against Kuru. King knew a war against Kuru isn’t a difficult task to carry on. He knew his armies would easily invade the country of Kuru but he hesitated to see the grave consequences. He knew that wars resulting the lost of many lives and wealth are because of the power and kingdom. It was miserable, the king was very much disturbed. At the very moment when the king was in pensive mood, four solitary realizers came flying from the deep forest and explained the bliss of solitude to the king. The king was very much inspired by the realizers and decided to reside with them. He left everything behind and went deep into the forest.
Like a hidden moon behind the northern ridges, their lord of the moon was no more to be seen, so the depressed ministers were left in the darkness. With the throne left vacant the ministers decided to go and see Master Mari Tse. Upon arriving there the ministers begged him to hand over their crown prince back. Having rightly judged the situation Master Mari Tse gave back their crown Prince. Back in the palace the crown prince was enthroned as the new king of Shaketa. The king himself being the commander fought the ‘Kurian battle’ and defeated them and drove them out as far as the province of Hatina city.
After the war, Kuru experienced drought for several months followed by famine and hunger throughout the country. The king of Kuru consulted with his ministers and decided to send somebody to search King Tsugna Norbu. Soon they knew that the king was meditating in the mountains of Riwo-Gangchen, far from their country. They sent five Brahmins to beg the Crown Jewel of the king Tsugna Norbu.
At that time, King Tsugna Norbu after his long meditation practice decided to take a break and go for a trip in the jungle. He arrived somewhere near the place where Master Mari Tse resided. He walked through the forest enjoying the freshness that nature served him, the running squirrels, the chirping sounds of the birds and the bright daylight sun above him was really such moment for him to rejoice. Suddenly in the middle of the forest he heard a women crying pitifully and in her mercy she cried out, ‘’Oh lord, please save me, I’m helpless “ and continued crying. He rushed to the scene and saw his queen surrounded by hunters. She was weak, frightened and helpless that she cried out painfully. The king vividly remembered the olden days in the palace where she was offered with all kinds of comforts and now looking at her pathetic condition, his heart became very cold that tears rolled down from his eyes. The king was filled with mixed feelings of joy and sadness to see his queen. The hunters seeing the king in old robes and his hair long and tied in an untidy bun thought he was a powerful ascetic. Fearing that he might curse them they ran away from the scene.
At the same time a demon came in a form of young man and in order to divert king’s interest from meditation, he praised the royal couple and he told that such a devoted queen would be difficult to find in the future and told the king to hold on to her. Queen also longed to stay with the king forever and expected the same thing to happen as told. But the king having renounced everything said to the queen, “my angel, please do not suffer as we depart, for this world is just a web of illusion. Our deluded mind is the cause of all suffering. Name and glory that we experience is like a glimpse of lightning that flashes across the sky. Suffering is the truth. Everyone around you, your parents, children even the trees and plants are like morning dew – so fragile, so transient and so uncertain, disappearing as soon as the Sun ascends his throne, so my dear queen it is better to go up in the mountains and meditate” having said that, the king left the scene, leaving the queen behind.
On his way back he met those five Brahmins who came searching for him and they narrated the whole story about the purpose of their visit to his place. The King felt sad about what had happened in Kuru, at the same time he felt happy because those Brahmins had come to seek help from him and he could render service to pacify the suffering of beings. So, without considering the pain, the king took out his sharp sword and cut off the wish fulfilling jewel of his head. He fell down on the ground as he couldn’t bear the pain, but still he was satisfied. He slowly rose from the ground, holding the jewel in his hands he prayed for the wellbeing of all sentient beings and gave away his jewel to the hermits. As soon as the jewel was brought to the country, it started to rain and with its miraculous powers all misfortunes ceased, bringing happiness and harmony to the country.
But to come back to the king Tsugna Norbu’s condition, the blood continued to flow from king’s head; he was so soaked in his own blood that he was hardly recognizable. The earth shook, the sky mourned and Deva’s flew from the heaven to see the King. The news of the King spread like wildfire and everybody – his son, the then king, ministers, his people, the queen and even Master Mari Tse came to see the king. Everybody present there including the Devas were amazed to see such a great sacrifice made by the king for the benefit of sentient beings. Queen Pema Den fainted seeing her king in such a condition. Master Mari Tse rose from the crowd and asked the king ‘’ Oh! Mighty king, is it worth giving your jewel to the Brahmins? Don’t you regret it? Or else, do you expect something great out of this?” The King calmly stood up, wiped his face that was covered with blood and said that he didn’t have any expectations and he had no regrets as it was done to benefit all sentient beings. To prove his words, king further went on by saying that, ‘’ If my words are true, may my wound heal instantly.’’ So as said by the king the wound healed immediately and his precious jewel also grew back.
Lord Indra and everybody present there including the queen, prince and the ministers prostrated before him and pleaded the king for him to rule the kingdom as before. But the king refused to take the throne and decided to leave the sumptuous life of the palace. When he was about to leave, those four solitary realizers who were also among the crowd made a request jointly to the king, ‘’If you could give away your own body for the sake of others then why not do so for your loved ones who had always wished your return?’’ With this they petitioned the king to rule the country. Then the king miraculously flew to his palace and ruled his kingdom peacefully everafter.
By Yeshi Rigzin
7th Year, NNI
