The story of a Zombie was written by Nagarjuna in an interesting series. In this series, a master meets a young begger named Chandrakirti (he was later named ‘Dechö Sangpo’ by the master). The master sends Dechö Sangpo to retrieve a golden zombie in a large cremation ground near Mt. Sri Parvata. The zombie was a skilled orator so the boy had to carefully retrieve the zombie without uttering a word. In each retrieval attempt, the zombie narrates fascinating stories and makes the boy speak. If a word slips from the boy’s mouth, the zombie will return to its place and the boy has to start the retrieving process again. From this year, we will publish each series each issue.
This chapter shows how the young beggar Chandrakirti meets a master, how he was given the name Prince Dechö Sangpo and how the master instructs him in the process of retrieving the zombie.
Prologue
Long ago in south India, there was a master called Nagarjuna who took successive rebirths as a scholar for many lifetimes. One day when he was residing at Mount Sri Parvata, composing many texts related to secular and religious topics, he thought to himself, “I need a disciple, a worthy recipient of my teachings.” He was in deep meditation thinking upon this.
To the south of the solitary place where he lived, there was a cliff and on its wall was a raven’s nest. In the valley below, there was a king and he had a son, the prince. The prince had two attendants: a rich man’s son and a beggar’s son. The latter was quick and intelligent.
One time, the prince took both the rich man’s son and the beggar’s son with him and went to the nearby Mount Sri Parvata for recreation. As soon as they arrived at the summit of the mountain, they saw the raven’s nest on the wall of the cliff. They collected stones and filled their pockets with them. As soon as they neared the cliff, the prince commanded both of them, “The three of us will make a promise not to return until we have destroyed the raven’s nest.” Thus they each took this oath. Then they started to hit the nest with the stones. When the day became warm, the prince said, “I have whatever I need in this life—subjects, retinue and wealth. For the life after this one, I have given charity for religious purposes and I can still do so in the future. Like the deer on top of a mountain, let the oath be carried away. I am quitting.”
The beggar’s son said, “I haven’t been a deceiver before by breaking any promise so it won’t be appropriate for me to break this one either.” Saying this, he collected a pocket full of stones and struck the nest. The rich man’s son said, “The prince, being powerful, took this oath himself and needlessly made us do the same. But he himself broke the promise and quit, also needlessly. We two, being unable to break the oath, are staying here.” Saying this, he too continued to strike the nest.
When the sun was about to set, the rich man’s son said, “I am unable to destroy the nest. Let my oath, like the deer on top of a mountain, be carried away. As for this life, I have the wealth that I need. If one has wealth, one can naturally achieve wisdom and fame. I am going.” Saying this, the rich man’s son went off. The beggar’s son thought, “As he was a rich man’s son, he wasn’t able to endure the pain. But I, Chandrakirti1, a lowly beggar, will not quit until I destroy the nest, even if I die.” Saying this, he took a pocketful of stones and continued to strike the nest.
When it became dusk, a retreat master whose hair flowed down to his shoulders appeared from the raven’s nest and banged the beggar’s son, with his face upwards, against the ground so hard that stars shone in his head, and then again banged him with his face downwards against the ground so that he fell unconscious. Then the master said to the beggar’s son, “Listen to me, you beggar’s son, the colour of water has turned gold. The owl’s cry can be heard from the rock. The birds who have nests will return to their dwelling. Those who don’t have nests are going in search of nests. The humans who have homes will go to their homes and those who don’t have dwellings have gone in search of them. In this valley, no one is as powerful as the king and he has already returned to his residence in the morning. There is no one who is richer in wealth than the rich man’s son and he has also left a long time back. I am in retreat and you have hit the retreat door with stones. Do you have anything to offer by doing so?”
The beggar’s son replied to the master, “I never thought that you were there in retreat. Three of us—the prince, the rich man’s son and I—took an oath not to return as long as this nest had not been taken out. The prince, who has the endowments of wealth, servants, power and courage, has departed without respecting the oath. And the rich man’s son too disdained the oath because he has bounteous wealth and possessions. Since I am a poor man’s son, how am I able to offer you anything? Respecting the oath, I am still here striking the nest.”
The master thought to himself that even though this boy was not born in the family of a chieftain or a rich person, he had great intelligence and because of that he probably would be able to endure hardships.
The spiritual master asked him, “Do you have parents?”
“If one has parents, one is fortunate enough to have accumulated such merit. If one has wealth in hand, even the name of poverty will cease to exist. Alas! Moments ago, I told you about my merit,” the boy replied.
After that the spiritual master went to Mount Sri Parvata taking the beggar’s son along with him as his attendant. During that time, at Mount Sri Parvata there was a large cremation ground and it was encircled by many servant zombies, and in the midst of them, there was an old zombie named Siddhi Sagar. He was a skilled orator and if one could capture him by refraining from answering his questions, there was a possibility of acquiring a gold mine at Mount Parvata that could benefit many beings.
Therefore, in order to retrieve that corpse, the master named the young beggar Chandrakirti Prince Dechö Sangpo, and gave him a net, a sword, a pickaxe and a noose.
Then the master made aspiration prayers for the prince, blessed him on an auspicious day, and then said to him, “You, Prince Dechö Sangpo, undertake hardship, cultivate exertion and effort, and whatever the corpse says to you, come back without answering him. A boundary has been set up at each of the four directions of this retreat place. If you manage to bring the zombie back on your first attempt, then you can cross the boundary and come in. If you end up breaking your silence by unwittingly responding to his questions, you have to start your journey again to catch the zombie, as it will escape suddenly after you speak. This food of roasted flour mixed with butter will sustain you for seven days. If you fail to retrieve the zombie within that time, come to the eastern boundary of the retreat place. You will find food of roasted flour mixed with butter to sustain you for seven more days. The zombie’s body doesn’t turn into gold below its knee. If you do not work hard, you won’t be able to acquire the gold mine. I will also strive in meditative and accomplishment practices. You should also be determined and diligently work to make sure that you obtain the gold mine for the genuine benefit of beings.”
Then the master had another thought: If Dechö Sangpo failed to capture the zombie within seven days, he might cross the retreat boundary and come in. Therefore he added, “If you are not able to capture the zombie within seven days or a fortnight, come to the southern boundary. I have put up a notice there. If you don’t have a corpse on your back at that time, there is no use coming inside the retreat boundary. Therefore, be determined and work hard.” Speaking thus, the master went inside.
Then the prince Dechö Sangpo carried with him the net, a pickaxe, a sword, a noose and a big leather bag filled with the provision of roasted flour with butter and proceeded towards the big cremation ground.
To be continued…
Loponma Kalsang Dolma
NNNI
