Some bhikshus asked the Buddha, “Oh Lord! When you were escaping from the palace, your wife Yashodhara was expecting a baby. Moreover, when you were undergoing hardship for six years and got enlightened by achieving the vajra-like samadhi, your wife Yashodhara gave birth to a baby boy1 who resembled you. As it had been six years since you left home, your father King Suddhodana didn’t believe the boy to be your child and took the baby to be killed. However, the baby was saved as there appeared a message not to kill him due to a compassionate miracle of the Buddha. Again, the king tied the baby up against a rock, cursed him and threw him into a river but instead of drowning, the baby automatically got loose and sat in a cross-legged posture on the rock. Still, your father couldn’t pacify his anger and was burning with it. Due to these severe confrontations, Yashodhara was greatly saddened. What is the cause of these consequences?”
The Buddha responded, “A long time ago, there was a city called Kapila which was ruled by a king named Brahmadatta, who was an expert swordsman and had defeated all his enemies, including their armies.
“One day, the king went into the forest riding on a horse. It was very hot day and sweat rolled down his cheeks like pearls. As he strolled through the forest little animals playfully came and stared at him. In the same forest, there lived a sage, who was performing penance. One fine day before, a thirsty female deer had come near the hermit and drank the sage’s urine, due to which the deer got pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The baby was named Pema Chenma—Lotus-Endowed—because wherever she took steps, lotuses would spring.
“Pema Chenma was heading towards the river to fetch water when the king saw her. The king was staggered to see such a beauty in the forest and fell in love with her at first sight. Seeing that she was suitable to be his consort, he asked her to be his spouse. Talking for a while, they introduced themselves to each other in detail and Pema Chenma also happened to fall in love with the king. She asked the king to stay at the bank of the river and went back home. Telling everything about the meeting to her father the sage, she expressed her desire to marry the king.
“The sage said, ‘Engaging yourself in worldly life instead of settling in isolation is like wrapping yourself into the net of suffering. Nonetheless, show me the king.’ Pema Chenma took her father to the king and introduced them to each other. Seeing he was suitable for Pema Chenma, the sage gave her hand to the king saying, ‘This girl has always lived in isolation in the forest so do not speak to her with harsh words and never show her your temper.’ Thus the sage requested and the king also promised that he would take care of her until the end of his life. Saying this, they rode back towards the palace and the queen’s enthronement ceremony was celebrated with great enthusiasm.
“Later, when the queen was expecting a baby, the other queens got jealous and made a plot that Pema Chenma’s eyes should be tied with a ribbon, so the unborn child could be killed. When the time came and she was about to deliver, they tied her eyes with a ribbon and smeared her face with blood according to their plan. Poor Pema Chenma, since she was a daughter of an animal who had always lived in isolation, never sensed their plan and agreed to do whatever they asked for. Then she gave birth to beautiful twins whose complexions were just like purified gold. But the other queens reported to her that she had given birth to two lumps of flesh instead of babies and they put the babies into a box and threw it into a river.
“Later when the king visited the queen and asked about the babies, the other queens and the people who were united with them reported that she gave birth to beautiful twins but as she was a flesh-eater, she ate both the babies. Seeing the queen’s face and lips covered with blood, the king got shocked and ordered that the queen be taken outside the palace and killed as her punishment. But there was a wise minister called Dirghamati who thought that this might be a plot of the other queens and he took her to hide in his residence instead of killing her.
“One day, Shantala, the goddess of Pema Chenma’s previous home, appeared in the sky and said to the king, ‘You punished a faultless queen without investigation. Pema Chenma is a daughter of an animal and, being ignorant, she relied on others. That was an ill act of the other queens’ jealous scheme.’ Hearing this, the king fell down unconscious with great grief. Later, when he regained his senses, he mentioned what the goddess had said and commanded that the other queens should also be killed for their crime. They got terrified and confessed their guilt.
“In the meantime, some fishermen who had come from the river Ganga offered a royal sealed box to the king, which was found in the river. The king opened the box and found two beautiful babies inside. All the people proclaimed that the babies resembled him. He held both the babies on his lap, burst into tears and with intense grief he said, ‘Separating from such a consort! Now I have no opportunity to get her back again!’ Then the wise minister Dirghamati reported that the queen was still alive. Hearing this, the king’s happiness knew no bounds as if he were getting a new life. He insisted that the minister show him the queen and the minister took the king to his residence.
“When the king met the queen, he said, ‘Look, I have put those queens to death who did such a disservice to you.’ The queen responded, ‘Oh lord! Do not say this! If you reply to anger with anger, the anger will increase. If you reply to hatred with hatred, there will be no end to your enemies, just as, if you add more wood in order to extinguish a blazing fire, it will blaze up more instead. All the happiness and suffering of sentient beings are the effects of their past deeds. If you practice patience for hatred, everything will be supportive and friendly. Now, I’m going to my father’s place in the forest.’ The king insisted to her not to leave but she didn’t listen and went. Upon her arrival in the forest, all the animals surrounded her and welcomed her. She went to her father’s hermitage and there she found the place was empty and learned that he had already passed away. Thus, she came to realize that all the three worldly realms are impermanent in nature.
“With extreme sadness, she wandered alone towards Varanasi. There the king of Varanasi, Titi, got attracted to her and embraced her with love and respect. At that time, King Brahmadatta sent some people to investigate about Pema Chenma and after hearing about her presence in Varanasi, he went there in the disguise of a Brahmin. There he met her and took her back to the palace.
“The lotuses under Pema Chenma’s feet never appeared after she got separated from the king. But after reuniting with the king her steps were endowed with lotuses once again. These were the result of her merit accumulated from offering lotuses to a Pratyekabuddha. She took those flowers back owing to her attachment towards the flowers and for that, the endowment of flowers disappeared for a period of time and even her life was at risk. Owing to her deep devotion towards the Pratyekabuddha, however, again she offered the bunch of lotuses to him and because of his blessing she became endowed with the lotuses once again and spent the rest of her life happily.
“So, Pema Chenma is Yashodhara and because of the impact of her own karma, she experienced so much of suffering and was also scolded by my father.” Thus the Buddha stated and all the assembled people were mesmerized by hearing this.
By Rinchen Wangmo
7th year, NNNI
