King Milindu (Menander I) & Arahanth Nagasena (Part 9)
From TheBuddhism.Net
King Milindu continued with his fourth special question…
4) Venerable Sir, there are eight occurrences which cause the Earth to tremble (vibrate). They are, thepowerful atmospheric disturbances; the development of intense concentration to a boundless degree on the liquid element by a powerful ascetic or a deva; conceiving, birth, attaining enlightenment, preaching & spreading Dhamma, renouncing the will to live on, and finally attaining Parinirvana, of a Buddha. If so, why did the Earth tremble seven times when King Wessanthara gave away his worldly possessions like the Royalty, wife and the children?
Dear King, there are seven people who experienced immediate results of their meritorious deeds in their existing life, itself (Dittadhammavedaniya Kamma).
They are:
1. The florist Sumana, who offered the flowers he was taking to King Bimbisara without considering the wrath he might get from the king, to our Great Buddha. Instead of punishing him, the king rewarded him extensively.
2. The Brahmin named ‘Chulla Eka Sataka’, who was named thus because he & his wife only had one outer garment (an Indian toga) which they took turns to cover themselves with when going out of the hut. After hearing a sermon by our Great Buddha, he offered his toga to the Buddha. The Brahmin got the result of that great deed the same day when King Pasenadi Kosala rewarded him hearing of his great sacrifice.
3. The poor laborer Poorna, who gave alms to Arahanth Sariputhra and in turn, was rewarded with great wealth akin to a baron.
4. The maiden named Mallika, became the consort of King Pasenadi Kosala on the same day she offered a snack made out of barley to our Great Buddha.
5. The poor baroness ‘Gopala Matha’, who sold her hair and gave alms from the money she got, to Arahanth Kasayin & eight monks , became the consort of King of Udena.
6. Devotee Suppiya, who offered a portion of flesh from her thigh to a sick monk and was on the verge of death when our Great Buddha visited her. As soon as she saw the Buddha she became well and after listening to our Great Buddha’s sermon attained ‘sothapanna’, the first stage of enlightenment.
7. Poor servant Punna, was going to have a bath carrying an oil cake, which was her sole food for the day. When she saw our Great Buddha, she offered it to him and in turn attained ‘sothapanna’, the first stage of enlightenment after listening to his sermon.
The fame of these people was spread as far as the heavens. But, the Earth didn’t tremble when these incidents happened.
On the other hand, King Wessanthara being a virtuous person gave alms with a mind rid of desire, hatred, ignorance, conceit & wrong beliefs. His only aim was to fulfill the perfection of giving (Dana Paramitha) which was one of the ten perfections needed to attain the Buddha hood. He wanted to see the happiness in the faces of the poor after they got whatever they wanted abundantly. He didn’t give alms wishing for more wealth and heavenly comforts or to gain the admiration of the others. He gave alms not to have power, long life, beauty & happiness, or lot of followers and a good family life in his next births. He gave alms wishing only for the Buddha hood.
Once our Great Buddha said, “Dear monks, when I was born as Wessanthara, I gave away my two children ‘Jaliya’ & ‘Krushnajina’, and my consort ‘Princess Mandree’ renouncing my love for them, wishing for Buddha hood.”
When King Wessanthara gave away his great wealth, family & Royalty, rid of desire for them, which another person could never make up his mind to give, the air couldn’t stop shuddering from the power of those magnificent deeds. In turn, the water on the Earth too vibrated, shaking the Earth itself.
This is similar to a pot of rice on the fireplace. First, the fire heats up the pot; then the pot heats up the water, which in turn heats up the rice grains. The earth crust is situated on the water and the water is connected to the air in the space.
Dear king, there are so many types of valuable gems like Sapphires, Topazes, Cats Eyes in this world; but these are all inferior to the ‘Universal Gem’ belonging to the Universal Monarch. It illuminates the environs. Similarly, the greatest alms giving in this world is ‘asadisa daana’ which even a Buddha gets only once, in his entire life. King Pasenadi Kosala gave it to our Gauthama Buddha.
But, all these are substandard when compared with the alms given by King Wessanthara, because his sole wish was to attain Buddha Hood.
When Prince Wessanthara wanted to sacrifice his life at the age of seven, wishing for Buddha Hood, the Earth trembled for the first time. When he gave away his Royal elephant to a Brahmin, when he renounced royalty and embraced monastic life, when he gave away his children to the old Brahmin ‘Jujaka’, when he gave away his consort to ‘Shakra’ who came in the guise of a Brahmin, when he came to ‘Wankagiri’ to eliminate the suffering of his relatives and when he came to his capital city ‘Jayathura’ and thought of giving away more alms were the times the Earth trembled.
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King Wessantraa conviction to be a Buddha for others is earth shattering which is why he became a Buddha.