頂生王因緣經

At that time, the three guardians—the Heavenly King Dhṛtimat, the Heavenly King Dṛḍhahasta, and the Nāga King Jalavāsin—joined their strength together to do battle with the asuras. When they were victorious, the asuras were then defeated and at once fled into their palace. But if the asuras were victorious, the three guardians in the Heaven of the Thirty-three were defeated; and then the routed forces of the three would all draw one another up into the second tier of Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, and flee into the third tier, into the dwelling place of the Heavenly King Sadāmatta.

At that time the Heavenly King Sadāmatta, the Heavenly King Dhṛtimat, the Heavenly King Dṛḍhahasta, and the Nāga King Jalavāsin joined their strength together to fight with the asuras; being defeated, they fled back into their palace. But if the asuras were victorious, then the four guardians were defeated; and at once the routed forces of the four guardians in the Heaven of the Thirty-three of Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, would then go up to the fourth tier, into the dwelling place of the Four Great Heavenly Kings.

At that time the Four Great Heavenly Kings, the Heavenly King Sadāmatta, the Heavenly King Dhṛtimat, the Heavenly King Dṛḍhahasta, and the Nāga King Jalavāsin joined their strength together to fight with the asuras. If the five guardians were victorious, then the asuras were defeated and fled back into their palace. But if the asuras were victorious, then the five guardians were defeated; and at once the forces of the five guardians in the Heaven of the Thirty-three were shattered.

They then went from the fourth tier of Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, to the dwelling place of Śakra in the Heaven of the Thirty-three. Wishing to destroy the asura army utterly, the forces of the five guardians were therefore made ready again, and the four divisions of troops came to the place of the god Śakra to ask leave to do battle.

At that time the Four Great Heavenly Kings entered the palace of the god Śakra and reported:

"Lord of the Devas, the asura host has brought troops to wage war against our four kinds of troops. The five hosts of heaven have all been shattered and have fled. Today we have come to the place of the Lord of the Devas, for the asura host is mightier than we are. We humbly beg the Lord of the Devas to grant us strength."

When Śakra, Lord of the Devas, heard the report of the gods, he said to the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-three:

"You should know that the asura host has the strength to do battle. They have shattered the five guardian hosts, and you have had to come here to seek battle with me. I shall grant you strength."

Śakra, Lord of the Devas, thought: "There must be the elephant-king Suppatiṭṭhita to carry me forth."

The elephant-king Suppatiṭṭhita knew the thought of the god Śakra. Just as a strong man might bend or stretch his arm, in but a moment the elephant-king came from Jambudvīpa to the Heaven of the Thirty-three, manifesting thirty-two heads. Each head had six tusks; on each tusk were forty-nine pools; in each pool were forty-nine lotuses; in each lotus were forty-nine palaces; in each palace were forty-nine pavilions; in each pavilion were forty-nine guards; each guard had forty-nine devīs; each devī had forty-nine attendant maidens; each attendant maiden played forty-nine heavenly drums. Śakra sat upon the foremost, supreme head of the elephant-king, while the other thirty-two gods, in their order, rode upon the manifested elephant-heads in great ease.

The other gods, moreover, stood according to their stations. When the elephant-king moved, it was swifter than the wind, so that the devas and devīs could not see the head or tail of the elephant-king.

When the elephant-king Suppatiṭṭhita had come into the Heaven of the Thirty-three, he then went to the southern gate of the Coarse-and-Firm Garden, and using his spiritual power manifested the forms of humans and gods, sporting joyfully together with the devas.

At that time, Śakra, Lord of the Devas, sat upon the elephant-king together with the four divisions of troops, arrayed and clad in armor made of the four kinds of treasure—a mighty host, eager, bearing the four kinds of sharp weapons to do battle with the asuras.

When King Mūrdhāta saw such an event, he reported to Śakra:

"Lord of the Devas, today you are deploying your troops and setting your array; I too wish to join my strength with yours."

The Lord of the Devas replied:

"As you wish; now is indeed the right time."

King Mūrdhāta, together with eighteen koṭis of mighty troops, rose up into the open sky and drew his bowstring, the sound issuing forth with divine swiftness. When the asura host heard this sound, they hastily asked:

"Who has drawn a bowstring like this?"

There was one who knew, and answered:

"This is the sound of King Mūrdhāta drawing his bowstring."

When the asura host heard this, their hearts were filled with utter astonishment. While the gods and the asura host were fighting, their forces evenly matched with neither victory nor defeat decided, the troops of King Mūrdhāta then appeared. The troops of King Mūrdhāta, standing in the open sky, were exceedingly powerful and far more valiant than the army of the asuras. At that time the asuras reflected and said:

"Long ago I heard the fame of this King Mūrdhāta among humankind—valiant, dignified, possessed of great merit and virtue, his majestic virtue lofty beyond compare. He has now passed beyond the open sky, higher than ourselves."

Having spoken thus, the asuras, terrified, fled back into their palace. King Mūrdhāta asked his officials:

"To whom now does the victory belong?"

"Sire, the victory is yours."

The king then reflected: "I have conquered the Heaven of the Thirty-three; I have ruled over the southern Jambudvīpa, the eastern Pūrvavideha, the western Aparagodānīya, and the northern Uttarakuru. I possess the seven treasures and have a thousand sons; I have supreme physical form and valor, and fear no subjugation by other armies. Moreover, in my palace it has rained gold coins for seven days.

I have come to the Heaven of the Thirty-three and entered the palace of Śakra, and have been granted to sit upon half the throne in the Hall of the Good Dharma. If Śakra, Lord of the Devas, should pass away and leave behind this sovereign station, I would become the king ruling over the world of the gods as well as the world of humans, the supreme one among gods and humans—would that not be most delightful?" When the king had just given rise to such a thought, his majestic power and spiritual penetration were at once extinguished, and he fell back down to his old palace in Jambudvīpa, his body afflicted by all manner of sicknesses and pains, growing gaunt and worn, drawing near to death.

At that time, among the officials there was an aged elder who came and reported to the king:

"Son of Heaven, if hereafter someone should come and ask, 'When King Mūrdhāta was about to pass away, did he say anything?'—at that time, how should we answer them?"

The king said:

"After I have passed away, if someone should come and ask thus, you are to answer: 'Great King Mūrdhāta possessed supreme majestic virtue and was complete with the seven treasures; he was the sole one complete with four spiritual powers. What are the four? They are:

1. King Mūrdhāta was granted a long life span in the world, passing through all of one hundred and fifteen reigns of Śakra. This is the first spiritual power, concerning life span.

2. King Mūrdhāta had a fine and surpassing, supreme bearing, with the form of a god, surpassing humankind. This is the second spiritual power, concerning physical form.

3. King Mūrdhāta was complete in all necessities, with little sickness and little sorrow, robust in vigor and strength; his food and drink digested entirely on their own; he was free of illness; the seasons were of themselves harmonious, neither cold nor hot; and according to the activities of life, all was peaceful and joyful. This is the third spiritual power, concerning freedom from sickness.

4. All who beheld King Mūrdhāta delighted to gaze upon him without weariness, just as a child cherishes his father. King Mūrdhāta in turn was anxious for and loving toward the people, giving rise to a joyful heart as a father loves his child. At times, when the king went out to view the upper gardens, he would say to the charioteer: 'You may let the chariot advance slowly, so that the people may gaze upon my countenance.' The people in turn would say to the charioteer: 'Sir, please let the chariot go slowly, that we may behold the excellent marks of the king.' This is the fourth spiritual power, concerning being loved and delighted in."

King Mūrdhāta was the loftiest of lords, ruling over the four great continents, and afterward came to the Heaven of the Thirty-three, where Śakra divided half of his throne for him. Complete with such things as these, yet toward the five desires the king still felt no sense of having enough.

When he was about to pass away, the king spoke a verse:

How wretched is the world, craving the realm of desire;
Though jewels be many, it knows no satisfaction.
Therein the pleasure is little, but the suffering is great;
The wise see clearly such things as these.

Even as for the pleasures of desire within the world of the gods,
A heart of craving and attachment is therefore not liberated.
Who is able to sever the very root?
Only the noble disciples of the Compassionate Honored One.

If one reflects that craving desire is the cause of suffering,
Why, facing the realm of desire, does one still crave and cling?
Craving and clinging are the root of the world's suffering;
The wise, subduing them, should study this skillfully.

The Buddha said:

"Great King, for this reason King Mūrdhāta further said: 'Very few people in the world are able, within the realm of the five desires, to understand clearly and know what is enough, and thus at last come to the end of life. Many people in the world, within the realm of the five desires, are not awakened, and give rise to no heart of weariness or of knowing what is enough, and so at last come to the end of life.'"

Furthermore, for the benefit of all people of later ages, King Mūrdhāta spoke a verse:

In utmost evil one revolves within birth-and-death;
Knowing clearly that the life span lessens accordingly,
One must swiftly cultivate the wholesome practices;
Not cultivating meritorious practices, one therefore suffers.

Thus the cultivation of merit is the loftiest of all;
According with the giving of gifts as the Dharma prescribes,
In this life and in the other life as well,
By cultivating merit and wisdom one attains rejoicing.

At that time, hundreds of thousands, an incalculable number of the people of the realm, hearing that the king had fallen ill, all hastened to visit and inquire after him. King Mūrdhāta took up the matters of craving and desire and the methods for counteracting them, expounding them broadly for everyone, causing many people to forsake their households and go forth to study the Way. At that time there were incalculable hundreds of thousands of people who, hearing this teaching, then went forth and cultivated the four pure conducts. Moreover, many people cut off craving and desire and were born into the realm of the Brahmā Heaven.

The Buddha said:

"Great King, that King Mūrdhāta, from his infancy until the time he became Crown Prince and ascended the royal station, ruled over the realms of the southern Jambudvīpa, the eastern Pūrvavideha, the western Aparagodānīya, and the northern Uttarakuru; he held the station of a wheel-turning king over the seven golden mountains and came to the Heaven of the Thirty-three. Passing through these stations, during that time there were in all one hundred and fourteen reigns of Śakra.

"Great King, you should know that the life span of Śakra is reckoned thus: one hundred years among humans equals one day and night in the Heaven of the Thirty-three; thirty days and nights are one month; and a year likewise has twelve months. The life span of Śakra is one thousand years, which equals three koṭis and six million years among humans.

"Great King, formerly, when King Mūrdhāta gave rise to the thought of desire in the Heaven of the Thirty-three, when Śakra, Lord of the Devas, divided for him half the throne to sit upon, at that time it was the bhikṣu Kāśyapa who had newly become Śakra. King Mūrdhāta then gave rise to a thought such as this: 'If Śakra, Lord of the Devas, should pass away from this throne, I would become king of both the world of the gods and the world of humans—would that not be most delightful!'

"At that time it was Kāśyapa Tathāgata who was Śakra, Lord of the Devas. King Mūrdhāta was a man of great renown, possessed of measureless merit; yet in but a single thought he gave rise to a mind of error, and thereby his spiritual power was diminished and he fell, bound by afflictions and sicknesses, and had to pass away."

The Buddha said:

"Great King, King Mūrdhāta was no stranger; he is none other than I Myself now. At that time I bestowed benefit and peace and joy upon all living beings everywhere, attaining to the unsurpassed; yet I was beset by the various māra-obstacles to Unsurpassed, Perfect, Complete Enlightenment. By reason of this causal connection, it came about that such an event occurred."

At that time, the great King Prasenajit of the country of Kosala suddenly conceived a doubt, and coming before the Buddha said:

"World-Honored One, by what cause did King Mūrdhāta cultivate, and what deeds did he perform, in remote kalpas long past, that he should experience the fruit whereby, in the king's palace, gold coins rained down of themselves for seven days?"

The Buddha replied:

"Great King, in a remote and distant time long past, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world, named Sarvābhibhū Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Completely Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Persons to Be Tamed, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One. At that time the son of an elder came to a certain country and, according to the rites and customs, took a girl in marriage.

The wife took the four kinds of treasure and fashioned them into a beautiful flower-garland, and cooked various delicious and sweet foods to provide for her husband. The husband, having received them, took the garland of treasure-flowers and turned back; and on the road he saw the Buddha Sarvābhibhū Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Completely Enlightened, advancing with calm and measured steps. When the elder's son saw that the Buddha, the World-Honored One, was adorned with the thirty-two excellent marks, he at once gave rise to a heart of reverent faith, delight, and utmost purity.

He descended from his chariot and, with reverence, offered up the flowers in homage. Because the Buddha, the World-Honored One, possessed the power of majestic spirit, He transformed those treasure-flowers so that they became as large as wheels, revolving in circles in the open sky, or flying without ceasing. The elder, giving rise to a pure heart, spoke a verse:

By reason of this vast and great giving of alms,
May I become a Buddha, with the world's wisdom natural and spontaneous;
May I swiftly escape the stream of birth-and-death,
And all who have not yet been delivered, may they be delivered.

The Buddha said:

"Great King, it was by reason of that causal connection that, in King Mūrdhāta's palace, gold coins rained down of themselves for seven days."

The great King Prasenajit again said to the Buddha:

"World-Honored One, by what condition did King Mūrdhāta become a king commanding all four great continents, and was able to come to the Heaven of the Thirty-three?"

"Great King, in a remote and distant time long past, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world, named Vipaśyin Tathāgata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Completely Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed and Upright One, Tamer of Persons to Be Tamed, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, World-Honored One. This Buddha took the True Dharma and taught and transformed living beings, and little by little He came to the city of Bandhumatī.

One day, when the Tathāgata entered the city to beg for alms, there was at that time a merchant-chief named Mahākaraṇa who saw that the Tathāgata possessed surpassing and rarely-met excellent marks as He went begging for alms in due order. He gave rise to a pure heart and took a little mung bean and placed it into the bowl as an offering to the World-Honored One. Four beans went into the bowl, while the remaining one bean revolved in a circle, gave forth a sound, and then fell to the ground; and however many other beans there were, they too fell down accordingly.

When the merchant-chief saw this, he gave rise to a pure heart and made a vow:

By reason of this vast and broad giving of alms,
May I become a Buddha, with the world's wisdom natural and spontaneous;
May I swiftly escape the stream of birth-and-death,
And all who have not yet been delivered, may they be delivered.

The Buddha said:

"Great King, though the merchant-chief made but a small offering to Vipaśyin Tathāgata, yet because of his pure heart, in that four beans went into the bowl of the Tathāgata, he afterward gained the meritorious reward of becoming a king commanding the four great continents; and as for the one bean that fell into the bowl, gave forth a sound, and only then fell to the ground, he gained the meritorious reward whereby he was able to come to the Heaven of the Thirty-three.

"Furthermore, Great King, had that bean not fallen to the ground but been placed within the bowl, the merchant-chief would afterward most certainly have become a lord within the world of the gods; but because it fell to the ground, he gained only the lordship of ruling over humankind.

"Great King, that merchant-chief was none other than King Mūrdhāta. Because, with respect to the Buddha, he had planted roots of goodness and was received by the World-Honored One's great compassion, he therefore gained a great fruit of reward, complete with great majestic virtue and much good repute. Therefore one of wisdom such as the Great King should, with respect to the Buddha, the World-Honored One, according to his own capacity, cultivate the practices of giving. What I teach should be studied in this way."