23.



Even before the rebirth of their Teacher, this Kappina obtained a new conception in a frontier district, in a city named Kukkutavati, in the king's household. The rest of the men [who in a previous state of existence had been his companions and had performed works of merit with him] were reborn in that same city in the families of ministers of the king. Prince Kappina on the death of his father raised the royal parasol and became known as King Kappina the Great.

The woman who had been the mistress of his household in the former state of existence in which each had performed works of merit, was reborn in a royal household of birth equal to his own, and became the chief consort of King Kappina the Great. And because her body was of the hue of the anoja flower, she became known as Queen Anoja.

King Kappina the Great was versed in sacred lore and right conduct. He rose very early in the morning and despatched messengers quickly from the four gates, saying: "Where you encounter men who have heard much sacred lore, who retain what sacred lore they have heard, there turn back and bring me word."

Now at that time their Teacher, reborn in the world of men, was in residence near Savatthi. At that time traders residing in the city of Savatthi, obtaining in Savatthi goods confiscated from rebels, went to the city of Kukkutavati. Having put away their goods, they went to the gate of the king's residence, carrying presents in their hands, with the thought in their minds: "We will see the king." "The king has gone to the pleasure-garden." Hearing this, they went to the pleasure-garden, stopped at the gate, and announced themselves to the guard.

When announcement was made to the king, he caused them to be summoned. They handed over their presents, bowed, and stood upright. "Friends, whence come you?" asked he. "From Savatthi, your majesty." "I trust that your country is well supplied with food, and that you have a righteous ruler for your king." "Yes, your majesty." "But is there any news at all in your district?" "There is, your majesty. But we cannot tell it with leavings of food in our mouths."

The king caused water to be given them in a golden ewer. They rinsed out their mouths, faced in the direction of the Possessor of the Ten Forces, stretched out their joined hands towards him in an attitude of reverent salutation, and said: "Your majesty, in our district has arisen the Jewel of the Buddha!" The very instant the king heard that word, joy sprang up within him, suffusing his entire body. Then he said: "Friends, do you say 'The Buddha'?" "Your majesty, we say 'The Buddha.' " Three times in this manner did he cause them to say the word. (The word "Buddha" is not to be compassed; it was impossible for him to compass it.)

In that very word reposing faith, he caused them to be given a hundred thousand pieces of money. "What news have you besides?" asked he. "Your majesty, the Jewel of the Doctrine has arisen!" Hearing that word also, in the same manner did he obtain assurance from them three times, and give them another thousand pieces of money besides. Again he asked: "What other news have you?" "The Jewel of the Order, your majesty, has arisen!" Hearing that word also, in the same manner did he obtain assurance from them three times, and give them another thousand pieces of money besides.

Having so done, the king scratched on a palm-leaf a record of his gifts, and despatched them with it, saying: "Friends, go to the queen." When they had gone, he asked his ministers: "Friends, the Buddha has arisen in the world. What do you intend to do?" "Your majesty, what do you desire to do?" "I intend to retire from the world and become a monk." "We also will retire from the world and become monks." They all, with never a look at either house or treasure, retired from the world on the very same horses on which they were mounted.

The dealers went to Queen Anoja and showed her the palm-leaf. She read it and asked: "Friends, the king has given you many pieces of money. What did you do?" "Your majesty, we brought him news which pleased him." "Friends, may we also ask to hear you?" "You may, your majesty. But we cannot speak with leavings of food in our mouths." She caused them to be given water in a golden ewer. They rinsed out their mouths and made announcement to the queen in precisely the same terms as they had made announcement to the king. In her case also, when she heard the words, delight sprang up within her. Just as had the king, so also did the queen, at each several word, obtain assurance from them three times, and each time she received assurance from them, give them three hundred thousand pieces of money, making nine hun- dred thousand pieces of money in all. Thus the dealers received in all twelve hundred thousand pieces of money.

Then she asked them: "The king,--where is he, friends?" "Your majesty, he has retired from the world with the intention of becoming a monk." Then she dismissed them, saying: "Very well, friends, you may go." Having summoned the wives of the ministers in the retinue of the king, she asked: "Ladies, do you know where your husbands went?" "We know, your majesty. They went with the king to divert themselves in the pleasure-garden." "True, ladies, so they did. But when they got there, they heard: 'The Buddha has arisen; the Doctrine has arisen; the Order has arisen;' and hearing, they resolved: 'We will retire from the world and become monks under the Possessor of the Ten Forces;' and resolving, they departed. What do you intend to do?" "But, your majesty, what do you desire to do?" "I intend to retire from the world and become a nun. The vomit they have vomited I will not put on the tip of my tongue." "If that is the case, we also will retire from the world and become nuns." And causing chariots to be harnessed, they retired from the world.

Now the king, with his thousand ministers, reached the bank of the Ganges. But at this time the Ganges was full. When the king saw this, he said: "The Ganges here is full, and swarms with savage fish. Moreover we have with us no slaves or men to make boats or rafts for us. But of this Teacher the virtues extend from beneath to the Peak of Existence above. If this Teacher be the Supremely Enlightened Buddha, may not the tips of the hoofs of these horses be wetted!"

They caused the horses to spring forward on the surface of the water. Of not a single horse was so much as the tip of the hoof wetted. On a king's highway proceeding, as it were, they went to the far shore. Farther on they reached another river. There, was needed no other Act of Truth. By that same Act of Truth, that river also,--half a league in breadth, did they cross over. Then they reached the third river, the mighty river Candabhaga.

That river also, by that same Act of Truth, did they cross over. Now the Teacher, arising on that day at time of dawn from a Trance of Great Compassion, and surveying the world, saw the following: "To-day Kappina the Great, having renounced a kingdom three hundred leagues in extent, with a retinue of a thousand ministers, will come hither to retire from the world and become a monk under me." And he reflected: "It is proper that We should go forth to meet them."

Accordingly, very early in the morning, having made his toilet, accompanied by the Congregation of Monks, he made his round for alms in Savatthi; and when he had returned from his round for alms and had eaten his breakfast, he himself, alone, taking bowl and robe, flew up into the air. Now on Candabhaga's bank, at a spot facing the landing-place on the river where they crossed, stood a giant banyan tree. There he sat down cross-legged, setting Mindfulness before him, diffusing the six-colored rays of a Buddha.

The king and his thousand ministers, crossing at that landing-place, beheld the rays of a Buddha darting hither and thither, saw the countenance of a Buddha resplendent with the glory of the full moon, and at the mere seeing, said: "This must certainly be the Teacher for whose sake we have retired from the world." And coming to the landing-place, and bowing low all the way from the place where they had seen what they saw, until they reached the Candabhaga, they saluted the Teacher. The king, grasping the Teacher by the ankles, saluted him, and seated himself on one side, surrounded by his thousand ministers.

The Teacher preached the Doctrine to them. At the conclusion of the discourse every one of them became established in Sainthood, and asked the Teacher for admission to the Order. Teacher, knowing, "Because in a previous state of existence these men gave the gift of robes, therefore they have come with robes of their own," stretched forth his arm, whose hue was as the hue of gold, and said: "Come, monks! Well taught is the Doctrine. Lead the Holy Life to the utter extinction of suffering." And this formula sufficed both for the admission and for the full profession of these Venerables as members of the Order. Elders of a hundred years' residence, as it were, they surrounded the Teacher.

Queen Anoja, surrounded by a thousand chariots, reaching the bank of the Ganges and seeing no boat or raft brought for the king, by her own intuition concluded: "The king must have crossed by making an Act of Truth. But this Teacher was reborn not for them alone. If this Teacher be the Supremely Enlightened Buddha, may our chariots not sink into the water!"

She caused the chariots to spring forward on the surface of the water. Of the chariots not even so much as the outer rims of the wheels was wetted. The second river also, the third river also, she crossed by the same Act of Truth. Even in the act of crossing, she saw the Teacher at the foot of the banyan tree.

As for the Teacher, he reflected: "If these women see their own husbands, desire and lust will spring up within them, and will impede their attainment of the Paths and the Fruits. It shall not have the power so to do!" And he so wrought that they saw not each other.

All of those women, on leaving the landing-place, saluted the Possessor of the Ten Forces and sat down. The Teacher preached the Truth to them. At the conclusion of the discourse, all of those women were established in the Fruit of Conversion, and wives and husbands saw each other. The Teacher thought: "Let Uppalavanna come nigh!" The nun Uppalavanna approached, made nuns of all those women, and presented them. They then went to the Nuns' Convent. The Teacher took the Congregation of Monks and went through the air to Jetavana.

Now this Elder Kappina the Great, knowing that his own duty had come to a head, living at ease, passing his time in the Bliss of the Attainment of the Fruits, dwelling in the forest, dwelling at the foot of a tree, dwelling in solitude, constantly breathed forth the utterance: "O happiness! O happiness!" The monks began to talk about this, saying: "It is because Elder Kappina remembers the happiness he enjoyed as a king, that he breathes forth this utterance."

They reported the matter to the Tathagata. Said the Tathagata: "It is with reference to the Bliss of the Paths, with reference to the Bliss of the Fruits, that my son breathes forth this utterance." So saying, he recited the following stanza found in the Dhammapada:

"He that drinks Truth sleeps happily, with mind serene;
In Truth made known by holy men, ever delights the wise man."