Garland of the Buddha’s Past Lives (Volume 1). Aryashura
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E
ven in his previous births, the Lord* naturally felt a spontaneous and immense affection for all creatures, identifying himself with every living being. One should therefore show the highest devotion toward the Lord Buddha.
Tradition has handed down the following story regarding a deed performed by the Lord in a past life. It is a tale that used to be proclaimed by my teacher, who was devoted to the Three Jewels* and profound in his examination of virtues, and who pleased his own teacher with his moral behavior and goodness.*
The Bodhi·sattva,* tradition tells us, used to favor the world with outpourings of compassion. Suited to the extraordinary vow he had made,* they included gifts, kind words, and acts of welfare, his grasp of wisdom making them beyond reproach.
He is said to have once taken his birth in a great and eminent brahmin family. Pure in conduct, the family delighted in following the duties prescribed by its class. As he grew up, the Bodhi·sattva underwent the normal series of rites, passing through the birth ceremony and other rituals. And due to his innate intelligence, his specialized tutoring, his curiosity for knowledge, and his lack of indolence, he quickly mastered the eighteen sciences and the arts*, none of which conflicted with the customs of his clan.
1.10
For Brahman-knowing brahmins he was like
Brahman.* Among kings he was respected like a king. For the people he was like thousand-eyed Shakra* in person.
To seekers of knowledge he gave support
like a father.*
His good fortune and superior qualities meant he acquired great wealth, esteem, and fame. But the Bodhi·sattva took no pleasure in such things. His mind was occupied with practicing virtue and he was intimate with the renunciant life.
With a mind purified by past deeds,
he could see the many faults in desires.
Discarding the householder life like an illness,
he went to adorn a forest area.
The detachment he displayed there,
and tranquility, cleansed by wisdom,
seemed to accuse the world of men, their addiction
to evil dividing them from the calm of the wise.
Vicious wild beasts wandered like ascetics,
abstaining from harming each other,
their minds pervaded by the serene loving kindness
seeming to pour from the Bodhi·sattva.
1.15
His pure conduct and control over his senses,
his contentment and compassion,
made him dear even to strangers in the world,
just as the world was dear to him.
His needs were few. He knew nothing of envy.
Discarding all desire for gain, glory, or pleasure,
he made even the minds of the gods
incline to him with faith and devotion.
Captivated by his virtues,
men abandoned relatives and possessions
at the news he had become a renouncer,
entering his instruction as if it were perfection itself.
He taught his disciples as best as he could
in virtue, integrity, purification of the senses,
maintenance of awareness, detachment,
loving kindness and other mental concentrations.
His throng of disciples became huge and most of them attained perfection. By laying down the beautiful path and establishing the world on the virtuous road of renunciation, it was as if the gates to hell had been closed and the paths to heaven had become as broad as royal highways. One day the Great One* happened to be wandering around mountain caves and thickets that were conducive to meditation, enjoying his surroundings in the company of Ajita, a disciple of his at the time.
1.20
There, in a mountain cave,
he saw a young tigress
undergoing birth pains,
hardly able to move.
Her eyes sunken,
her belly emaciated by hunger,
she looked at her cubs, her own offspring,
as if they were food.
Trusting their mother, the cubs fearlessly
sidled up to her, craving her teats,
only to be terrified by her fierce, roaring howls,
menacing them as though they were foes.
The sight of the tigress made
the Bodhi·sattva, though self-composed,
shake with compassion at another’s suffering,
just as the king of mountains shakes in an earthquake.
It is miraculous how the compassionate,
notably steadfast in their own sufferings,
however great, tremble at the suffering of others,
however small.
1.25
The force of his compassion then moved the Bodhi·sattva to address his disciple with words that revealed his superior nature:
“My dear friend! My dear friend!” he repeated emotion- ally.
“Observe the worthless nature of samsara!* This wild animal is so hungry, she is ready even to eat her own young, violating the boundaries of affection.
How cruel is the brutality of self-love,
when even a mother will eat her offspring!
Who would foster the enemy that is self-love
if it produces actions such as this?
1.30
Go quickly and find a way to relieve her hunger so that she does not kill her young and destroy herself. I too will endeavor to restrain her from this violent act.”
Ajita consented and busied himself with seeking food for the tigress. But after dismissing his disciple on this pretext, the Bodhi·sattva had the following thought:
“Why should I hunt for meat from elsewhere
when my entire body is available before me?
It rests on chance whether Ajita finds food.
And if he does, it will impede my duty.
Besides,
This body has no self. It breaks up and has no worth.
A source of pain, it is ungrateful and ever unclean.
What wise man would not feel joy
at making their body useful to another being?
1.35
People overlook the suffering of another
when powerless to help or attached to their happiness.
But I cannot be happy while another suffers.
How can I be indifferent if I am able to help?
If a person—even a murderer*—drowns in suffering and I remain indifferent, though I can help, my mind would burn like brushwood ignited by a huge fire, as if I had committed a crime.
By falling off this precipice,
I will use my lifeless body
to protect the tigress from killing her young
and save the young from their mother.
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