Garland of the Buddha's Past Lives (Volume 2). Aryashura

much I know:

      anger is a foe inside us.

      Who can endure

      its haughty advance?

      That is why I did not release my anger,

      though it throbbed in my mind,

      for who would be indifferent

      to such a harmful enemy?”

      21.60

      The king was gladdened by the Bodhi·sattva’s virtuous serenity and by his words that so captivated the heart and said:

      “Your words suit

      your tranquility.

      But why be longwinded?

      Blind to you, I was led astray.”

      Eulogizing the Bodhi·sattva this way, the king went forward, prostrated himself at his feet and confessed his transgression. Begging forgiveness from the ascetic woman, he released her and offered himself to the Bodhi·sattva as a servant.

       21.63 21.63

      In this way, by conquering anger, enemies are quelled. By doing the opposite, enemies are increased. One should therefore strive to quell anger.

      This story should be narrated when dealing with discourses that praise forbearance in ways such as the following: “By feeling no hatred enmities are appeased, and by restraining oneself hatred does not accumulate. A man without anger thereby acquires benefit in both regards.”* And it should also be narrated when discussing the faults of anger and the magnificence of the Tatha·gata.*

STORY 22 THE BIRTH-STORY OF THE GOOSE

       22.1 22.3 22.4 22.4 22.4 22.5 22.5 22.5

      22.1

      Even when they are in trouble, the virtuous behave in ways that cannot be imitated by the bad, let alone when their situation is good.

      Tradition has handed down the following story.

      The Bodhi·sattva is said to have once lived as a royal goose named Dhrita·rashtra. Ruling over a huge flock of geese, numbering several hundreds and thousands, he lived in the large lake called Manasa, “Mind Lake.”

      Dhrita·rashtra had a general called Sumukha. Expert in discerning right policy from wrong, Sumukha was vigilant over a wide area of land. Like an ornament on the forehead of his exemplary family, he was adorned by cleverness, skill and decency. His conduct was constant, pure and moral and he was able to endure fatigue and was never negligent. Brave, he was skilled in the ways of war and was devoted to his master. This general was the noble venerable Ananda at that time.*

      22.5

      The virtue of these two geese blazed all the more brightly because of the remarkable love they showed each other. Just as a teacher might train his other pupils with his chief disciple, or a father might train his other sons with his eldest son, so they duly guided the flock of geese in matters leading to their increased welfare in both this world and the next, filling the onlooking gods, nagas, yakshas, vidya·dharas, and ascetics with utter wonder.*

      The two worked as one in upholding

      the body of bliss for the flock of geese,

      just as two wings work as one in upholding

      the body of a bird as it flies in the sky.

       22.10 22.13 22.13 22.13

      The flock of geese prospered under their favor, just as the world prospers through a profusion of virtue and wealth. And as a result the lake bore an appearance of great beauty.

      The flock of geese roaming

      like a floating bed of lotuses,

      crooning softly like tinkling anklets,

      made the lake look radiant.

      As the geese spread out here and there,

      clustered in groups of varying size,

      the lake took on the beauty of the sky

      dappled with pieces of broken cloud.

      22.10

      Amazed by the power of the exceptional virtue shown by the king of geese and also by his general, who was intent on the welfare of all beings, troops of siddhas,* seers, vidya·dharas and gods delighted in discussing the fame of the two geese:

      “Their glorious bodies are like refined gold.

      They speak using articulate words.

      Their modesty and judgment arise from virtue.

      Whatever they are, they are geese only in guise.

      Unjealous beings proclaim their virtue,

      spreading their fame in every direction

      until it roams through assemblies like an offering,

      becoming an object of faith for kings.”

      At that time a king called Brahma·datta ruled in Varanasi. This monarch had repeatedly heard trustworthy ministers and brahmin elders in his assembly eulogize the exceptional virtues of the royal goose and his general and had ________

       22.14 22.19

      become increasingly curious to see the two creatures. He therefore addressed his counselors, who were clever and experienced in numerous teachings, saying:

      “Well, sirs, devise a clever way for me at least to catch sight of these two fine geese!”

      22.15

      After the ministers had pondered the path of political strategy with their powerful minds, they gave the king the following reply:

      “Hope for happiness draws creatures

      away from their various abodes.

      The report of a remarkable source

      of happiness may therefore lure them.

      Your Majesty should have a lake constructed in an area of the wilderness, similar but even more splendid than the lake in which these handsome geese are reported to dwell. And every day you should have it proclaimed that you offer immunity to every bird. Perhaps the rumor that this exceptional lake offers a source of happiness will rouse the curiosity of the geese and draw them here. For Your Majesty should consider that,

      once obtained and no longer esteemed,

      happiness usually loses its taste.

      But happiness made delightful by rumor

      captivates the mind by its invisibility.”

      The king agreed and soon had a huge lake constructed not too near the city park, rivaling Lake Manasa in the richness of its quality. Captivating the mind, the lake’s pure waters were covered by various lotuses and water-lilies, includ- ________

       22.19 22.20 [8] 22.22 [10]

      ing padmas, utpalas, kumudas, pundarikas, saugandhikas, tamarasas, and kahlaras.

      22.20

      Trees draped with flowers

      surrounded the lake’s shore

      with bright quivering sprigs,

      as if come to gaze at the waters.

      Swarms of roaming bees

      crowded the lake in disarray,

      seduced by lotuses jostled by trembling ripples,

      opening their petals as if with a smile.

      Over here the lake was adorned by white lilies

      sleepless from the touch of moonshine,

      resembling splinters of moonlight

      fragmented by the canopy of trees.

      Over