Brahmavihāra Dhamma

Brahmavibéra Dhamma

holes, Simavati and her maids not knowing that Migandi had her grievance and grudge against the Buddha, told her that the Exalted One was presently residing in the City, and that these were the holes through which they looked furtively to revere and worship the Buddha when He wended his way along the road down below. When she got that information, it had occurred to Magandi, ‘‘Oh! the monk Gotama has come over to this City to stay. J will have to do what should be done. These women({olks are those who revere the monk Gotama. [’ll also have to deal with them as may be considered proper.’’ Imagining as such, she made a slanderous talk to let the King know that Samavati and her followers were trying to win the love of outsiders and were bent upon coaxing them and would therefore sooner or later conspire to assassinate His Majesty the King. The King however, did not believe her malicious gossip though she had repeated as first stated, three times in succession.

She, therefore, told the King, “If Your Majesty doesn’t believe what I have said, you may please visit the main building of the palace and see for yourself as to what is actually happening.’’ The King then made his way to the said building and had a look round inside the palace. He found the small holes in the wall and in making his enquiry as to why these were so perforated, came to know that these holes were meant to be peeped through to see the Lord Buddha and to revere the Lord. He was unperturbed. The King even caused these holes to be patehed up and closed and instead to Ict new fan-lights ; be fixed up. The fanlights being much better than the tiny holes, it gave delight to Samavati and her retinue- Falling in her attempt to disparage Samavati and her maids—of-honour, Magandi put a cobra, after its fangs had heen extracted, in the inside hollow

Story of Samiayati

space of the King’s royal harp, and covered up the Opening space with a wreath of flowers, when time was due for the King to make his rounds to the Chamber where Samiavati resided.

After carrying out her plan as stated, Magandi coaxed the King saying that it was not advisable for His Majesty to visit Samavati on the grounds that she had had her bad dreams which portended ill-omen. Nevertheless, King Utena did not fail to call on Samavati at her private chamber according to the program he had mapped out. On that occasion, Magandi accompanied the King as if she was worrying about his safety. After his arrival there, the King had his meals served by Simavati and the chamber maids, and later, placing his harp at the top of the golden couch, he lay down on it to take rest. Meanwhile, Magandi loitered about the couch and surrepticiously removed the wreath of flowers which served as a cover to the hollow space in the Harp. Then came the cobra sliding out from inside the harp and remained on the sleeping couch raising its venomous hood. Seeing the snake, % Magandi raised an alarm seemingly in terror as: “Tut! Tut! Your Majesty. Snake! Snake!’’, uttering at the same time obscene words against the King and =~ Samavati and then, continued to talk rudely as: “This ~ stupid King is inglorious, ignoble and a dullard as well. He refused to believe my words. These stupid and wicked bunch of maids also have no morality and and wicked bunch of maids also have no morality and are simply rascals. ls there anything that has so far been denied to you all by the Kiag? I have had a horrible dream last night. Despite my warnings not to visit the Chamber of Samavati, Your Majesty had refused to listen to my sincere advice, etc.’’

The King when faced with an imminent danger of death that could be brought about by the venomous Snake, believed what Miaigandi had spoken il of

Brahmavihira Dhamma

Samavati. Vehement anger had arisen in him too. Hence, orders were immediately given to shoot Samavati and her five-hundred maids with poisonous arrows and kill them on the spot. Simavati and her followers were then directed to sit in a row to take the punishment. Samavati advised her maids, ‘‘O, Sisters! At this critical moment we have nothing to rely upon except mettd. You all may shower upon the King and Magandi your feeling of metra wholeheartedly, spreading your loving-kindness evenly balanced on them. You may also prevent your anger from arising.”’ So saying, Samavati sat in the forefront of all her maids—of—honour and started developing and radiating mettd to the best of their ability. King Utena personally picked up the bow and arrow and shot directly at Samavati.

It was stated that the arrow which was shot from the bow instead of going straight to the target rebounded towards King Utena as if it were about to pierce through his breast and then dropped short in front of him on the surface. When it so happened, repentence immediately came upon the King. Then uttering, ‘‘Alas! the arrow which I had shot could have pierced even through a thick marble slab; and yet, this arrow recoiled and came back directly to me as if it were ahout to hit me. Even a lifeless thing like an arrow knows the gratitude and noble attributes of the queen, Simavati. How regretful it is that a human being like me has failed to appreciate her noble qualities....”, he threw away his bow. The King then kneeled down before Samavati and respectfully begged of her to pardon him, saying:

sammuyahami pamuyhémi,

sabba muyhanti me disd.

Samadvati mam tdayassu,

tvafica me saranam bhava,

Story of SAméavati

Samdavati-O, my beloved Samavati!, aham-] am, sammuyhami-very much bewildered, pomuyhémi-( and ) extremely perplexed, me-to me, sabba disé-regicns in all directions, muyhanti-are all in confusion with my thoughts meandering not knowing which is which. Tvam-You may, mam-—to me, tdyassu-lend your help. Tvam-—You are, me—my, saranafica-only refuge, bhava—and may so become, i.e. a person on whom [ can rely upon and take my refuge.

Samavati therefore gave her reply in the following words:

Ma mam tvam saranam gaccha,

yamaham saranam gata.

Esa buddho mahdaraja,

esa buddho anuttaro.

Saranam giccha tam buddham,

tvafica me saranam bhava,

Mahaéraja—-O, my beloved Lord, the great King, tvim — you, mar md satanam giccha-shall not revere me as your refuge, ahatn—-I do, yam-regard the Buddha, saranam gatd ~( and ) revere ( the Buddha ) as my refuge. _£sa- This Buddha, buddho-is fully Enlightened and Omniscient. Esa buddho—Thie Buddha, anutiaro —is Supreme. Tam buddhati-That Buddha, saranath giccha— may be sought asarefuge and worshipped. Tvafica- May Your Majesty also (be ), me-my, saranam bhava - refuge, or rather, become my only refuge or Protector.

On hearing this reply, His Majesty the King Utena admitted, ‘““Very well, Oh my beloved! I pay my homage and deep respects to you and also have great reverence for the Buddha, I offer you anything you may wish to have,” Afterwards, the King made his way to the Enlightened One and took refuge in the three Jewels of Buddhism, viz: Buddha, Dhamma and Samgha. He invited the Samghas led by the

Brahmavihéra Dhamma

Buddha to his grand Palace, and for seven days continuously, he resorted to almsgiving or charity on Ge an immense scale. He also asked Simivati to mention hoidw er wish so as to enable him to fulfil her desire according to the promise already given. Thereupon, Simivati besought the King to permit her to offer alms-meals to the Buddha and Samghas every day. King Utena then personally went to the Enlightened One and requested the Omniscient as desired by | daiwoiggs ‘chief Queen? Buddha in response to the King’s invitation, sent the Venerable Ashin Ananda together with five-hundred of his disciple-monks. From that time onwards, Simadvati and her maids-of-honour, five-hundred in number, had had an opportunity to do charity, offer meals, pay homage to the samghas, and then listen to the Sermon, daily.

In the story of Simavati now cited, the recoil of the arrow, with which King Utena had shot through anger, was the beneficial result or the influence of the virtue of metta-bhavand. This is one of the eleven advantages which signifies invulnerability from fire, poison, and ‘dah’. In the event of any untoward incident taking place, or rather, at any time of emergency, this metiad should be fully developed with deep coacentration. If it is so developed, no danger can befall a person, Even if there is ne chance of escape from the danger, special merits can be gained. No loss is incurred. It is sure that benefits will be derived.

Story of Sihabihu

Ceylonese history refers to @ story of aman, an offspring, by the name of Sihabihu, born of a princess with her conjugal relationship with a Lion. On attaining. the age of sixteen, this young man asked his mother, ‘‘Why is it that you, my mother, is dif-

Story of Sihabahu

ferent in race from that of my father ?’”” The mother recounted what had happened as: ‘‘I’m the daughter of the King of the Country of Vanga. At one time, on my way to the State of Magadha together with other travellers, we all came upon this great lion. The whole crowd of travellers except me fled in fear. I was however unable to lift my foot and run away for my life exactly as was once formerly predicted by an astrologer that I would have my conjugal relationship with a lion. The prophecy. was confirmed by a miraculous event in this way. While I remained at a stanstill, with fright, of course, this great lion carried me on his back and took me away into a cave (den) where he lived.”” Sihabahu then inquired why she continued to remain in the cave without returning to the palace where her own kith and kin were residing. She told her son that she was unable to leave the place for being confimed in the cave which was blocked up with a hugh massive rock at its mouth. Thereupon, Sihabahu removed this hugh rock and left the place carrying his mother and sister on his shoulders.

On return to his den, the great lion not seeing his wife amd children felt dejected and went out in search of them. He attacked all people living in the outskirts of the villages where:heehad set his foot. On receipt of complaint fromthe people concerned about the ravages done by the lion, the King of Vanga issued a royal proclamation that any person who could suppress this enemy, the lion, would be offered a reward of three thousand kyats.. Sihabahu came forward to undertake the task of killing the lion. His mother twice prevented hs son from doing harm to the lion, his own father. On the third time, without the knowledge of his mother, Sihabahu accepted the award. On his arrival before the King; the latter promised that he would susrender his Kingdom to Sihabahu, if Sihabahu could quell the danger brought about

par fies

Brahmayihara Dhamma

by thie great lion. He therefore left the palace and Proceeded to where the lion could be traced. The great lion on seeing his son being greatly touched with an instinctive paternal love, was developing his lovingkindness: The arrows which were shot at the lion by Sihabahu had no effect on the lion, and these arrows were said to have rebounded and dropped before him near his foot by virtue of met/a@ that had been developed al near his foot by virtue of met/a@ that had been developed and radiated towards the son. Three attempts were made to kill the lion in the like manner, but in all his attempts, all arrows bounded back to Sihabahu and dropped on the earth before him. Because of repeated attacked by his son, a feeling of anger and bitterness had arisen in the great lion. Hence, the arrow which was shot on the fourth occasion, hit the lion and pierced through its body, Judging from this incident, it is to be borne in mind that this weapon of arrow had failed to hit and pierce through the lion’s body because of the father’s love towards the son and: not just merely because of ordinary loving-kindness.

Story of Suvannasima

Relating to the advantages of mettd stated in the foregoing, explanation given to the query put forward will be found in Millindapafiia Pali Text of Dhamma. The question that arose was: In mentioning the eleven advantages of mettd it has been stated that ‘‘a person who is developing metta will escape bodily injury, or in other words, will be immuned from the dangers of fire, poison, etc.”” However, in the story of Suvannasama Jitaka, mention has been made that though Suva. nnsama was said to be always developing mettd, he was badly wounded and was in a state of semi-consciousness because of the injury caused by the poisonous arrow which was shot at him by the King Piliyakkha while hunting deer to find out the truth of what he considered as a strange thing. Such being the case,

Story of Suvannasama

the statement that Suvannasima had been hit by the arrow must be wrong if the statement that no harm or injury could be inflicted by a weapom on a person who was developing mettaé, On the other hand, if the statement that Suvannasama was actually hit by am “arrow, then, the statement that ‘‘a person who is developing meitd becomes invulnerable”, must be wrong. Since these two statements were conflicting and were contrary to one another, King Millinda requested Ashin Nagasena to kindly clarify the two opposite views or the discrepancy.

To this problematic matter in issue, Ashin Nagasena Thera explained as follows:—

“‘O, noble King Millinda! It is exactly true that no weapon can hit or harm a person who is developing metta. Jt is also true that Suvannasima was hit by an arrow. Though both are, in fact, correct. the reason for having no discrepancy between the two state. ¥ ment is that the advantage of invulnerability is derived not because of the inherent power or quality of the person but because of the attributes or quality of metia, Although it had been stated that Suvannasima was developing mettd at the time when he was struck by the arrow, he was picking up the water-pot, and it was during that brief moment of interval. Suvannasama had a break or a lapse in the process of developing mettd. That is the reason why he was struck by an arrow.” res “a Fg

For example, in ancient times, soldiers had an armoured suit made of metal steel, When such an armour was worn in fighting as a covering im defence, ge no arrow or spear could pierce through it, It served as a protection against sharp weapons. The escape from injury caused by a weapon, such as, spear, arrow or a ‘dah’, is because of the faculty of the armoured suit. It is not attributable to the inherent power or