[善财童子五十三参][English] 第十九回 拜无厌足王

Anala

Recalling those spiritual benefactors one after another, focusing his attention on the instructions of those spiritual benefactors, rejoicing in himself at being in the care of spiritual benefactors, reflecting that through the protection of spiritual benefactors he would never lose the way to supreme perfect enlightenment, Sudhana became joyful, serene, pleased, happy, calm, broadminded; he attained adornment of mind, nonattachment of mind, nonobstruction of mind, aloofness of mind, unification of mind, control of mind, extraordinary power of mind, mental conformity with the Teaching, mental pervasion of lands, mental beatification by the vision of Buddha, and constant mental focus on the ten powers.

　He made his way from country to country, village to village, place to place, searching, till he came to the city of Taladhvaja, where he asked after the whereabouts of King Anala. He was told, “King Anala is on the throne carrying out his royal duties for the welfare of the populace. He governs the communities, punishes those who should be punished, promotes those who deserve promotion, chastises criminals, settles disputes, comforts and encourages the wretched and dejected, subdues the wild and arrogant; he puts a stop to the injury of living beings, theft, desire for others’ spouses, falsehood, slander, harsh or violent talk, and divisive talk; he frees us from craving, malice, and false ideas.”

　Then Sudhana went to King Anala and saw him sitting on a great jeweled lion throne brilliant with diamonds, set on legs of countless varieties of luminous jewels, with beautiful figurines inlaid with jewels, arrayed with cowrie shells on golden threads, lit by many jewel lamps, in a lotus calyx made of magic gems, spread with many precious celestial robes, perfumed with various celestial incenses, embellished with a hundred thousand jeweled parasols, adorned with a hundred thousand jeweled banners, beautified by trailing flower garlands made of varicolored jewels, covered by a canopy of various celestial jewels. The king was young and handsome, with the marks and embellishments of a great man, wearing a crown of wish-fulfilling jewels, his forehead adorned with golden crescents, pure blue sapphire earrings hanging from his ears, a breastplate radiant with jewels on his chest, bracelets of the finest celestial gems on his arms, shaded by a large precious parasol with a cane of pure lapis lazuli and a thousand ribs of jewels with a gold covering, a wreath of jewel bells sweetly ringing, illumining all directions with its luster. The king had great regal power; his rule was invincible to enemy armies, his sovereignty was free of danger from enemy armies.

　Sudhana saw ten thousand ministers gathered around the king conducting the affairs of state. He also saw ten thousand torturers before the king, looking like the warders of hell, of violent, terrifying appearance, holding swords, axes, spears, clubs, and impaling stakes, involved in punishing those to be punished. He saw criminals—thieves, bandits, murderers, troublemakers, rapists, and so on—brought bound before King Anala and saw the king deal out appropriate punishments: by the king’s order, some had their hands and feet cut off, some had their ears and noses cut off, some had their eyes gouged out, some had their limbs or heads cut off, some had their whole bodies burnt by fire, some were being dismembered, crippled, burnt, sprinkled with acid. Sudhana watched them undergoing such harsh, injurious, and deadly punishments and saw a mountainous heap of rendered body parts on the execution ground and a tremendous torrent of blood. He also saw animals and birds eating the mutilated corpses there. He also saw some of the corpses hideously decomposing. He also heard the screams and cries of those being mutilated and killed, as terrifying as hell.

　Seeing that dreadful, horrifying butchery, Sudhana thought, “I have set out for supreme perfect enlightenment for the sake of the welfare and happiness of all beings and am devoted to pursuing the practice of enlightening beings; I ask spiritual benefactors what good an enlightening being should do and what evil one should avoid. This King Anala, though, is devoid of goodness, an evildoer, malicious, a killer and oppressor, without regard for others, doomed to a miserable fate: so how can I hear about the practice of enlightening beings from him?”

　As Sudhana was thinking this, concerned with saving all sentient beings, his mind full of compassion, celestial beings in the sky over his head called out, “Do you not remember the instructions of the seer Jayoshmayatana?”

　Sudhana looked up and said, “I do.”

　The celestials said, “Do not give rise to doubt about the instructions of spiritual benefactors; they guide you on the right way. Indeed, the practical knowledge of skill in means of enlightening beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to take care of all sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to benefit sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to restrain sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to further sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to care for sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to protect sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to purify sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to liberate sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to perfect sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to guide sentient beings is inconceivable. Go ask the king about the practice of enlightening beings.”

　Hearing the words of the celestials, Sudhana went to King Anala, paid his respects, and said, “Noble one, I have set my mind on supreme perfect enlightenment, but I do not know how to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings. I hear that you give instruction to enlightening beings; pray tell me how to learn and apply the practice of enlightening beings.”

　King Anala, having finished his duties, got off the throne and took Sudhana into the palace. Entering his own residence, the king seated Sudhana on a seat of honor and said to him, “Look at the furnishings of my house.” Sudhana looked and saw that the house was large, with walls of seven precious substances, adorned with terraces of various jewels, embellished with hundreds of thousands of jewel towers, blazing with the radiance of inconceivable numbers of jewels, with pillars made of various jewels. In it were hundreds of thousands of variously adorned jewel lion chairs; jeweled regal banners flew overhead; it was covered with canopies of radiant jewels, draped with also saw the king’s hundred million ladies, all extremely beautiful, versed in all the arts, diligent, kindhearted, and attentive.

　Then King Anala said to Sudhana, “What do you think—could such fruits of action come to a villain? Could a villain attain such a condition, with such a retinue, such riches, such power?”

　Sudhana said, “No indeed, noble one.”

　The king said, “I have attained enlightening beings’ magical liberation. The people in my realm are given to all sorts of evildoing—murder, theft, rape, falsehood, slander, vilification, divisive talk, covetousness, malice, false views, villainy, violence, cruelty. I am unable to turn them away from evildoing by any other means, so in order to subdue them, mature them, guide them, and secure their welfare, out of compassion I have illusory executioners kill and maim illusory criminals, making a display of intense suffering and pain; seeing this, the people in my realm become afraid to do evil. Seeing the people alarmed by this device, I have them give up evildoing and conduct themselves virtuously; then I establish them in ultimate security, the end of all suffering, the bliss of omniscience. I do not harm anyone by thought, word, or deed. I would sooner go to the deepest hell than so much as think of hurting even a dumb animal or an insect, much less a human being, who has potential for virtuous conduct. I do not do anything bad even in dreams, much less while awake.

　“I have attained this magical enlightening beings’ liberation. How can I know the practice or tell the virtues of the enlightening beings who have attained acceptance of the truth of nonorigination, who relate to all states of being as illusions, who understand that the practices of enlightening beings are like magical creations, who know that all worlds are like reflections, who comprehend that the nature of things is like a dream, who conform to the principle of the reality realm by nonattachment, who accomplish the network of interrelated practices, who are in the sphere of unimpeded knowledge, who know the way of universally comprehensive concentration, who are masters of endlessly progressing mental command, who are intent on the sphere of buddhahood?”

　“South of here is a city called Suprabha, where a king named Mahaprabha lives. Go ask him how to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings.”

　So then Sudhana paid his respects and left King Anala.