King Ajatashatru Sees the Buddha
Eventually, the physician Jivaka was able to persuade King Ajatashatru to visit the Buddha. According to the account in the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra:
At that time, there was a great physician named Jivaka. This man also visited the king’s sickbed and said, “Great king, are you able to sleep soundly?” The king said, “Jivaka, I have been suffering from a grave illness. I inflicted vicious and grievous injury on my father the king, who followed the true Dharma. The grave illness that resulted from that act cannot be healed, no matter how great the physician, the incantation, or the care. The reason is that the former king ruled the country well, in accordance with the Dharma. Although he was not guilty of any offense, I inflicted on him vicious and grievous injury. It was as if I had pulled a fish out of the water and thrown it onto land. I once heard from a sage that those whose three actions of body, mouth, and mind are not pure will without fail plunge into hell. I am an example of that; how can I sleep in peace? There are no physicians who, expounding the medicine of the Dharma, can heal me of this illness and its suffering.”
Jivaka said in response to this, “Now, now. Although you have committed offences, now you are experiencing profound remorse and contrition. Great king, the Buddha always teaches that there are two minds that save one. The first is the mind that strives not to commit offences. The second is the mind that strives not to cause others to commit offences. Or, the first is the mind that looks within and repents, and the second is the mind that is contrite toward others. Or, the first is to feel remorse before other people, and the second is to feel remorse before the gods. These are the meanings of contrition. He who lacks this mind of contrition is not a human being but rather an animal. Because we possess this mind of contrition, the mind that venerates parents and teachers also comes into being, and harmony between brothers and sisters is established. I am truly joyful that you have experienced this contrition. Great king, you just said that there is no physician who is able to heal you of your grave illness; that is exactly so. However, great king, please consider this well. The great Arhat, the World Honored One, is the person most worthy of the world’s veneration. He possesses a diamond-like wisdom that destroys all obstructions with ease; he destroys all offences. The Buddha, the World Honored One, will heal you of your grave illness.” (Buddha-Dharma, pp. 564-565)
The same sutra states that Bimbisara even spoke from the heavens at this point so that he could advise his son to forget the false teachings of the six unorthodox teachers and to hurry and see the Buddha. The Buddha, through his supernatural powers, observes all of this and tells his disciples that it is for Ajatashatru’s sake that he remains in the world, because Ajatashatru represents all the ignorant and defiled beings that have not yet been able to perceive their buddha-nature. The Buddha then enters the Moon Loving Meditation and emits a pure and soothing light that reaches Ajatashatru and cures him of the boils. King Ajatashatru is amazed by this and asks Jivaka why the Buddha did this. Jivaka explains that the Buddha loves all people as though they were his own children, but is especially concerned for those who have committed grave offences and who do not follow the path to enlightenment. Now that King Ajatashatru’s bodily sickness has been healed, the Buddha will wish to see him personally in order to cure his mental distress. Still observing, the Buddha explains to his disciples that the most important factor that will lead people to enlightenment is a good friend, such as Jivaka is to King Ajatashatru.
None of this appears in an earlier version of the first meeting of King Ajatashatru and the Buddha told in The Fruits of the Homeless Life Discourse (Samannaphala Sutta). That discourse does not mention any illness, though it does mention that while observing the full moon one night King Ajatashatru made the following pronouncement: “Delightful, friends, is this moonlight night! Auspicious is this moonlight night! Can we not today visit some ascetic or brahmin, to visit whom would bring peace to our heart?” (Long Discourses, p. 91) His ministers suggest that they visit one or the other of the six unorthodox teachers but King Ajatashatru was not interested in seeing any of them. At that point Jivaka suggests a visit to the Buddha. King Ajatashatru was agreeable to this and so Jivaka took him to the in the Mango Grove Monastery that Jivaka had earlier donated to the Sangha. When they arrived the Buddha and his disciples were sitting silently in meditation. At first, King Ajatashatru even feared that he was being led into a trap.
On the night of the full moon, several hundred elephant carriages with torches at their heads quietly made their way toward the forest. When at last they entered the forest, King Ajatashatru was suddenly beset with fear; trembling, he said to Jivaka, “Jivaka, you are not planning to betray and hand me over to the enemy are you? What an eerie silence! They say there are over one thousand disciples, and yet not one sneeze or cough can be heard. I cannot help but think that there is some kind of plot afoot.” Jivaka said, “Great king, advance without fear. There is a light burning in that forest retreat. The World Honored One resides there.”
The king was bolstered by Jivaka’s words, and lowering himself from the elephant he went into the forest. Approaching the World Honored One, he bowed and begged to be taught by the Buddha. (Buddha-Dharma, p. 567)
In the discourse that follows, King Ajatashatru tells the Buddha about the teachings of the six unorthodox teachers and then asks the Buddha what is to be gained from leaving home to follow the Buddha’s teaching. In the end, King Ajatashatru is impressed by the Buddha’s moral vision and his explanation of the way to achieve liberation from birth and death. He takes refuge in the Three Treasures, repents of the murder of his father, and then goes his way. But in this version of their meeting the Buddha’s prognosis is not so positive.
At this King Ajatashatru exclaimed: “Excellent, Lord, excellent! It is as if someone were to set up what had been knocked down, or to point out the way to one who had got lost, or to bring an oil-lamp into a dark place, so that those with eyes could see what was there. Just so the Blessed Lord has expounded the Dharma in various ways. And I, Lord, go for refuge to the Blessed Lord, to the Dharma, and to the Sangha. May the Blessed Lord accept me from this day forth as a lay-follower as long as life shall last! Transgression overcame me, Lord, foolish, erring and wicked as I was, in that I for the sake of the throne deprived my father, that good man and just king, of his life. May the Blessed Lord accept my confession of my evil deed that I may restrain myself in future.”
“Indeed, Sire, transgression overcame you when you deprived your father, that good man and just king, of his life. But since you have acknowledged that transgression and confessed it as is right, we will accept it. For he who acknowledges his transgression as such and confesses it for betterment in future, will grow in the noble discipline.”
At this, King Ajatashatru said, “Lord, permit me to part now. I am busy and have much to do.” “Do now, Your Majesty, as you think fit.”
Then King Ajatashatru, rejoicing and delighting at these words, rose from his seat, saluted the Lord, and departed with his right side towards him.
As soon as the King had gone, the Lord said: “The King is done for, his fate is sealed monks! But if the King had not deprived his father, that good man and just king, of his life, then as he sat here the pure and spotless Dharma-eye would have arisen in him.” (Long Discourses, pp. 108-109)
What the Buddha meant by this is that if King Ajatashatru had not committed the grave offence of killing his father, then he would have deeply understood the Dharma and become a stream-enterer. But since he had committed such an offence, he was doomed to fall into the Avichi Hell. However, he did affirm that acknowledging his transgression and repenting of it would be to his benefit in the future. So from the Buddhist perspective, once the detrimental karma that would lead to rebirth in the Avichi Hell had been exhausted, then other more wholesome karma of would have a chance to ripen.
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra is more positive. In it’s version, the Buddha’s assessment of the power of repentance is much more optimistic. In addition, King Ajatashatru not only repents but also arouses bodhicitta, the aspiration for enlightenment so that he may help other beings be rid of defilement.
The World Honored One bestowed a diversity of teachings on Ajatashatru. He said, “Great king, for those with a mind of contrition, offences are no longer offences. Those without a mind of contrition will be chastised forever by their offences. You are a man of contrition; your offences will be purified; there is no need to be afraid.”
Having received this teaching, Ajatashatru said to the World Honored One, “As I survey the world, I observe that from the seed of the toxic tree called the castor oil tree, a castor oil tree grows. I have yet to see a sandalwood tree grow from the seed of a castor oil tree. However, now for the first time, I have witnessed a sandalwood tree grow from the fruit of a castor oil tree. I am talking about myself. The sandalwood tree refers to the rootless faith that has sprouted forth in my mind. So far I have yet to serve the Buddha with reverence or seek refuge in the Dharma or the Sangha. Nevertheless, faith has suddenly sprouted in me; therefore I call this faith rootless faith. World Honored One, if I had been unable to meet the Buddha, I should have fallen into hell for an infinite number of kalpas and addicted with endless suffering. Now I bow to the Buddha; with all of the merits that I can accumulate, my fervent wish for the future is to destroy other people’s defilement.”
The World Honored One said, “Very good, very good, great king! I have foreseen that you will destroy people’s defilements with your merits, expunging the defilements in their minds.” Ajatashatru said, “World Honored One, if I am able to destroy people’s evil intentions, even though I should experience enormous suffering for an infinite number of kalpas in the Avichi hell, I shall not think of this as suffering.
Hearing these words of Ajatashatru, a large number of Magadhans spontaneously aroused the aspiration for enlightenment. Because of this, Ajatashatru was able to mitigate his grave offences. (Buddha-Dharma, pp. 567-568)
The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra account is full of fantastic elements, supernatural events, and teachings that developed long after the Buddha’s passing. It uses the original story from The Fruits of the Homeless Life Discourse to dramatize several important themes of Mahayana teaching and practice, namely the Buddha’s compassion for those who have created their own suffering and are lost and confused, the importance of a good friend, the importance of recognizing and repenting of one’s misdeeds, the way in which spiritual practice and the concern and care of others can alleviate mental and physical illness, the universality of buddha-nature, and most importantly the transformation of an icchantika into a bodhisattva.