The Secrets of the Realized Ones
Chapter 5: The Past-Life Story of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

At that point, a certain bodhisattva from the assembly wondered, “How did the Lord of the Guhyakas grow these roots of virtue? How long has he served the Blessed Buddha? What sort of vow did he make by means of which he has come to possess such inspired eloquence?”

With his own mind, the Blessed One knew the thoughts in the mind of that bodhisattva, and so he addressed the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Once upon a time, Śāntamati, in a past eon, going back an incalculable eon, going back more than an incalculable eon, going back a limitless, inconceivable, and measureless span of time, there was an eon called Lovely Illumination. At that time, in a world called Full Array, there appeared a realized one, a worthy one, [F.118.a] a perfectly awakened one, one perfected in knowledge and conduct, a sublime one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassable trainer of those ready to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha, whose name was King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End.

“Śāntamati, Full Array was prosperous, well populated, and happy. There were abundant harvests and the people there were joyful. It was full of gods and humans, flat like the palm of one’s hand, and it did not have any pebbles or stones. The grass there was soft and pleasing to the touch like the finest silk, bluish green like a peacock’s neck, and it swirled to the right like a symbol of auspiciousness.77 It possessed a beautiful hue and a pleasing fragrance, and it was quite appealing. With every step, it would sink down four finger-widths and then spring back into place. There was a refreshing breeze in the air that was neither too hot nor too cold. It felt exactly as one would like. The earth was adorned with lapis lazuli. The beings who lived there were well behaved, learned, and had little attachment, aversion, or ignorance. In fact, the afflictions there were all minimal. Everyone had the capacity to understand the meaning of well-spoken words. The community of monastic disciples of the Realized One, the blessed King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, numbered one hundred twenty billion and his community of bodhisattvas numbered three hundred twenty million. His lifespan was three hundred sixty million years long. In that realm no one died suddenly or at inopportune times.

“At that time, Śāntamati, in Full Array there was a medium-sized world with four continents called Lovely Illumination. It was very prosperous, well populated, and happy. It had the most abundant harvests, and it was vast and spacious. Each of the four continents was eighty-four thousand square leagues. There was a league between each of the great cities, [F.118.b] and each was surrounded by thousands of villages, towns, and market towns.

“Śāntamati, in the center of that four-continent world, Lovely Illumination, was the royal capital called Abode of Purity. Wide and expansive, its northern and southern sides were each sixty-four leagues long, and the eastern and western sides were each forty-two leagues long. It was adorned with thousands of parks, and surrounded by thousands of villages, towns, and market towns.

“Śāntamati, a wheel-turning king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra lived there in the royal palace of Abode of Purity. He possessed the seven jewels, held sway over the four continents, had performed deeds in service to previous buddhas, had grown roots of virtue, possessed a radiance that shone with the splendor of merit, and had become impossible to turn back from unsurpassable and perfect awakening.

“Śāntamati, in the center of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s city was a vast and extensive palace the perimeter of which was sixteen leagues. It was surrounded by seven walls made of the seven precious substances, each with an archway and covered by netting with small bells. Inside the walls were four great parks. The first great park was called Diverse Flowers; the second, Delightful Virtues; the third, Delightful Peacocks; and the fourth, The Pleasure of Time. There were ponds a half-league in size with jeweled perimeters and the steps leading down to them were made of golden sand from the Jambu River. Golden sand was also spread out beneath the ponds, which were filled with water that possessed the eight good qualities. They were covered with jeweled lotuses, and the calls of swans, herons, ducks, and geese could be heard there. The names given to these ponds were Joy, Utmost Joy, Supreme Fragrance, and Descending Stream.

“Śāntamati, the women of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s inner chambers numbered seven hundred thousand, all of whom had the marks of youthful femininity like precious gems. [F.119.a] Each and every one of them had become firmly established on the path to unsurpassable and perfect awakening. Present with them were their thousand sons, who were heroic, brave, had perfectly well-formed bodies, could defeat all their rivals, were adorned with twenty-eight of the marks of a great person, and had set their minds with a pure motivation on achieving unsurpassable and perfect awakening.

“At that time, Śāntamati, the blessed realized one, King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, was dwelling near that royal capital. The king, his chief ministers, and the brahmins, householders, villagers, and farmers respected, revered, honored, and worshiped him.

“Śāntamati, for ten million years King Dhṛtarāṣṭra served that blessed realized one, King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, and his monastic assembly with good food, drink, clothing, monasteries, and places for walking, and in order to provide support to each monk, each of them was offered the three sets of robes.

“Śāntamati, the royal princes were also interested in honoring and venerating the Blessed One and out of dedication to hearing his teachings, they were conscientious and took no interest in sense pleasures. Because they were conscientious, listened to the true Dharma, and cultivated profound contemplation with their minds, in no time they acquired the five supernormal faculties. As a result of acquiring them, they flew from park to park, from town to town, and from market town to market town throughout the entire four continents just like the king of swans soaring in the sky. They spoke the following verses:

“Śāntamati, in order to show their love for their father, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the royal princes built a vast and expansive pavilion made of the divine sandalwood known as ‘serpent’s essence.’ It was well designed with fine features, and complete with pinnacles, victory banners, and arches. Its value was greater than that of all the remaining serpent’s essence sandalwood in the world put together. This vast and expansive pavilion made of sandalwood measured ten square leagues. It was multicolored, beautiful to behold, supported by four columns, symmetrical, and well proportioned. [F.120.a]

“Then, at that time, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra wished to go see the Blessed One, to honor him, to worship him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma. So, the king, the royal princes, the women from his household, his servants, and the group of his relatives all entered the pavilion and took a seat on lion’s seats arrayed with lotus flowers and honored, worshiped, and paid great respect to the Blessed One with the most excellent offerings of flowers, garlands, incense, scented oils, powders, clothes, parasols, victory banners, silk hangings, flags of victory, and the melodious sounds of cymbals, drums, and other instruments, and they covered the pavilion with jeweled nets. When everything had been brought together, the pavilion looked like a heap of jewels. It then immediately rose into the sky and flew like the king of swans to where the realized one, the blessed King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, was dwelling, and it settled on the ground there.

“The king and the princes bowed down at the feet of the Blessed One, and then bowed down to the monastic assembly. They walked around them seven times, keeping them on the right, and sat down to one side. Then the retinue of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wives and his relatives likewise descended from the pavilion and bowed down to the Blessed One and the monastic assembly, and walked around them seven times, keeping them on the right. The women and the relatives then sat to one side in the Blessed One’s presence in order to hear the Dharma. [B3]

“The blessed realized one, King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, knew that King Dhṛtarāṣṭra had come to hear the Dharma from him. So, he gave him a telling of the Dharma that captivated and uplifted him, [F.120.b] and brought him joy. This is the telling of the Dharma that the Blessed One gave him:

“ ‘Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great Vehicle achieve excellence in four qualities, and do not allow them to perish. What are these four? Great King, they achieve excellence in faith, and do not allow it to perish. What kind of faith is this? It is a faith that brings them closer to the noble ones and restrains them from doing deeds that should not be done.79 Great King, they achieve excellence in devotion. With such devotion, they listen well to the well-spoken words of noble ones and they listen attentively to the Dharma. Great King, they achieve excellence in humility. With such humility they bow, bend, and kneel to noble ones. Great King, they achieve excellence in heroic effort. With such heroic effort they acquire agility of body and agility of mind and they complete everything they have to do. Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great Vehicle achieve excellence in these four qualities and do not allow them to perish.80

“ ‘Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great Vehicle work with vigilance to perfect four qualities, and thus they have no regrets. What are these four? They control the senses; they see the flaws in sense pleasures; they understand that everything subject to clinging is impermanent; and they make the special contemplation of the Dharma the greatest motivating factor of their lives. Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great Vehicle work with vigilance to perfect these four qualities, and thus they have no regrets.

“ ‘Great King, when a king possesses four qualities, he is called a king of the Dharma.81 What are these four? He never loses sight of his aspiration for awakening; he inspires others to seek awakening; [F.121.a] he dedicates all the roots of merit to awakening; and he has confidence in the greatness of the buddhas upon seeing and hearing about the greatness of the buddhas, while he does not feel anything special about the greatness of gods, humans, disciples, or solitary buddhas. Great King, when a king possesses these four qualities, he is called a king of the Dharma.

“ ‘Therefore, Great King, you should always be conscientious, faithful, clear minded, and a seeker of the Dharma, and you should have a firm conviction and find joy in the complete joy of the Dharma. You should endeavor to seek out the Dharma, but you should not grow attached to the Dharma as an object of desire. What is the reason? Great King, it is because desires are insatiable. Yet, those who find satisfaction through the wisdom of the noble ones are satisfied.

“ ‘Great King, the vital force of human beings is weak and the human lifespan is short. Humans undergo a succession of lifetimes. For these reasons, you should look with fear toward the world that comes after this one. Great King, any roots of virtue that you grow by worshiping and serving the realized ones should be dedicated according to four dedications. What are these four? They are inexhaustible riches, the inexhaustible Dharma, inexhaustible inspired eloquence, and inexhaustible knowledge.

“ ‘There are another four. What are these four? They are the purity of the body that comes from the accumulation of moral conduct, the purity of speech that comes from the accumulation of learning, the purity of the mind that comes from the accumulation of wisdom, and the purity of wisdom that comes from the accumulation of knowledge.

“ ‘There are another four. What are these four? They are the perfection of skill in means that comes from bringing beings to maturity, the perfection of wisdom that comes from defeating Māra in all his forms, the perfection of the bodhisattva vow that comes from doing what one has promised to do, and the perfection of all the qualities of the buddha that comes from seeing and meeting the buddhas.’

“In this way, the Blessed One gave a thorough telling of the Dharma to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, [F.121.b] which thoroughly inspired him, uplifted him, and made him happy. Thus the king was satisfied, overjoyed, pleased, and glad, and he felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind. He worshiped the Realized One by offering him a priceless pearl necklace. He offered his entire kingdom to the Blessed One for his use, and he made the commitment to observe the five precepts, including the basic trainings and chastity, for as long as he lived.

“The women from the king’s inner chambers all conceived the aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening. They pledged to observe the five precepts, including the practice of celibacy and the other basic trainings. When the women from the king’s inner chambers heard the Blessed One’s telling of the Dharma, the women were satisfied, overjoyed, pleased, and glad, and they felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind. They took all their clothing and jewelry and put it on the body of the Blessed One. Having offered all this, they also committed to observing the five precepts, including the basic trainings and chastity, for as long as they lived.

“In this way, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra become endowed with the treasure of the Dharma and, having acquired this great treasure, he, his wives, his relatives, and his entire retinue bowed their heads at the feet of the Blessed One, bowed to the monastic assembly, and walked around them three times, keeping them on the right. Then the whole pavilion rose into the air and returned to the king’s palace, Abode of Purity, and everyone went to their homes.

“Furthermore, Śāntamati, there was another occasion during a full moon when King Dhṛtarāṣṭra decided to visit a pleasant spot in the park called Diverse Flowers. While he was in that great garden, he had music played with cymbals, drums, and other musical instruments, and he had a feast and enjoyed himself. His perfect wives, who were named Aninditā [F.122.a] and Anupamā, bathed in the pond called Joy and washed their clothes with the scented water. Then they sat down happily on lion’s seats next to the pond covered with lotuses. As they sat there, two baby boys miraculously arose on their laps. The beautiful, charming, lovely, well-complexioned young boys sat there with their legs crossed. In that instant, the gods in the sky above them cried out, ‘Oh, this boy is Dharmacinti!’ and ‘Oh, this boy is Dharmamati!’ Thus, Śāntamati, the boys became known as Dharmacinti and Dharmamati throughout the land. The boy Dharmacinti arose on the lap of Queen Aninditā, and the boy Dharmamati on the lap of Queen Anupamā. At the moment of their births, as they were sitting there cross-legged the two boys spoke the following verses:

“In this way, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra [F.123.a] and the women from the king’s inner chambers and his relatives spent seven days venerating the Blessed One, following which they all went home together at the same time. Afterward, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra went into solitude. He went to the hugely arrayed pavilion where he sat upon the fine lion’s seat arrayed with lotus flowers, and, establishing himself completely within himself, he thought to himself, ‘All of my children have become set on attaining unsurpassable and perfect awakening, so I should investigate which one of them will be the first directly to realize unsurpassable and perfect awakening in all its fullness.’

“Right away, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra took out a vase made of seven precious substances. He cleaned the vase and took it in his hands, and after he had written down the names of every one of his children, he put the names in the vase. He then set the vase upon a ravishingly beautiful multicolored lotus flower made of the seven precious substances, and for seven days, the gods worshiped it with various types of flowers, incense, powders, fragrances, scented oils, and music. During the worship of the names, ten thousand gods engaged in their worship. After the seven days of worship, the vase was placed upon a golden pedestal in front of the king, his queens, their one thousand sons, and the two boys. The family members then began removing names from the vase.

“Of all the princes, Śāntamati, the first name they drew was Prince Viśuddhamati. As soon as the name was drawn, the great earth trembled in six ways. Without being rung, the cymbals on the laps of the women in the assembly resounded with many hundreds of tones.

“Śāntamati, what do you think? [F.123.b] Śāntamati, you should not think that Viśuddhamati, whose name was drawn first at that time, is someone unknown to you. And why not? Because the prince known then as Viśuddhamati later became the blessed one Krakucchanda. Following that, Prince Vijayasena’s name was drawn. The prince known then as Vijayasena later became the blessed one Kanakamuni. Following that, Prince Peaceful Lord’s name was drawn. This prince then known as Peaceful Lord later became the blessed one Kāśyapa. Following that, the prince Sarvārthasiddha’s name was drawn. I am the one who at that point was the prince called Sarvārthasiddha.

“Following that, the prince Sash Wearer’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Maitreya. Following that, the prince Supreme Intellect’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Siṃha. Following that, the prince Vidyuddeva’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Ketu. Following that, the prince Excellent King’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Kusumottama. Following that, the prince Prabhāketu’s name was drawn.82 He will become the realized one Puṣpa. Following that, the prince Vimalaprabhāsa’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Sunetra. Following that, the prince Vimalaprabhāsa’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Beautiful Eyes.83 Following that, the prince Pareṇareṇu’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Subāhu. Following that, [F.124.a] the prince Matirāja’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Jyotis. Following that, the prince Śubhavyūha’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Jyotīrasa. Following that, the prince Samṛddhapakṣa’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Abhyupagatagāmin. Following that, the prince Viśuddhavyūharāja’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Guṇāgradhārin. Following that, the prince Śrīgupta’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Dhanaśrī. Following that, the prince Suvimuktagātra’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Jñānākara. Following that, the prince Ugra’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Ratnākara. Following that, the prince Ratnakīrti’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Samantāloka. This could be done at length. For in this way, Śāntamati, one was selected for each of the thousand princes, including the name of the penultimate prince Mukuṭālaṃkṛta who will become the realized one Anantaguṇa­kīrti.

“Finally, Śāntamati, when Anantabuddhi’s name was drawn, all of his kinsmen made fun of him, because he was at the least advanced stage of the bodhisattva path. They said, ‘After all of us have performed all the deeds of the buddhas and brought all beings to maturity, what will be left for you to do?’

“Anantabuddhi replied:

“Therefore, Śāntamati, the least advanced of all the princes, Anantabuddhi, will become the realized one Roca, who will be the final realized one to appear in this Fortunate Eon. Śāntamati, the lifespan of the realized one Roca will be equal to the aggregated lifespans of all the realized ones of the Fortunate Eon, and his assembly of great disciples will be equal to all of theirs. He said, ‘I long for this,’ and thus he will be called Roca.85 Śāntamati, the realized one Roca will perform all the deeds of a buddha to the same degree that the other nine hundred ninety-nine buddhas will do. This is the particular consequence of his mastery of skill in means and his perfection of moral conduct and of the fulfillment of his vow.

“Then, Śāntamati, the one thousand princes all asked the young bodhisattvas, Dharmacinti and Dharmamati, ‘Noble sons, what sorts of vows have you made?’

“Dharmacinti responded, ‘Friends, I have vowed to become a Vajrapāṇi for each of you, uninterruptedly and without exception, so that I may reveal the secrets of the realized ones, and so that I may hear the teachings of all the buddhas, adhere to them, and realize them.’

“Dharmamati responded, [F.125.a] ‘Kinsmen, I have vowed that when each of you achieves awakening, I will request you to the turn the wheel of Dharma, and that as a result of my request, you will each turn the wheel of Dharma.’

“Then, Śāntamati, the Blessed One made predictions for the two of them that accorded with the vows they had made. Śāntamati, do not think that he who was at that point the wheel-turning king Dhṛtarāṣṭra is somebody unknown to you. Why? The Blessed One Dīpaṃkara was at that point the wheel-turning king Dhṛtarāṣṭra. His thousand sons are all the realized ones of the Fortunate Eon such that those princes are the realized ones from Krakucchanda to Roca. Śāntamati, the boy Dharmacinti, who arose spontaneously on the lap of Queen Aninditā, is now Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas. At that point, he was known as Dharmacinti. Śāntamati, the boy Dharmamati, who arose spontaneously on the lap of Queen Anupamā, is now Brahmā Śikhin.86 At that point, he was known as Dharmamati.

“Śāntamati, all those beings who were women in King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s inner chambers are now bodhisattvas gathered here in this assembly. The princes are all in the process of making beings ready for awakening so that they may achieve unsurpassable and perfect awakening. All those who have become firmly established within the Great Vehicle in this Fortunate Eon will eventually receive predictions of their awakening. Śāntamati, since the minds of these good beings are all perfected to such an extent, their conception of the aspiration that arises as a result of the roots of virtue will not go to waste, so long as they are not obstructed by the workings of dependent arising.” [F.125.b]