MINGUN SAYADAW
Chapter VI: Paramita (Perfections)
Edited and Translated by
U Ko Lay and U Tin Lwin
Yangon, Myanmar
1991
MINGUN SAYADAWChapter VI: Paramita (Perfections) Edited and Translated by |
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(19) Offering made to one or two separate, individual persons is Puggalika-dana; Offering made to the whole Order of Bhikkhus, the Sangha, is Sanghika-dana. Sangha means group, assemblage or community; here, the whole community of the Ariya disciples of the Buddha is meant. In making an offering intended for the Sangha, the donor must have in his mind not the individual Ariya disciples that constitute the Order, but the community of the Ariya disciples as a whole. Then only, his offerings will be of the Sanghika type. Dakkhinavibhanga Sutta (of Majjhima Nikaya Pali Canon) gives an enumeration of 14 kinds of gifts to individuals, Puggalika dana, and 7 kinds of gifts to the Sangha, Sanghika dana. It is useful to know them. 14 kinds of gifts to individuals
Of these 14 kinds of offering made to individuals, giving one full meal to an animal will bring wholesome results of long life, good looks, physical well-being, strength, and intelligence for one hundred lives. Then in an ascending order, giving one full meal to a lay person of poor morality will bring these wholesome results for one thousand lives; to a lay person of good morality at a time when Buddha's teachings are not extant and he has no opportunity to take refuge in the Triple Gem, for a hundred thousand lives; to recluses and ascetics accompli shed in Jhana attainments, for ten billion lives; to lay men and novitiates (during a period when the teaching. of Buddha are extant) who take refuge in the Triple Gem , and up to the Noble person who has attained the Sotapattimagga. for an innumerable period (asankhyeyya) of lives; and to persons of higher attainment up to the Buddha, for countless periods of lives. (According to the Commentary, even one who only takes refuge in the Triple Gem may be considered as a person who is practising for realisation of Sotapattiphala). There is no mention of bhikkhus of loose morality in the above list of 14 kinds of recipients of offerings made to individuals. The Buddha's enumeration of offering made to a person devoid of morality concerns only the period when the Buddha's Teaching is not extant. For these reasons, there is a tendency to consider that offerings made to bhikkhus of impure morality while the Buddha's teachings are still extant are blameworthy. But one should remember that any one who has become a Buddhist at the very least takes refuge in the Triple Gem; and the Commentary says that whoever takes refuge in the Triple Gem is a person who is practising for realisation of Sotapatti phala. Furthermore when an offering made to an ordinary lay person devoid of morality (while the Teaching of Buddha is not extant) could be of much benefit, there is no doubt that offerings made to an ordinary lay person devoid of morality while the Teaching of the Buddha is still extant could be beneficial too. Again, in the Milinda-Panha Text,, Nagasena Thera explains that an immoral bhikkhu is superior to an immoral lay person in ten respects such as reverence shown to the Buddha, reverence shown to the Dhamma, reverence shown to the Sangha etc. Thus, according to the Milinda Panha, an immoral bhikkhu is superior to an immoral lay person; and since he is listed by the Commentary as one who is practising for realisation of Sotapattiphala, one should not say that it is blameworthy and fruitless to make an offering to a bhikkhu devoid of morality. There is yet another point of view in connection with this matter. At a time when there is no Teaching of the Buddha, immoral bhikkhus cannot cause any harm to the Teaching; but when the Teaching is in existence, they can bring harm to it. For that reason, no offering should be made to bhikkhus devoid of morality during the period when there is the Buddha's Teaching. But that view is shown by the Buddha to be untenable. At the conclusion of the discourse on seven kinds of offerings to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana (see below), the Buddha explains to Ananda: "Ananda, in times to come, there will appear vile bhikkhus, devoid of morality, who are bhikkhus only in name, who will wear their robes round their necks. With the intention of giving to the Sangha, offerings will be made to these immoral bhikkhus. Even when offered in this manner, a Sanghika-dana, an offering meant for the whole Sangha, I declare, will bring innumerable, inestimable benefits." There is still another point to take into consideration. Of the Four Purities of Generosity (Dakkhina Visuddhi), the first Purity is: Even if the donee is of impure morality, when the donor is moral, the offering is pure by reason of purity of the donor. For these reasons also, one should not say that an immoral bhikkhu is not a donee, and that no benefit will accrue by making an offering to him. It should be well noted, therefore, it is blameworthy only when we make an offering with bad intentions of approving and encouraging an immoral bhikkhu in his evil practices; without taking into considerations his habits, if one makes the offering with a pure mind, thinking only 'one should give if some one comes for a donation', it is quite blameless. Seven kinds of gifts to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana
Of these seven kinds of Sanghika-dana, it may be asked if it is possible to make an offering of the first kind, namely, an offering made to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis led by the Buddha, after the Parinibbana of the Buddha. The answer is 'Yes, it is possible' and the offer should be made in this manner: after placing a statue of the Buddha containing relics in front of the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis who have gathered for the ceremony, the offering should be made, saying, 'I make this offering to the community of both bhikkhus and bhikkhunis led by the Buddha'. Having done an offering of the first kind, the question arises as to what happens to the objects of offering intended for the Buddha. Just as the property of the father customarily goes to the son, so too should the offerings intended for the Buddha go to the bhikkhu who does devotional duties to the Buddha or to the community of bhikkhus. Especially, if the objects offered include such materials as oil, ghee, etc. they should be utilized in offering of lights by oil lamps to the Buddha; pieces of cloth included in the offering should be made into banners and streamers to be offered in worship. During the Buddha's lifetime, people were generally not disposed to form attachment to or concerning them selves with, individual personalities; they had their mind bent on the Order of bhikkhus as a whole, and thus were able to make much offering of the noble Sanghika-dana kind. Consequently, the needs of the members of the Order were mostly met by the distributions made by the Order; they had little need to rely on lay man and lay woman donors and therefore had little attachment to them as 'the donors of my monastery, the donors of my robes etc.' Thus, the bhikkhu could be free of bonds of attachments. Brief story of the Householder Ugga Those desirous of making offerings of pure Sanghika-dana type should emulate the example set by the house holder Ugga. The story of the householder Ugga is found in the second discourse of the Gahapati Vagga, Atthaka nipata of Anguttara Nikaya Pali Canon. At one time when the Bhagava was residing at Elephant Village in the country of Vajji, the Bhagava addressed the bhikkhus, saying 'Bhikkhus, you should regard the householder Ugga of Elephant Village as a person endowed with eight wonderful attributes'. Stating thus briefly without giving any elaboration, the Bhagava went inside the monastery. Then a bhikkhu went in the morning to the house of the householder and said to him, 'Householder, the Bhagava has said that you are a person endowed with eight wonderful attributes. What are those eight wonderful attributes which the Bhagava said you are endowed with? "Venerable Sir, I am not exactly sure what specific eight wonderful attributes the Buddha said I am endowed with but please listen with proper attention to an account of the eight wonderful attributes which I actually possess." Then he gave the following full description of the eight wonderful attributes as follows: (1) The first time I saw the Buddha was when I was drinking and enjoying myself in the forest of Ironwood flowers. As soon as I saw the Buddha coming in the distance, I became sober and devotional piety and faith in the virtues of the Buddha rose in me. This is the first wonder. (2) At that very first meeting with the Buddha, I took refuge in the Buddha and listened to his discourse. As a result, I became a Sotapanna, a 'Stream—winner', and established in the observance of Brahmacariya-pancama-sila. This is the second wonder. (Brahmacariya-pancama-sila is similar to the five precepts habitually observed by lay people except that, instead of the precept 'abstain from sexual misconduct', it has the precept 'I abstain from any form of sexual inter course'. With the usual formula of the five precepts, and one abstains from sexual intercourse with any one other than one's own wise; but the Brahmacariya-pancama-sila requires total abstinence of sex, not even with one's own wife). (3) I had four wives; as soon as I arrived back home, I said to them: I have vowed to observe the precept of total abstinence; whichever of you wishes to remain living in this house may do so enjoying my wealth as you like and doing meritorious deeds with it; whoever wants to go back to her parents home is also free to do so; and whoever wants to get married to another man may just tell me to whom I should give you'. The eldest of my four wives expressed the wish to be given to a certain person whom she named. I sent for the man and holding my eldest wife with my left hand and a jug of water in my right hand, I gave away my wife to the man. In making this gift of my wife to the man, I remained completely unmoved, unaffected. This is the third wonder. (4) I have resolved to use all my wealth jointly with people of good moral character. This is the fourth wonder. (5) I always approach a bhikkhu with all due respect, never without reverence; if the bhikkhu gives me a talk on Dhamma, I listen to his discourse with respect only, never without reverence; if the bhikkhu does not give me a talk on Dhamma, I give him a discourse. This is the fifth wonder. (6) Whenever I invite the Sangha to my house to make some offerings, Devas would come ahead of them and inform me: 'Householder, such and such bhikkhus are enlightened, noble persons, Ariyas; such and such bhikkhus are ordinary persons of morality; such and such bhikkhus are devoid of morality.' That the devas come and give me this prior information about the bhikkhus is nothing surprising to me; the wonder is that when I make offering of meals or material things to the Sangha such thoughts as 'I will offer much to this individual because he is an enlightened noble person, of good morality; or I will offer little to this individual since he is of poor morality' would never occur to me. As a matter of fact, without differentiation as to who is noble, who is moral or who is immoral, I make my offerings impartially to each and every body. This is the sixth wonder. (7) Venerable sir, Devas come and tell me that the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught, it has the merit of being well-taught. This news conveyed to me by the Devas is nothing surprising to me. The wonder is that, on such occasions, I tell the Devas in reply, "Devas, whether you tell me so or not, verily, the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught; (He believes that the doctrine of the Buddha is well-taught, not because the Devas tell him, but because he himself knows it to be so). Although I hold such communications with Devas, I feel no pride in that the Devas come to me and that I have conversations with them. This is the seventh wonder. (8) There is nothing surprising too, if I should pass away before the Bhagava did and the Bhagava would foretell: 'the householder Ugga has completely destroyed the lower Five Fetters which lead to rebirth in the lower sensuous realms; he is an Anagami'. Even before the Buddha's prediction, I have become an Anagami and I have already known this. This is the eighth wonder. Of these eight wonders described by the Householder Ugga, the sixth is concerned with making impartial offerings to the noble, the moral or the immoral alike. It is necessary to know how one can be impartially minded in such circumstances. The impartial attitude can be under stood to be brought about in this manner, 'As I have made the invitation with intention to give to the Sangha, the whole Order, when I make the offering to a noble one, 1 will not recognise him as such; I will not consider that I am making the offering to a noble one; I will keep in mind only that I am making my offering to the Sangha, the noble disciples of the Buddha as a whole. And when I make the offering to an immoral person, I will not recognise him as such; I will not consider that I am making the offering to an immoral person; I will keep in mind only that I am making an offering to the Sangha, the noble disciples of the Buddha as a whole. In this manner, impartiality may be maintained. Emulating the example set by the Householder Ugga, when making an offering one should ignore the status of the recipient, keep aside personal feelings towards him, and strive to keep firmly in mind only the Order of bhikkhus as a whole, so that his dana may be of the noble Sanghika dana type. As taught explicitly by the Buddha in the Dakkhina -Vibhanga Sutta mentioned above, when an offering is of Sanghika type, that is with the whole community of bhikkhus in mind when making it, it could bring innumerable, inestimable benefits to the donor, even if the recipient is an immoral person devoid of virtues. An offering is of Sanghika-dana type when it is made with full reverence to the Sangha; but it is not always easy to do so., Suppose a person decides to make a Sanghika type of offering, having made the necessary preparations, he goes to a monastery and addresses the bhikkhus: 'Reverend Sirs, I wish to make a Sanghika type of offering; may you designate someone from amongst the Sangha as its representative'. Should the bhikkhus nominate a novice whose turn it is to represent the Sangha, the donor is likely to be displeased; should they choose an elderly Thera of long standing to represent them, he is likely to be overwhelmed with intense delight, exulting 'I have an elderly Thera of long standing as my donee'. Such generosity affected by the personality of the donee cannot be a perfect Sanghika type of offering. Only if one can accept the representative nominated by turn by the Sangha without any misgiving and without concerning oneself about whether the recipient is a novice or a bhikkhu, a young bhikkhu or an elderly bhikkhu, an ignorant bhikkhu or a learned bhikkhu, and makes one's offering, thinking only 'I make my offering to the Sangha', with full reverence to the Sangha, one makes a truly Sanghika dana. Story concerning a donor of a monastery This incident happened on the other side of the ocean, i.e. in India. A rich householder who had already donated a monastery intended to make an offering to the Sangha. After making necessary preparations, he went to the Order of bhikkhus and addressed them, 'Venerable sirs, may you designate someone to receive my offering for the Sangha'. It happened that it was the turn of an immoral bhikkhu to represent the Sangha for alms. Although the man knew well that the designated bhikkhu was immoral, he treated him with full respect: the seat for the bhikkhu was prepared as for a ceremonious occasion, decorated with a canopy overhead, and scented with flowers and perfumes. He washed the feet of the bhikkhu and anointed them with oil very reverentially as if he were attending upon the person of the Buddha himself. He then made his offering to the bhikkhu paying full homage to the Sangha. That afternoon, the immoral bhikkhu came back to his house and standing at the doorway asked for a hoe he needed to make some repairs in the monastery. The donor of the monastery did not even bother to get up from his seat; he simply pushed the hoe towards the bhikkhu with his feet. The members of his family asked of him: "Respected sir, this morning you had heaped upon this bhikkhu so much veneration that beggars description; now you have shown him not even a small part of that deference. Why is this difference between the morning and the afternoon in your attitude towards the bhikkhu?" The man replied, "My dear ones, the respect I was showing this morning was towards the Sangha not to this immoral bhikkhu". Some notable points for consideration concerning offerings made to individual, Puggalika-dana, and to the Sangha, Sanghika-DanaThere are some people who maintain that if some person should approach one for alms and if one knew beforehand that the person was of bad morality, one should not make any offering to that person; if one should do so, it would be like watering a poisonous plant. But it could not be said that every act of offering made knowingly to immoral persons is blameworthy. It is the volition of the giver that must be taken into account here. If the donor should approve of the bad habits of the recipient and give with a view to give him support and encouragement for continuance of his immoral practices, then only his gift would be like watering a poisonous plant. It the donor does not approve of the bad habits to the recipient and has no mind to encourage him to continue with his bad practices, but emulating the example of the monastery donor described above, if he makes his gift in such a way that it becomes a true Sanghika-dana, then no blame can be attached to such an offering. Again there are some who maintain that whether the recipient is of good moral character or bad moral character is no concern of the donor's; it only concerns the recipient. Therefore, remaining indifferent to the character of the recipient, whether good or bad, the donor should give bearing in mind, 'This is a noble person, an ariya (or an Arahat)'. They maintain that this act of offering is blameless and as fruitful as making an offering to an Arahat. This point of view is also untenable. Disciples of other teachers who are not in a position to know whether a person is an Ariya, or an Arahat, wrongly believe their teachers to be Noble Ones, enlightened Arahats. This sort of belief called Micchadhimokkha, making the wrong decision or conclusion, is demeritorious. Surely it would be demeritorious and would be making a wrong decision if one were to bear in mind 'these are noble, enlightened Arahats' when one knew full well that they were not. It is not proper, therefore, to hold such 'views. When faced with such recipients in making one's offering, the proper attitude to bear in mind should be "Bodhisattas in fulfilment of Perfection of Generosity make their offering without discriminating between persons of high, medium or low status or development. I will also emulate the examples of the Bodhisattas and make my offerings to whoever comes for them without discrimination. In this way, one would not be giving support and encouragement to the practice of bad habits and would not be 'making wrong decisions or conclusions about the recipients' development; the act of offering would thus be free from blame or fault. Controversies and difficulties arise only in the case of offerings made to individuals, puggalika - dana, because there exist various kind of individuals, good or bad; in the case of offerings made to the Sangha, Sanghika-dana, there exists only one kind of Sangha, not two-good and bad. (Here the noble disciples of the Buddha, the Ariyas, are meant). There is no distinction amongst the Ariya Sangha as high, medium or low status or development, they are all equally noble. Therefore, as explained above, whenever a donee appears before one, without taking into consideration his character, one should make the offering with the thought 'I make my offering to the disciples of the Buddha, the noble community of bhikkhus'. Then this offering is of Sanghika-dana type and the recipient is the Sangha; the person who appears before him to receive the offering is merely the representative of the Sangha. However low that person may be in his morals, the true recipient of the offering is the noble Sangha and therefore this is truly a noble gift. Some people consider that it is very difficult to put into actual practice the advice to ignore the personal character of the immoral recipient who has appeared before one and to make one's offering with the mind directed not to him but to the noble Sangha, regarding him only as a representative of the Sangha. The difficulty arises only because of lack of habitual practice in such matters. In making reverential vows to the images and statues of the Buddha, regarding them as the Buddha's representatives, one is so accustomed to the practice of projecting one's mind from the images and statues to the person of the living Buddha that no one says it is difficult. Just as the householder Ugga of the Buddha's time and the monastery donor of Jambu Dipa had habituated themselves to make offerings to, an immoral bhikkhu as a representative of the Buddha, so also Buddhists of modern times should discipline their mind to become accustomed to such an attitude. Four kinds of offerings to the Sangha as described in the Vinaya PitakaThe Vinaya Pitaka, the Book of Discipline for members of the Order, gives a description of the four categories of offerings made intentionally for the Sangha. But these four categories of Sanghika-dana do not concern the lay donor; only the seven types of Sanghika-dana mentioned above concern them. The Vinaya distinctions are made for the Order only so that they would know how to distribute the offerings amongst themselves. The four categories (1) Sammukhibhuta Sanghika. Offerings to be distributed amongst the Sangha who are actually present at the time and place. Suppose an offering of robes is made at a certain place in towns or villages where some bhikkhus have gathered together, and the offering is made to the noble Sangha as a whole by the donor saying 'I give to the Sangha'. It will be difficult to reach all the noble Sanghas in the town or the village concerned. The distribution is, therefore, to be made amongst the Sangha present at the place at the time. Hence it is called Sammukhibhuta Sanghika (Sammukhibhuta - present at the time and place; Sanghika - belonging to the Sangha.) (2) Aramattha Sanghika. Offerings to be distributed amongst the Sangha residing in the whole compound of the monastery. Suppose a donor comes into the compound of a monastery and makes an offering of robes to a bhikkhu or bhikkhus whom he meets, saying 'I give to the Sangha'. As the offering is made within the compound of the monastery, it belongs to all the Sangha residing in the whole compound of the monastery, not just to the bhikkhus who are in the vicinity. Hence it is called Aramattha Sanghika (Aramattha-residing in the compound; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.) (3) Gatagata Sanghika. Offerings which belong to the Sangha of whichever place they (have gone to) have been taken to. Suppose a donor comes to a monastery where a solitary bhikkhu resides and makes an offering of one hundred robes, saying 'I give to the Sangha'. If the residing bhikkhu is well-versed in the Disciplinary rules, he can take possession of all the offerings for himself by simply remarking, 'At the present moment, in this monastery, I am the sole Sangha; all these one hundred robes, therefore, belong to me and I take possession of them'. He has the right (according to the Vinaya rules) to do so; he cannot be faulted for monopolizing the offering made to the Sangha. If the bhikkhu is not proficient in Vinaya rules, he would not know what to do. And without resolving, determining 'I am the sole owner, I take possession of them', suppose he left for another place taking the robes with him, and the bhikkhus he met there should ask him how he came by the robes. Suppose, on learning how he had come by them, those bhikkhus claimed their share of the robes, saying, we also have the claim on them', and consequently all the robes were divided equally with them. Then this sharing of the robes is deemed to be a good one. But suppose, without sharing the robes, he should continue on his way and encounter other bhikkhus, these bhikkhus would also be entitled to receive their share of the robes. In this way, wherever the bhikkhu would go taking the robes with him, the bhikkhus of those places would be entitled to the robes. Hence it is called Gatagata Sanghika: (Gatagata - where ever one has gone; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.) (4) Catuddisa Sanghika. Offerings which belong to all bhikkhus who come from the four directions. Such offerings include gifts which are weighty and important, which are to be treated with deference, for example, monasteries. They are not to be apportioned but for use by Sangha coming from all directions. Hence it is called catuddisa Sanghika (Catuddisa-from four directions; Sanghika-belonging to the Sangha.) Not being mindful of the fact that these four categories are mentioned in the Vinaya rules to provide measures for distinction of ownership and distribution of the offerings made to the Sangha, some (bhikkhus) make use of these Vinaya provisions when lay people make offerings. To give an illustration, suppose a donor actuated by pious devotion to a certain bhikkhu builds a monastery, though not intending for him, but for the whole Sangha. For the libation ceremony, he invited ten bhikkhus including the bhikkhu to whom he has so much devotion. After recitation of the Parittas *, when the time comes for actual announcement of the offer, the bhikkhu wants to be offered the monastery as a puggalika-dana; offering made to a particular individual because he feels that living in a monastery meant for the whole Sangha entails so much liabilities and responsibilities. But the donor prefers to make it a
Sanghika-dana because, he believes, such dana is superior and of much merit. The congregation resolves the disagreement between the donor and his preceptor by asking the donor to make the offering saying, 'I give this monastery to the Sangha who is present here now' (Sammukhibhuta Sangha). Then nine bhikkhus of the congregation, saying to the remaining one, 'We relinquish all our right of possession of the monastery to your reverence', hand over the new monastery to him and leave. In this manner such procedures are liable to be followed, believing that by so doing the donor's wish for a Sanghika- dana is fulfilled and the recipient who prefers individual ownership is also happy since the nine co-owners have relinquished their right of possession of the monastery making him the sole owner. But in reality, such a procedure is not proper and should not be followed. The gift of a monastery is a weighty, important one; the ten bhikkhus to whom the monastery has been offered cannot make any kind of apportionment of the offering between them; and the donor's gift amounts to be only a gift to the ten bhikkhus present on the occasion only and not to the Sangha as a whole. (20) Offerings to be made on specific occasions (Kala dana); offerings which may be made at any time (akala-dana). Offering of Kathina robes at the end of the Buddhist lent for the duration of one month, offering of robes at the beginning of the Buddhist Lent, offering of dietary food to the sick, offering of food to visiting bhikkhus, offering of food to bhikkhus setting out on a journey are gifts made at a specific time for a specific purpose and are called timely gifts, Kala-dana; all other gifts made as one wishes without reference to any particular time are called Akala-dana. Kala-dana is of greater merit than the Akala- type because the offering is made to meet the specific needs at a specific time. The Kala type of dana, at the time of its fruition, brings specific good results at the time they are needed. For example, if the donor wishes for something special to eat, his wish is immediately fulfilled; likewise if he wishes to have some special clothes to wear, he will. receive them. These are examples of special merit that accrues from offerings made at specific times to meet specific needs. (21) Offerings made in the presence of the donor, (Paccakkha-dana); Offerings made in the absence of the donor, (Apaccakkha-dana). The Pali word paccakkha is made up of pati and akkha. Pati means towards; akkha means five senses: eye, ear, nose, tongue body. Although Paccakkha is generally 'before the eye', its complete meaning should be 'perceptible to the senses'. Thus Paccakkha-dana has wider scope, not just the kind of offering which can be seen by the donor but also those which can be perceived by his other senses, i.e. by sound, by smell, by taste and by touch. In this connection, it should be noted that offerings made in the presence of the donor, Paccakkha-dana is not exactly the same as sahatthika-dana, that made with one's own hands. Offerings made in one's presence at one's instance but not actually with one's own hands are of the Anattika-dana type, offerings made at one's request or command. (22) Offerings which can be matched by someone else (Sadisa-dana); Offerings which cannot be matched by any one, unrivalled alms -giving, (Asadisa-dana.) When offerings are made in a spirit of competition, donors make efforts to excel their rivals in the scale and magnificence of charity. In such competitions, the offerings, that prove to be incomparable, inimitable is called unrivalled alms - giving, Asadisa dana. According to the Dhammapada Commentary, as explained in the story of Unrivalled alms-giving in the Loka-vagga, only one donor appears dung the time of each Buddha to make an unrivalled offering. The story runs as follows: At one time the Bhagava, after going on a long journey followed by five hundred Arahats arrived back at the Jetavana monastery. The king, Pasenadi of Kosala, honoured the Bhagava and his five hundred disciples by inviting them to the palace and offering them alms on a magnificent scale. The king invited also the people of Savatthi to his ceremony of offering so that they could watch and rejoice in his meritorious deed . The next day the people of Savatthi, rivalling the king, organized the resources of the whole city and gave offerings which surpassed those of the king's to the Bhagava and his disciples. They invited the king to their ceremony to observe their deed and rejoice in it. Catching the spirit of competition, the king accepted the challenge of the citizens the next day by conducting a more magnificent ceremony of offering the next day. The citizens in turn organized again another grand ceremony of offering to outdo the efforts of the king. In this manner, the keen contest between the king and his citizens went on until either side had made six offerings. (The contest still remained indecisive.) As the seventh round came along, the royal donor was feeling despondent: "It will be very difficult to surpass the efforts of the citizens in this seventh round; and life would not be worth living, if I, the sovereign ruler of the land, were to lose to the people over whom I rule in this round'.' (To console him), his queen, Mallika, thought out a plan by which the king could make a truly majestic offering which the people would find impossible to match. She had a grand pavillion built; five hundred great disciples of the Buddha, the Arahats, were to sit in the pavillion with five hundred princesses fanning them and spraying perfumes and scented water in the pavillion. At the back of the five hundred Arahats, there would be five hundred elephants, kneeling down and holding a white umbrella over each of the great Arahats. As the arrangements were being made according to the above plan, they found one tame elephant short of five hundred; so they had a wild, unruly elephant notorious for its savagery placed at the back of the Venerable Angulimala and made it hold a white umbrella like other elephants. People were amazed to find this savage beast taking part in the ceremony and holding the umbrella over the head of the Venerable Angulimala in a docile manner. After the meal had been offered to the congregation, the king declared: "I made an offering of all the things in this pavilion, allowable things as well as unallowable things.' On this declaration, the people had to admit defeat in the contest, because they had no princesses, no white umbrellas, no elephants. Thus the donor of the unrivalled dana at the time of the Supreme Being of the three Worlds, the Buddha Gotama, was King Pasenadi of Kosala. It should be noted that each of the other Buddha also had a donor who presented him with an incomparable, unrivalled dana. (End of the chapter on Generosity in Groups of Twos.) |
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