One morning, when the ministers and brahmans went to the palace to
pay their respects to King Pasenadi, the King of Kosala, and to
inquire whether His Majesty had slept well, they found him lying in
terror, unable to move from his bed.
"How could I sleep well?" exclaimed the king. "Just before daybreak
I dreamed sixteen incredible dreams, and I have been lying here
terrified ever since! Since you are my advisors, tell me what these
dreams mean."
"What were your dreams, sire?" the brahmans asked. "Surely we will
be able to judge their importance."
As the king was telling them his dreams, the brahmans looked very
worried and began wringing their hands.
"Why are you wringing your hands, brahmans?" asked the king. "Is it
because of my dreams?"
"Yes, sire. These are evil dreams. They are full of peril."
"What will come of them?" asked the king.
"They portend one of three calamities, sire — great harm to your
kingdom, to your wealth, or to your life."
"Is there any remedy?"
"These dreams are powerful and extremely threatening. Still, we
will find a remedy, otherwise what is the use of our vast study and
learning?"
"How do you propose to avert the evil?" asked the king.
"Wherever four roads meet, we will offer appropriate sacrifices,
sire."
"My advisors," cried the king. "My life is in your hands! Hurry and
do your best to save me!"
Each of the exultant brahmans had the same thought: "We are going
to make a fortune from these dreams. Soon we will feast on the
choicest foods."
As soon as they had left the king's presence, they began scurrying
about, happily giving orders in every direction. They ordered
laborers to dig huge sacrificial pits. They demanded herds of
various four-footed creatures, all without blemish. They called for
baskets of pure white birds of many kinds. Again and again, they
discovered something or other lacking. Messengers raced back and
forth to inform the king of each new request.
Noticing all the commotion, Queen Mallika went to the king and
asked why the brahmans and their servants kept coming to him.
"I envy you," said the king sarcastically. "A snake in your ear,
and you don't even know it!"
"What does your majesty mean?" asked the queen.
"I have dreamed such unlucky dreams! The brahmans tell me they
point to disaster. They keep coming here because they are anxious
to protect me from the evil by offering sacrifices."
"Has your majesty consulted the Chief Brahman of all the worlds
about this?" asked the queen.
"Who do you mean, my dear?" asked the king.
"Of course, I mean Lord Buddha. He will surely understand your
dreams. Go to Jetavana and ask him."
"A good idea, my queen," answered the king. "I will go at
once."
When the king reached the monastery, he paid his respects to the
Buddha and sat down.
"What brings your majesty here so early in the morning?" asked the
Buddha.
"Just before daybreak, venerable sir, I dreamed sixteen terrifying
dreams. My brahmans have warned me that my dreams foretell
calamity. To avert the evil, they are preparing to sacrifice many
animals wherever four roads meet. Queen Mallika suggested that I
ask you to tell me what these dreams really mean and what will come
of them."
"It is true, sire, that I alone can explain the significance of
your dreams and tell you what will come of them. Tell me your
dreams as they appeared to you."
"I will, Blessed One," answered the king, and he began relating his
dreams.
"In the first dream, I saw four jet-black bulls," the king
began. "They came together from the four cardinal directions to the
royal courtyard with every intention to fight. A great crowd of
people gathered to see the bullfight. The bulls, however, only made
a show of fighting, pawing and bellowing. Finally, they went off
without fighting at all. This was my first dream. What
will come of it?"
"Sire, that dream will have no result in your lifetime or mine. But
in the distant future, when kings are stingy, when citizens are
unrighteous, when the world is perverted, and when good is waning
and evil waxing, in those days of the world's decline, no rain will
fall from the heavens, the monsoons will forget their season, the
crops will wither, and famine will stalk the land. At that time
immense clouds will gather from the four quarters of the heavens as
if for rain. Farmers will rush to bring in the rice they had spread
to dry in the sun. Men will take their spades and hurry to repair
the dikes. The thunder will roar, and the lightning will flash from
the clouds. However, just as the bulls in your dream didn't fight,
these clouds will retreat without giving any rain. This is what
shall come of this dream. But no harm shall come to you from this
dream because it applies only to the remote future. The brahmans
only said what they said to get some profit for themselves. Now
tell me your second dream, sire."
"My second dream was about tiny trees and shrubs which
burst through the soil. When they were scarcely more than a few
inches high, they flowered and bore fruit. This was my
second dream. What will come of it?"
"Sire," said the Buddha, "this dream will be realized in future
days when the world has fallen into decay and when human lives are
short. Passions then will be so strong that even very young girls
will cohabitate with men. Despite their immaturity, they will get
pregnant and have children. The flowers and fruit symbolize their
babies. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
third dream."
"I saw cows sucking milk from their very own newborn
calves. This was my third dream. What can it possibly
mean?"
"This dream will come about only when age is no longer respected.
In that future time young people will have no regard for their
parents or parents-in-law. Children will handle the family estate
themselves. If it pleases them, they will give food and clothing to
the old folks, but, if it doesn't suit them, they will withhold
their gifts. Thus the old people, destitute and dependent, will
survive only by the favor and whim of their own children, like big
cows suckled by day-old calves. However, you have nothing to fear
from this. Tell me your fourth dream."
"Men unyoked a team of strong, sturdy oxen, and replaced
them with young steers, too weak to draw the load. Those young
steers refused to pull. They stood stock-still, so that the wagons
didn't move at all. This was my fourth dream. What will
come of it?"
"Here again the dream will not come to pass until the future, in
the days of wicked kings. In days to come, unjust and parsimonious
kings will show no honor to wise leaders, skilled in diplomacy.
They will not appoint experienced, learned judges to the courts. On
the contrary, they will honor the very young and foolish, and will
appoint the most inexperienced and unprincipled to the courts.
Naturally, these appointees, because of their ignorance of
statecraft and the law, will not be able to bear the burden of
their responsibilities. Because of their incompetence they will
have to throw off the yoke of public office. When that happens, the
aged and wise lords will remember being passed over, and, even
though they are able to cope with all difficulties, they will
refuse to help, saying: 'It is no business of ours since we have
become outsiders.' They will remain aloof, and the government will
fall to ruins. It is just like when the young steers, not strong
enough for the burden, were yoked instead of the team of sturdy
oxen. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
fifth dream."
"I saw an incredible horse with a mouth on each side of its
head being fed fodder on both sides. That dreadful horse ate
voraciously with both its mouths. This was my fifth dream.
What will come of it?"
"This dream will also come true only in the future, in the days of
unrighteous and irresponsible kings, who will appoint covetous men
to be judges. These despicable magistrates, blind to virtue and
honesty, will take bribes from both sides as they sit in the seat
of judgment. They will be doubly corrupt, just like the horse that
ate fodder with two mouths at once. However, you have nothing to
fear from this. Tell me your sixth dream."
"I saw people holding out a brightly burnished golden bowl
which must have been worth a fortune. They were actually begging an
old jackal to urinate in it. Then I saw the repulsive beast do just
that. This was my sixth dream. What can it mean?"
"This dream too will come to be only in the remote future, when
immoral kings, although from a royal line themselves, will mistrust
the sons of their old nobility, preferring instead the lowest-born
of the country. Because of the kings' blindness, nobles will
decline, and the low-born will rise in rank. Naturally, the great
families will give their daughters to them in marriage. The union
of the noble maidens with the ignoble, nouveau-riche will be like
the pissing of the old jackal into the golden bowl. However, you
have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your seventh dream."
"I saw a man braiding rope. As he worked, he dropped the
finished rope at his feet. Under his bench, unknown to him, lay a
hungry jackal bitch, which kept eating the rope as fast as he
braided it. This was my seventh dream. What shall come of
it?"
"This dream also will happen only in far off days. At that time
women will crave men, strong drink, extravagant clothes, jewelry,
and entertainment. In their profligacy these women will get drunk
with their lovers and carry on shamelessly. They will neglect their
homes and families. They will pawn household valuables, selling
everything for drink and amusements, even the seed needed for the
next crop. Just as the hungry jackal under the bench ate the rope
of the rope-maker, so these women will squander the savings earned
by their husbands' labor. However, you have nothing to fear from
this. Tell me your eighth dream."
"At a palace gate there stood a big pitcher full to the
brim. Around it stood many empty pitchers. From all directions
there came a steady stream of people carrying pots of water which
they poured into the already full pitcher. The water from that full
pitcher kept overflowing and wastefully soaking into the sand.
Still the people came and poured more and more water into the
overflowing vessel. Not a single person even glanced at the empty
pitchers. This was my eighth dream. What shall come of
it?"
"This dream too will not come to pass until the future when the
world is in decline. The kingdom will grow weak, and its kings will
be poorer and more demanding. These kings in their poverty and
selfishness will make the whole country work exclusively for them.
They will force citizens to neglect their own work and to labor
only for the throne. For the kings' sake they will plant sugar
cane, make sugar-mills, and boil down molasses. For the kings' sake
they will plant flower gardens and orchards and gather fruits. They
will harvest all the crops and fill the royal storerooms and
warehouses to overflowing, but they will be unable even to glance
at their own empty barns at home. It will be like filling and
overfilling the full pitcher, heedless of the needy, empty ones.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your ninth
dream."
"I saw a deep pool with sloping banks overgrown with
lotuses. From all directions, a wide variety of animals came to
drink water from that pool. Strangely, the deep water in the middle
was terribly muddy, but the water at the edges, where all those
thirsty creatures had descended into the pool, was unaccountably
clear and sparkling. This was my ninth dream. What does it
mean?"
"This dream too will not come to pass until the future, when kings
grow increasingly corrupt. Ruling according to their own whim and
pleasure, they will never make judgments according to what is
right. Being greedy, they will grow fat on lucrative bribes. Never
showing mercy or compassion to their subjects, they will be fierce
and cruel. These kings will amass wealth by crushing their subjects
like stalks of sugar cane in a mill and by taxing them to the last
penny. Unable to pay the oppressive taxes, the citizens will
abandon their villages, towns, and cities, and will flee like
refugees to the borders. The heart of the country will be a
wilderness, while the remote areas along the borders will teem with
people. The country will be just like the pool, muddy in the middle
and clear at the edges. However, you have nothing to fear from
this. Tell me your tenth dream."
"I saw rice boiling in a pot without getting done. By 'not
getting done' I mean that it looked as though the cooking was going
on in three distinct stages which were sharply delineated and
separate from each other. One part of the rice was sodden, another
part was hard and raw, and the third part looked like it was
perfectly cooked. This was my tenth dream. What will come
of it?"
"This dream too will not be fulfilled until the future. In days to
come kings will become unrighteous; the nobles will follow the
king's example, and so will the brahmans. The townsmen, the
merchants, and at last even the farmers will be corrupted.
Eventually, everyone in the country, the sages and even the gods of
the land, will become immoral. Even the winds that blow over the
realm of such an unrighteous king will grow cruel and lawless.
Because even the skies and the spirits of the skies over that land
will be disturbed, they will cause a drought. Rain will never fall
on the whole kingdom at once. It may rain in the upper districts,
but in the lower it will not. In one place a heavy downpour will
damage the crops, while in another area the crops will wither from
drought. The crops sown within a single kingdom — like the rice in
the one pot — shall have no uniform character. However, you have
nothing to fear from this. Tell me your eleventh dream."
"I saw rancid buttermilk being bartered for precious
sandalwood worth a fortune in gold. This was my eleventh
dream. What shall come of it?"
"This will happen only in the distant future, when my teaching is
waning. In those days, there will be many greedy, shameless
bhikkhus, who for the sake of their bellies dare to preach the very
words in which I have warned against greed! Because they desert the
Truth to gratify their stomachs, and because they sided with
sectarians, their preaching will not lead to Nibbana. Their only
thought as they preach will be to use fine words and sweet voices
to induce lay believers to give them costly robes, delicate food,
and every comfort. Others will seat themselves beside the highways,
at busy street corners, or at the doors of kings' palaces where
they will stoop to preach for money, even for a pittance! Thus
these monks will barter away for food, for robes, or for coins, my
teaching which leads to liberation from suffering! They will be
like those who exchanged precious sandalwood worth a fortune in
pure gold for rancid buttermilk. However, you have nothing to fear
from this. Tell me your twelfth dream."
"I saw dried gourds sinking in the water. What
shall come of it?"
"This dream also will not have its fulfillment until the future, in
the days of unjust kings, when the world is perverted. In those
days kings will favor the low-born, not the sons of nobility. The
low-born will become great lords, while the nobles will sink into
poverty. In the king's court and in the courts of justice, the
words of the low-born alone will be recognized, so that they, like
the dried gourds, will be firmly established. In the assemblies of
monks it will be the same. Whenever there are enquiries about
proper behavior, rules of conduct, or discipline, only the counsel
of wicked, corrupt monks will be considered. The advice of modest
monks will be ignored. It will be as when the empty pumpkins sank.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
thirteenth dream."
Then the king said, "I saw huge blocks of solid rock, as
big as houses, floating like dried gourds upon the waters.
What shall come of it?"
"This dream also will not come to pass until those times of which I
have spoken. At that time unrighteous kings will show honor to the
low-born, who will become great lords, while the true nobles will
fade into obscurity. The nobles will receive no respect, while the
ignorant upstarts will be granted all honors. In the king's court
and in the law courts, the words of the nobles, learned in the law,
will drift idly by like those solid rocks. They will not penetrate
deep into the hearts of men. When the wise speak, the ignorant will
merely laugh them to scorn, saying 'What is it these fellows are
saying?' In the assemblies of monks as well, people will not
respect the excellent monks. Their words will not sink deep, but
will drift idly by, the same as the rocks floating on the water.
However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
fourteenth dream."
"I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than miniature flowerets,
swiftly pursuing huge black snakes and devouring them.
What can this mean?"
"This dream too will not have its fulfillment until those future
days of which I have already spoken, when the world is declining.
At that time men's passions will be so strong that husbands will be
thoroughly infatuated with their childish wives. Men will lose all
judgment and self-respect. Being completely smitten, they will
place their infantile wives in charge of everything — servants,
livestock, granaries, gold and silver, everything in the house.
Should the over-fond husband presume to ask for some money, or for
a favorite robe, he will be told to mind his own business, and not
to be so inquisitive about property
in her house. These abusive young wives will
exercise their power over their husbands as if the men were slaves.
It will be like the tiny frogs which gobbled up the big black
snakes. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
fifteenth dream."
"I saw a village crow, a vile creature with all the ten
vices,[1] attended by an
entourage of Mandarin ducks, beautiful birds with feathers of
golden sheen. What shall come of it?"
"This dream too will not come to pass until the far distant future,
in the reign of weakling kings. Then there will be kings who know
nothing about ruling. They will be cowards and fools. Fearing
revolt and revolution, they will elevate their footmen,
bath-attendants, and barbers to nobility. These kings will ignore
the real nobility. Cut off from royal favor and unable to support
themselves, bona fide nobles will be reduced to dancing attendance
on the upstarts, as when the crow had regal Mandarin ducks for his
retinue. However, you have nothing to fear from this. Tell me your
sixteenth dream."
"I saw goats chasing wolves and eating them. At the sight
of goats in the distance, the wolves fled terror-stricken, quaking
with fear to hide in thickets. Such was my dream. What
will come of it?"
"This dream too will not have its fulfillment until the reign of
immoral kings. The low-born will be raised to important posts and
will become royal favorites. True nobles will sink into obscurity
and distress. Gaining power in the law courts because of the king's
favors, the parvenu will claim the ancestral estates of the
impoverished old nobility, demanding their titles and all their
property. When the real nobles plead their rights in court, the
king's minions will have them beaten and tortured, then taken by
the throat and thrown out with words of scorn. 'That will teach you
to know your place, fools!' they will shout. 'How dare you dispute
with us? The king shall hear of your insolence, and we will have
your hands and feet chopped off!' At this, the terrified nobles
will agree that black is white and that their own estates belong to
the lowly upstarts. They will then hurry home and cower in an agony
of fear. Likewise, at that time, evil monks will harass good,
worthy monks until the worthy ones flee from the monasteries to the
jungle. This oppression of true nobles by the low-born and of good
monks by the evil monks will be like the intimidation of wolves by
goats. However, you have nothing to fear from this. This dream
refers to the future only."
When he had thus reassured the king, the Buddha added: "It was
neither truth nor love for you that prompted the brahmans to
prophesy as they did. It was pure greed and selfishness that led
them to prescribe sacrifices."
Thus the Buddha explained the meaning of the sixteen dreams. Then
he said, "Nor are you the first to have had these dreams. They were
dreamed by kings of bygone days as well. Then, as now, brahmans
found in them a pretext for sacrifices."
At the king's request, the Buddha told this story of the past.
Long, long ago, when Brahmadatta was reigning in Baranasi, the
Bodhisatta was born into a brahman family in the North country.
When he grew up, he renounced the world and became a hermit. Having
attained a high level of meditation, he acquired supernatural
powers.
One day, King Brahmadatta dreamed sixteen mysterious dreams and
asked his advisors about them. The brahmans explained that the
dreams foretold evil and began preparing great sacrifices. Seeing
this, one of the pupils of the chief brahman, a young man of
considerable learning and wisdom, approached his teacher, and said,
"Master, you have taught me the Three Vedas. Don't the texts say
that it is never a good thing to take life?"
"My dear boy," answered the teacher, "this means money to us — a
great deal of money. Why are you anxious to spare the king's
treasury?"
"Do as you will, Master," replied the young man. "I will no longer
stay here with you." With those words he left the palace and went
to the royal gardens.
That same morning the Bodhisatta had thought to himself, "If I
visit the king's garden today, I will save a great number of
creatures from death."
The young brahman found the ascetic radiant as a golden image
sitting on the king's ceremonial stone seat in the garden. He sat
down in an appropriate place, paid respect to the hermit, and
entered into pleasant conversation with him. The hermit asked the
young man if he thought the king ruled righteously.
"Sir," he answered, "the king himself is righteous, but the
brahmans are leading him astray. The king consulted with them about
sixteen dreams he had, and the brahmans jumped at the opportunity
for sacrifices. Venerable sir, how good it would be for you to
explain to the king the real meaning of his dreams! Your
explanation will save many animals from cruel death!"
"I do not know the king, nor does he know me. If he comes here and
asks me, however, I will tell him."
"Please wait here, sir. I will bring the king," said the young
brahman. He hurried to the king and told him there was a wondrous
ascetic who would interpret the dreams. He asked the king to visit
the ascetic and talk with him.
The king immediately agreed and went to the garden with his
retinue. Paying his respects to the ascetic, he sat down and asked
if the ascetic could tell him what would come of his dreams.
"Certainly, sire," he answered. "Let me hear the dreams as you
dreamed them."
The king proceeded to tell the dreams exactly as King Pasenadi told
them to the Buddha.
"Enough!" said the Bodhisatta. "You have nothing to fear from any
of these dreams."
Having reassured the king and having freed a great number of
creatures from death, the hermit, poised in midair, taught the king
how to observe the Five Precepts and concluded by saying, "From
this time on, sire, do not join the brahmans in slaughtering
animals for sacrifice!"
Remaining firm in the teaching he had heard and spending the rest
of his days in alms-giving and other good works, the king passed
away to fare according to his deserts.
His lesson ended, the Buddha said, "Sire, you too have nothing to
fear from these dreams. Stop the sacrifice!" Then the Buddha
identified the Birth by saying, "Ananda was the king of those days,
Sariputta was the young brahman, and I was the ascetic."
[1] The crow is: destructive, reckless, greedy, gluttonous,
rough, merciless, weak, noisy, forgetful, and wasteful.