Look! a guard shrieked with his finger pointing at the pan and
could not move his eyes from it. Hearing the cries, the cruel
Girika came running and found that the boiling oil had become pure
water, full of great lotuses on which Bhikkhu Hi was sitting in
meditation. From his body, bright, soft light was seen radiating
throughout the dim hell.
On hearing it, King Asoka rushed to the scene. Deeply inspired by
the inconceivable wonder, he pondered on without saying a
word.
Bhikkhu Hi saw it was time to preach to the King Asoka, so he said,
Your Majesty, do you know through what bliss that made you become
a king, and can you remember what Buddha predicated to you in the
past?
Surprisingly, King Asoka replied obediently, Elder, I beg you to
teach me.
Bhikkhu Hi stated, One hundred years ago, once Buddha and his
disciple Ananda were on their way to the town to beg for food,
there were some children building palaces and gardens with sands on
the roadside. One of them saw the light radiating from Buddha; he
offered the sands as if they were precious jewels to the Buddha.
Buddha, then, told Ananda, one hundred years after my Nirvana,
this child will be born as a great king by the name of Asoka. For
believing in the Dharma, he will build eighty four thousand pagodas
to keep my Sarira. The child who then made offerings to
the Buddha is Your Majesty, and the other children are now Your
Majestys ministers.
King Asoka was much pleased at knowing the predication. While he
was musing on, he heard Girika yelling at him:
Your Majesty should die!
How come? King Asoka asked surprisingly.
Your Majesty ordered that no men should be let out alive and no
exception is permitted. Today Your Majesty and your attendants have
to die here. After these words, Girika swayed his knife and spat,
arrogantly.
King Asoka said with a smile, Quite true, even the King cant
change the law at his will. Yet
you seem to have stayed here for a
log time, dont you? As soon as he had finished these words, his
body guards rushed to grab Girika, and threw him into the burning
flames. Soon the killer was burnt into ashes. King Asoka commanded
to destroy the prison and burned up all the inhumane instruments.
From then on the horrible man-made hell disappeared from the
world.
After King Asoka returned from the prison, evil gradually melted
from his heart, and he wished to learn more of the Dharma. His
compassion was provoked when he witnessed more than one hundred
thousand of his captivates were slaughtered in the Chia-lin-chia
battle. He came to Bhikkhu Hi to repent his evil doings and took
refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
Sometimes King Asoka would blame himself for the countless sins he
committed and sighed that he was not able to sight Buddhas solemn
demeanor any better than listened to his teachings personally. It
was owing to his little good deeds in the past that he was given
the glory as a king. So he felt a deep sense of shame, and vowed
before Buddhas image that he would promote Buddhism for the
benefit of sentient beings. Once he even came to pay respect to
Buddhas relics and muttered:
Though I cant personally see the Buddha, I am luckier than the
people living in remote areas who have not even heard Buddhas
name. I should obey Buddhas predication to build the pagodas all
over the world as well as to send Bhikkhus abroad to preach the
Dharma and lead people to live the Right Livelihood. Ill be
compassionate and generous to people and encourage them to practice
the Five Precepts* and the Ten Virtuous Deeds* to build a pure land
in the world; and Ill help them stay away from bad facts: greed,
anger, ignorance and suspicion which make up a hell on Earth. So
he visited Rajagrha city, took about four litre of Sariras that the late King Ajatasatru buried,
and built the well known eighty four thousand pagodas to keep
them.
With deep remorse and under Dharmas guidance, King Asoka ruled his
country with benevolence that brought the country peace and won him
respects.
Five Precepts: Refrain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual
misconduct and consumption of intoxicants.
Ten Virtuous Deeds: Refrain from killing, stealing, lying, sexual
misconduct, frivolous and meaningless talk, tale bearing, abusive
speech, covetousness, ill-will and perverted views.
