Lectures on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamanasūtra) (226)

King Ananta tested the power of his own roots of goodness

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。如是思惟。我今更试。自善根力。令四天下。一切人民。若有所愿。随意无违。作是念已。彼四天下。所有人民。一切希求。皆得如意。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Anantakīrti then had this thought: "I now wish to further test the power of my own roots of goodness, so that all the people of the four continents, if they have any wishes, may have them fulfilled at will without contradiction." After he had formed this thought, all the people of the four continents had every one of their aspirations fulfilled just as they wished.

Can the four continents be counted? They cannot. At present, Jambudvīpa alone has a population of several billion, and the other three great continents have even more people. If each person has one wish, and all of them can be made to have their wishes come true, how great must the power of that mental intention be—this truly counts as benefiting and bringing joy to sentient beings. After King Anantakīrti formed this thought, the people of the four continents obtained whatever they wished for. In our present world, because sentient beings have meager merit (alpa-puṇya), we cannot attract the appearance of a wheel-turning sage king; there are no more wheel-turning sage kings.

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。复更思惟。以我所有。善根力故。令四天下。普雨妙花。作是念已。于四天下。降雨种种。上妙天花。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Anantakīrti further had this thought: "By the power of my roots of goodness, let wondrous flowers rain down everywhere throughout the four continents." After he had formed this thought, various supremely wondrous celestial flowers rained down upon the four continents, as numerous as rain.

The flowers on Earth are not beautiful enough; compared with celestial flowers they appear rather coarse, whereas the flowers in the heavens are extremely wondrous and sublime, their fragrance and colors far more magnificent than those of the human world. Even so, King Anantakīrti, by doing this, was also consuming an immense amount of his own merit. He cashed out all the merit he had cultivated in the presence of immeasurable Buddhas, leaving no savings behind. Once there are no savings left in the tathāgatagarbha, his merit vanishes, and nothing he does can be accomplished. Therefore, we who study Buddhism must not casually deplete our own merit; we should enjoy blessings as little as possible and reserve them for the attainment of Buddhahood.

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。复更思惟。以我所有。善根力故。令四天下。雨妙宝衣。作是念已。于四天下。悉雨宝衣。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Anantakīrti further formed this thought: "By the power of my roots of goodness, let wondrous jeweled garments rain down upon the four continents, like rain." After he had formed this thought, indeed a rain of jeweled garments fell throughout the four continents.

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。复更思惟。以我所有。善根力故。令四天下。悉皆雨银。作是念已。于四天下。皆得雨银。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Anantakīrti further formed this thought: "By the power of my roots of goodness, let silver rain down upon the four continents." After he had formed this thought, indeed silver rained down throughout the four continents, like rain. His greed continued to grow—no sooner had he formed the thought of making silver rain than silver truly rained down from the sky.

Original text: 大王。彼无边称王。复更思惟。以我所有。善根力故。令四天下。降雨黄金。作是念已。于四天下。皆雨黄金。所以者何。皆由无边称王。于往昔时。与诸众生。共修善业。之所获得。

Explanation: The Buddha said: Great King, King Anantakīrti further formed the following thought: "By the power of my roots of goodness, let gold rain down upon the four continents." After he had formed this thought, indeed a rain of gold fell throughout the four continents. Why was he able to do this—wishing for gold and gold would rain down, wishing for silver and silver would rain down? This was all because this wheel-turning sage king, in the past, had cultivated wholesome karma together with all those sentient beings, and thus he obtained such retribution.