Why Could King Ajātaśatru Eliminate His Hellish Karma and Be Reborn in Sukhāvatī?

King Ajātaśatru, obstructed by the karmic obstruction of patricide, received only a rootless faith when the Buddha taught the Dharma to him face to face. He did not eradicate the fundamental view of self and realize the first fruit; he was merely a srotāpanna-in-training (one bound for the first fruit). Even being a srotāpanna-in-training can eliminate the karma leading to the three evil destinies and approaches preliminary liberation, which is why he was able to be reborn in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī). Generally speaking, when the Buddha personally teaches the Dharma face to face and gathers someone in, as long as their karmic obstructions are not very heavy, they will realize a fruit—any fruit from the first to the fourth can be attained. Yet King Ajātaśatru did not realize a fruit; after all, the karma of killing his father was not light. But this rootless faith was already quite good—attaining srotāpanna-in-training was sufficient to eliminate his hell karma.

In a future life, when King Ajātaśatru encounters his father again, he may not escape having to repay the karmic debt by being killed once. However, if King Ajātaśatru had karmic grievances with his father in a past life, and in this life Ajātaśatru was avenging the grievances of a past life and settling that karmic debt, then the debt is settled and need not be repaid again. In fact, the reason King Ajātaśatru killed his father was indeed because he had karmic grievances with his father in a past life; in this life he came to repay that grievance, so the karma of patricide was not that heavy, and it was dissolved upon hearing the Buddha teach the Dharma. Moreover, his father had realized a fruit, and after death, having ascended to heaven, he continuously followed King Ajātaśatru, repented of his own past-life transgressions, and constantly encouraged and blessed King Ajātaśatru. Thus King Ajātaśatru felt shame and remorse in his heart, and when he encountered the Buddha teaching the Dharma, the hell karma of patricide was eliminated.

The Buddha's power to gather in beings and dissolve karma is immense, unmatched by anyone. King Ajātaśatru, whose karma was dissolved, had a mind of repentance and shame, his karmic obstructions were not extremely heavy, and there was prior karmic cause—therefore the result was that King Ajātaśatru did not have to fall into hell but was reborn in the land of bliss. If it had not been the Buddha who taught King Ajātaśatru the Dharma—if it had been another bodhisattva, or an arhat, or an ordinary person—King Ajātaśatru would not necessarily have attained the rootless faith, thereby eliminating his hell karma and being reborn in the land of bliss.

Dissolving karma is accomplished through wisdom; wisdom of different degrees dissolves karma of different degrees, and when karma is exhausted, one becomes a Buddha. Dissolving the karma of the six paths of saṃsāra is the realm of practice of arhats of the fourth fruit and pratyekabuddhas. Ordinary beings also dissolve karma, but only karma at a shallow level. There are many kinds and levels of karma, and according to one's individual level of practice, one dissolves karma of different levels and kinds. Only by severing the various afflictions is karma truly dissolved—when karma is dissolved, it is no longer created. If afflictions are not severed, even though some karma has been dissolved, given the opportunity later it may be created again. Some people do not seek to understand principle but only seek to dissolve karma, going everywhere begging Buddhas and bodhisattvas to dissolve it for them; after it is dissolved, they create it again—such dissolution of karma is of no avail. Only when principle is understood and the mind is transformed will karma be dissolved and no longer manifest. And transforming the mind is one's own affair; no one else can help with it.