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Bodhisattva Maitreya's Final Birth As Prince Ajita

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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Thus having looked into these five great matters and having confirmed by the devas that the time is right for him to become Buddha, he will be conceived in the womb of a brahman woman named Brahmawathie, the wife of the brahman Subraahma.na, the chief advisor to the great king Sa.nkha. Then, after a lapse, he will be delivered from his mother's womb into the hands of Mahaa Brahmaa before a huge gathering of brahmaas and devas of the ten thousand universes. With the appearance of his thirty-two marks, many miracles will occur and all the universes with mountains such as Cakravaala, Meru and Yugandhara will quake. Then growing day by day like the waxing moon and with all the glory and prosperity of a child in heaven, he will become a young prince.

By means of the meritorious power of the Bodhisattva Maitreya who will be named Prince Ajita, three palaces called Vardhamaanaka, Siddhaarthaka and Candra, made of the seven types of gems, will arise out of the earth and be his residences for the three seasons. Each palace will consist of seven stories and on each floor there will be millions of small rooms. Around each palace there will be seven walls of the seven types of gems. At the gates of the palaces will be pandals made of variegated gems. At the edge of the roofs of those palaces will be a golden mesh which will make music similar to that of the five types of instruments. On top of the palaces seven flags made of the seven types of gems will be hoisted. The whole city will vibrate with the continuous sound of golden chimes attached to the feet of the people. On the walls of the great palaces, decorative scenes of the following will be clearly visible: lines of palms, lions, elephants, coaches, peacocks, swans, curlews, storks, eagles, garudas, naagas, devas, brahmaas, creepers, trees, lakes, oceans, ships full of gold, silver and coral.

Jambuudviipa and other great islands (continents), Ketumati and other great cities, and other cloth paintings shining with the colours of the rainbow. Daily, showers of heavenly flowers will fall on top of those palaces. On every floor of those palaces, there will be seven thousand well-decorated chambers, seven thousand thrones made of the Vaiduurya gem, seven thousand parasols with handles made of gems and beds covered by multicoloured sheets. The pinnacles of the palaces will be made of gold. Around each palace, rows of elephants, numbering seven thousand in all, dressed up and attired with ornaments, will stand guard with their leader named Chaddanta. Seven thousand horses, whose leader will be named Valaahaka, will also be fully attired and waiting on guard. Seven thousand coaches shining like golden mountains will fly flags made of gems. On each floor, seven thousand dancing girls will await dressed up and ready to dance.

The leader of the dancing girls will be Queen Candra- mukhii, who will be one of a kind, unsurpassed in her beauty. She will shine with the sixty-four kinds of feminine qualities. She will be not too tall, nor too short, nor too thin, nor too fat, nor too dark, nor too fair. In her exquisite beauty, she will be more divine than human. Sandalwood scent will issue from her body and the scent of water lilies from her mouth. The glow of her body will cover an area of twelve riyan (a measurement of length approximately one cubit or half a yard). Her body will be as soft as well-cleaned cotton. She will have the five qualities of beauty: beauty of bones, beauty of muscles, beauty of complexion, beauty of hair and beauty of age. This will be her final rebirth as she will have completed all the necessary merits to become an arhant and attain nirvana. As it has been said:

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Having great amounts of merit earned over a vast period of time, being extremely beautiful, soft and gentle, having a pretty face like the moon, the wife of the bodhisattva will also be in her final birth.

The son of the mahaabodhisattva will be named Prince Brahmavardhana and will be the eldest of one thousand sons.

In each palace there will be four pits of treasure one yojana in length, one yojana in width and one yojana in depth. At the four corners of the palace, four kalpa v.rk.sas will arise up out of the ground and bear all kinds of clothes and ornaments. Mahaabodhisattva Ajita, accompanied by a retinue of women wonderfully attired and replete with feminine grace, will enjoy the five types of worldly comforts for a period of one thousand years in each of these mansions according to the season. As it has been said:

The residential mansions of that bodhisattva will have floors made of gems, walls decorated with paintings, garlands of scented flowers hanging here and there, and will be full of pretty maidens dancing and singing.

Because of the power of Bodhisattva Ajita, all the kings in the eighty-four thousand kingdoms of Jambuudviipa led by the cakravartin Sa.nkha together with multitudes of human and divine kings, will approach him and say: 'Lord, we have all come to serve you.'

The bodhisattva will reply: 'I have enormous numbers of attendants and followers here. You may all go back to your own palaces and rule your countries [from there].' And so he will allow the kings and gods to go back. About eighty-four million ministers who were formerly the bodhisattva's companions in heaven and now born into the various families of the city of Ketumatii will continuously surround him as his guards.

Ajita's Great Renunciation

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The great bodhisattva, enjoying all comforts similar to heaven's will live a lay life for eighty thousand years until one day on his way to the royal park, the devas will create the figures of an old man, a sick man and finally a corpse. After seeing these three signs and becoming disillusioned with samsaara, he will give up the three-fold intoxications of being obsessed with youth, health and life. Upon seeing a fourth figure conjured up by the devas, the figure of a renouncer, he will decide to become a bhikkhu. Having engaged in sporting activities in the royal park and returning to the city on a road decorated by the devas, he will go up to the fourth floor of his mansion, enter his chamber brightly illuminated and scented by golden lamps and enjoy physical rest for seven days while engaging in pradhaanavirya (this is the great resolution of a bodhisattva not to leave his seat under the bodhi tree, even if his body suffers to the point of deterioration, until he has gained enlightenment). On the full moon day of Vesak when all buddhas attain buddhahood, and on the day when Queen Candamukhii delivered Prince Brahmavardhana, he will wish to set forth on the great renunciation. Instantly, all the gods of the ten thousand worlds of this universe will congregate. In all the eighty-four thousand kingdoms of Jambuudviipa a mighty commotion will ensue as everyone will be saying: 'It is Prince Ajita's renunciation, today.'

Then King Sa.nkha, followed by a large crowd of dancers and people, will go up to the golden hall of the bodhisattva. And remaining various castes and social levels (ksatriyas)], braahmanas, vai'syas and 'sudras), male and female devotees and ordinary people from all countries and states will bring flowers, scents, flags, banners, umbrellas, banana leaves, pots, wreaths and so forth and gather around the palace. In the sky, innumerable gods will change themselves into tiny figures bearing scented flowers in their hands and will fill the whole of space with sounds of 'sadhu' (an affirmative acclamation meaning roughly 'holy' and/or 'amen') and divine music. The entire earth will be covered with precious stones, flowers and powders, dropped by the gods and brahmaas watching from Cakravate mountain and other cosmic mountains. At the moment that the mahaabodhisattva thinks of renunciation, his mansion with its seven walls and seven gates together with all the dancers and attendants will instantly lift off into the sky. By the power of the bodhisattva and the cakravartin, the rest of the assembly will also be lifted into the sky. Whoever wishes to renounce along with the bodhisattva will see each other in the air.

Then the ten thousand mahaabrahmaas in their ten thousand mahaabrahmaa worlds will bear ten thousand white parasols each three yojanas high over the head of the bodhisattva. In the same manner, ten thousand 'Sakras will come blowing then thousand conches, one hundred and twenty riyan long. Then thousand Suyama kings of gods will stand fanning the bodhisattva with ten thousand fans. Ten thousand Santusita kings of gods will fan then thousand palmyra fans made of gems. Then thousand musicians of the gods who are pa~nca`sikha ['five crested; the name of a divine musician in the Digha Nikaya who comes for counsel to the Buddha because he is love- sick.] will play the vii.naa. Forty thousand varam gods will guard the four directions bearing swords in their hands. Thirty-two male and female deities will bring heavenly flowers and powders in caskets of gold and silver. A further eight thousand captains will protect the bodhisattva bearing swords in hands. Holding gold and silver flags, asuras will surround the bodhisattva. Devanagarajas will bear torches made of gems. Divine garudas will gather to sing songs of praise. Human-like beings will also come to sing in their sweet voices. As it has been said:

Pretty kinnaras and kinnara maidens gathered in his garden will make him happy by fascinating performances of dance and song.

Furthermore, apsaras and gandharvas will throng from ten directions singing and dancing. Surrounded and followed by all these divine and human beings in such a festive mood, the air will be filled with the sounds of dancing mountains, leopards, yaksas, the gods' singing 'sadhu', along with the praises of the asuras and applause from the brahmaas.

The bodhisattva, having gone to his bodhi tree, will descend from the sky with his mansion. Mahaabrahmaa will bring him the eight requisites for monkhood. The mahabodhisattva will come down out of his mansion and cut off his hair with his golden sword, throw it up into the air, and receive the eight requisites. At the door of his palace, he will become a bhikkhu. On that day, eighty-four thousand brahmans will follow the lead of the bodhisattva and become bhikkhus. At that time, two brahman brothers named Isidatta and Purana will become bhikkhus with eighty-four thousand followers.

Two other brahmans named Hitamitra and Vijitamitra, capable of becoming arahants at hearing the first sermon will enter the order with eighty-four thousand followers each. A merchant by the name of Siddhaartha will enter the sangha with a company of laymen numbering eighty-four thousand. A laywoman named Sudhana will enter the order with eighty-four thousand followers. Two of her well-known friends, Yasovati and Visakha, who made much merit during the lifetime of our buddha, will enter the order accompanied by their retinues of eighty-four thousand followers each. Large numbers of people belonging to the four castesf living in and out of the city will become bhikkhus on that same day. As it has been said:

Eighty-four thousand brahmans, all masters of the Vedas, will become bhikkhus following Metteya.

Source

web.singnet.com.sg/~alankhoo