War • Buddhism 1

3,000 years ago There was a kingdom named as Kosala in the Middle Tianzhu Kosala and Magadha were the most powerful kingdoms in the era of Buddha When Pasenadi, the king of Kosala, just ascended to this throne He wanted to marry a Shakyan woman as his consort He then sent his servant to Kapilavastu, asking for marriage 500 Shakyan people gathered together to discuss the matter They were unpleasant The Shakyas were in a higher caste And should not unite themselves to the lower castes Yet, they feared for Pasenadi’s wrath The discussion was in a stalemate “Pasenadi is a violent and tyrannical man. If we disagree with him, he will undoubtedly strike at our kingdom. A slave of mine has a beautiful and mannered daughter. She may marry with Pasenadi.” said the elder Mahanama. They were consentient. Mahanama had the girl bathed and dressed And sent her to Pasenadi with a glorious wagon “This is my daughter. You may be couples.” Mahanama told him so Pasenadi was joyful And then set the girl as the queen Shortly after, the queen gave birth to a son Named as Virudhaka When Virudhaka was at the age of eight Pasenadi ordered him to learn archery in Kapilavastu Riding on an elephant Virudhaka, along with numerous servants, visited the resident of Mahanama Mahanama summoned 500 children To study and learn with Virudhaka At the time The Shakyas built a new auditorium That looked like a heavenly palace “We should invite the Buddha and monks to this place, so that the infinite bliss will be upon us.” they said As a result, they began to set the seats Hung the curtains Sprayed fragrance on the floor And lit up the incense At this moment, Virudhaka dashed in to the auditorium And had him seated on the Lion Throne The Shakyas were furious at this scene And scolded him: “Son of a slave!” They dragged Virudhaka out And pushed him over to the ground Virudhaka felt angered He said to the brahmin nearby: “The Shakyas disgraced me. When I become the king, you will remind me of what happened here today.” After the decease of Pasenadi Virudhaka succeeded his place The brahmin reminded Virudhaka, who now became king, of the event in the past Virudhaka ordered his servants to assemble his army in four divisions They would commence the invasion to the Shakyas When the army reached the realm of Kapilavastu Virudhaka saw the Bhagavan, sitting under a withered tree in the position of Padmasana He got down from the chariot, bowed to the Buddha, and asked him: “The Bhagavan, why are you sitting here instead of a flourish great tree full of green leaves?” “The cooling place of my kind is the best haven over any others.” the Buddha responded Then Virudhaka said: “As the Bhagavan is here today for you people, I would not move any further.” Later on The brahmin called for an invasion again Virudhaka summoned his army Yet, every time he saw the Bhagavan on the way, he withdrew his army back. Such has repeated for three times Eventually Instigated by the brahmin Virudhaka was resolute and vowed to put an end to the existence of the Shakyas At this moment, Maudgalyāyana the Venerable addressed to the Bhagavan: “Virudhaka is coming to eliminate the Shakyas. I would cast his army to other places.” He wished to cast Virudhaka’s army into the void Or removed them to the sea Or to the center of Cakravāda-parvata Or brought the Shakyas to another land Or covered the entire city with an iron cage The Buddha said: “You have the power, but you cannot place the Shakyas in safety after all. Seven things are inevitable to all souls: living, aging, illness, death, sins, bliss, and karma. You cannot escape from them, and how could you cover their karma in the past?” However, Maudgalyāyana could not get over with it He then assimilated his four or five thousand acquaintances into a bowl And held them high amongst the stars The Shakyas gathered up four divisions And moved outside the city to face Virudhaka The Shakyas were remarkable warriors They saw Virudhaka from the distance of one yojana (12 km) Shooting down their foe’s topknot Or the bow strings Or the instruments But none was harmed Virudhaka was in fear He addressed to his servants: “Look where the arrows were from. If they were to hurt me, I’d already been dead.” He ordered a retreat The brahmin, however, stopped him: “You should not fear, my king. The Shakyas were armed, yet they couldn’t harm the insects crawling on the ground, not to mention killing people. We should proceed.” Virudhaka accepted the brahmin’s advice And march The Shakyas indeed retreated inside the city Virudhaka called out: “Open the gate, or none will survive!”