Self-inflicted
karma
King Prasenajit had a daughter who was bright and pretty. She was loved by her parents and respected by everyone in the palace.
One day, the king said to her:" My daughter! Born as a princess in this royal household with silk and satin to wear and delicacies to eat, you are loved by all. All this luxury you enjoy is the result of my patronage."
The princess had learned the Buddhist Dharma, and knew the principle that rewards and retribution are self-induced.So, she replied:" My father! All merits are self planted and not given by others. What I possess today are the accumulated result of my past karma and not given by you."
After reiterating the same question three times and every time getting the same answer, King Prasenajit was very upset at his daughter's impudence. He said angrily:" If you really think you have so much merits, I would like to see how much you have."
The king thereafter ordered his minister to pick a young man of poverty from the city to marry his daughter. He told her :" If you are really blessed with felicity from your past karma, and have not derived the present riches and people's respect for you from me, your future can confirm whether this is true."
Having heard this, the princess still replied with confidence:" I have my own rewards of felicity." And she left with her penniless husband.
Out of the palace, the princess asked her husband:" Are your parents still alive?"
He answered:" My father was originally an venerated elder in Sravasti. Unfortunately, both my parents passed away one after another, leaving me without anyone to rely on. I therefore have to beg for a living."
" Then do you know where is your old home?"
" I know the location, but the house itself has been demolished. It is now just an empty piece of land." The princess therefore went to this derelict place with her husband. Pacing round the piece of land, the ground automatically subsided where the princess walked upon, and treasures of gold and jewels emerged. They used these to build a magnificent palace, and employed many maids and servants.
One day, King Prasenajit thought of his daughter, and wondered how she was living. One of his attendants said:" The princess presently owns a palace with riches comparable to the king's!"
King Prasenajit finally believed that the force of karma is incredible, and said:" The Buddha's words are true. We bear the results of what we have done."
So, he went to the Vihara to seek the Buddha's advice:" What felicitous karma had my daughter done in her past to effect her birth into the royal family and to have a radiant appearance?"
The Buddha replied:" Ninety-one kalpas ago, there was a Buddha. The king at that time had a first lady. When that Buddha had gone into Nirvana, the king built a pagoda made of seven kinds of gem to honour his sharira, while the first lady placed an ornated crown on the head of the Buddha's image. She further placed pearls from the crown on the wooden skirtings on either side of the entrance door. Their glitter brightened everywhere, and the first lady made a wish:' In my future life, I wish to have a radiant appearance of purplish gold and be rich and noble. I hope I will never fall into the three evil paths or the eight calamities.' The first lady then is your daughter now.
Also, in the era of Buddha Kasyapa, there was a woman who intended to offer exquisite food to the Buddha. But when the husband wanted to stop her from this offering,she tried to explain:' Do not stop me from doing this! It is because of my offering to Tathagata that I have attained my present wealth.' The husband therefore consented to her offering. The husband then is now the husband of your daughter. The woman then is the present princess. Because of the husband's original intention to hinder the offering, her husband was born in poverty. His subsequent conversion to giving assent to the offering had induced his eventual wealth as a result of his wife. Both wholesome and unwholesome karma would never be confused."
Having heard this discourse by the Buddha, King Prasenajit deeply understood the operation of karma. He became modest but contented, and left in bliss.
[When the reward of blessings is opportune, it will come unstoppable like the tidal waves. When the time is not ripe for it, fortune that appears right before your eyes will vanish. Blessings of fortune and longevity are not the making of the gods and spirits, nor can they be influenced by a third party. Even if they are affected by a family member, it would only act as a subsidiary condition. It is mainly dependent upon ourselves to nurture the cause before the result of longevity and blessings can be reaped. The sages had said:" Blessings in the present is the accumulation from the ancestors ,and must be valued. Felicity in the future will be for the descendants' benefit ,and must be planted. Present blessings are like the lighting of candlelight which can be lit and extinguished at anytime. Future blessings are like adding fuel to the light, and can lengthen the candlelight.' We have to use well the meritable conditions we now have, and industriously plant for future merits. In this way, the delicious fruit of felicitous blessings will certainly follow.]
