Day: June 29, 2022

A Work Telling the Life and Liberation Story of the Great Master Padmākara.

Part 18 The Master also subdued the yakṣa, rākṣasas and evil nāga of that land. The protector deity of Drāmiḍa’s king was a violent and malicious preta called Varpaté. The Master knew that if he tamed the king, this spirit would be tamed at the same time. He thought to himself, “In order to spread the teachings of the Buddha, I must also tame these humans.” The Master thus settled in a forest near the king’s palace. Through the power of his meditative concentration, the Master repeatedly summoned the kings, queens to serve as consorts in the maṇḍala. When the king realized that his queens were missing, he disguised himself as an ordinary person, went after them, and watched them as they surrounded the Master. In the morning, the king and his army, bearing all sorts of weapons, came to destroy the Master. The Master merely threw some mustard seeds at them, whereupon the weapons of the king and his retinue burst into flame, blood flowed from their limbs, they became paralyzed, speechless, and thoroughly confused. They stayed like this for three days. Then, reaching the brink of death, they prayed and supplicated the Master. He cleansed them with water from his vase, and they were instantly restored to health. The king and his retinue prostrated at the Master’s feet and said they would do whatever the Master said, at which he commanded, “Establish the teachings of the Buddha!” The king invited learned teachers from Magadha—a teacher of Vinaya, another of Sūtra and yet another to teach the Abhidharma. He had three temples built, called Bidha, Ardhā and Sudhā, and the Master performed the consecration ceremonies. The Master then explained the three baskets of teachings and the methods of practice until they became firmly established. The Master taught the vehicle of the sūtra tradition, but not much else in that country. To the king and his retinue, he gave many Dharma instructions. To six fortunate students, he explained the six tantras, teaching the completion phase and yogic activity many times.