All of you must have heard this beautiful story of Seri Kamerka Jataka before. The background of that Jataka story is a valuable advice that we do not know so far. It's like this.
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| app.leonardo.ai |
At the time of the Buddha, there was a certain pious young man in Sawat. He goes to the temple to hear sermons from time to time. Little by little, the impression increased. The priest was moved. He left the lay life and became a monk. He took Dhamma advice from the Blessed One. In order to grow the vigor of solitude, it became wild. But that monk's mind was not calm. Then he was disappointed. Abandoned meritocracy. Delayed. Spent time jokingly. Then the elder monks warned that monk not to do that. He said to try. He said not to miss this rare opportunity. But it didn't go well. Finally, the monks reluctantly took the monk to the Blessed One. The Blessed One asked the monk.
"Is it true, monk... Are you not interested in practicing Dhamma? Are you not interested in practicing? Passing the time by just sleeping means.... means passing the time by talking with the group and having fun....? Can you….?”
"That's right... Lord"
“Monk….. There used to be a certain Kadavalella merchant. One day while he was trading, he found a gold plate worth 100,000 gold. But he left it saying that he would come later and take it. Then another seller came and took it away. When he came back and looked, it was gone. He was saddened by an unbearable grief for his loss.... Monk, are you going to be like the merchant who suffered that loss? Why would you lose this momentary wealth when you have received the great Buddha statue that frees you from the four hells and gives you eternal happiness ? Are you thinking of staying behind ?
Then the monks wanted to hear the story of the Kadavalela merchant who had suffered that loss. He appealed to the Blessed One to tell the story of the merchant who mourned the loss of a gold disc.
The story of Devadatta taking revenge after our Mahabosatha starts from this Serivanija Jataka. This incident happened five years ago. For countless four kalpas and a hundred thousand kalpas, we filled the great bodhisattvas. He did not follow Devadatta for a long time. This problem has arisen five times before attaining enlightenment. Many people think that Devadatta also came after countless ages. not…. It didn't happen.
So five times ago, our Bodhisattva was a peddler in the country called Seriwa. In the same country there was another Kadavalela merchant named Seri. But this seri merchant Harima is selfish. They only care about themselves. Very clever. Greedy.
So these two crossed the Neelavahini river and traded in the city of Andhapura. As they traded, the two talked and shared the streets of the city. Traded in the streets they got. It was the merchant in question who was able to trade first in his designated street. The other trader was able to leave only after that.
One day the Seri merchant went to trade in a certain street. There was an old plantation house on that street. That situ family is now very poor. Now there are none of those rich relatives and brothers. Only one grandmother and a granddaughter live in that house. 'Kadavalalalu.... The granddaughter heard the voice of this seri seller while shouting, ``Kadavalaloo...''. She came out of the house. He was looking at the road. He ran home in panic again.
“Oh…. My grandmother... Come on…. A Kadavalalulukaara is coming... Oh... I want Kadavalalu too... Oh... I love it too... They are very beautiful bangles….!”
"Oh my girl... It doesn't matter... Besides, where will we get the money to buy them?... Now wait...
Then Minibiri shrunk her face. Sigit shook his head. Tears filled his eyes. He started moaning again. The sound of roaring is heard nearby. The little daughter was even more upset. She seems to have a strange wisdom. She immediately ran to the old pottery store inside the house. Came with a rusty plate.
"This…. This….. oh grandmother….. this is the pot where our grandfather used to cook rice…. So let's put this…. Let's ask for a ring....”
“Oh…. Girl... How do we know... Better if that seller buys it... Or why are you limping?"
“Oh…. Grandmother.... will not take this. I will call that seller..." The granddaughter came crying to the old dilapidated situ house. Then the grandmother said this to the merchant.
“Oh…. Pinwata….. Maye Kelly is crying for a ring. I can't escape…… oh my son….. there's this old disc. It's from our generation. Here is this…. Take that disc and give this girl nothing, son..."
So the seri seller took that disk. Scraped the disc with the tip of the needle. A golden disc! Then great greed arose. I thought that I wanted to take the disc without giving anything. Threw that disc to the side...
“Harpo….. there is nothing valuable in this. Not even worth half a piece of meat. There is no way to give anything to this. The value is very low," he said, holding his bracelets around his waist and left. The granddaughter with tear filled eyes was looking at those rings. The grandmother touched her granddaughter's head. He picked up the disc that was left on the ground and put it back on the pile of pots.
After a while, the voice of another merchant is heard. “When rings…. When rings….” The voice is heard. Kelly, who had been sitting mournfully on the side, got up again. Jumped out of the house. He ran to the fence. Waiting for the road. This merchant talks lovingly with the people next door. The look is also innocent. She ran to her grandmother again.
“Oh…. Grandma….. Another merchant is coming……. Let's give him that disk and ask for a ring."
"Oh Patikkye... I am not sure about those traders... I saw the man who came earlier. Throwing the disk and crying... howling... howling. This man will do the same."
"Oh Grandma.... This seller is like a good person... Oh Grandma, I will cry... Please... Let's give this seller that disk too"
“Well…then…cry and see”
Then the granddaughter ran to the fence post again. Called the dealer. The merchant came to Situ's house and put the bracelets on the ground.
"Oh children... There is no way for me to escape from this Kelly of ours.... I am crying for a ring.... So my children.... Give me a ring without telling this one.... This is the disc we have. No coins. That disc is an ancient one, son. This is the plate on which the granddaughter's grandfather ate rice. So take this and give me a little something, son..."
Then Bosa and the merchant took the disk. A line was drawn with a needle tip. Eyes went up. He kept a hand on his forehead.
"Our father... Grandma's... This is not a gold disc. This is worth about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Gold...
“Young man…. It's so worth it! Hey…. For that….didn’t the seller who came earlier took that plate and cheated me and Kelly too and threw it on the floor saying it wasn’t worth even half of the meat….haha….my son….thanks to you it turned out to be gold….oh Son... You take that disc. Give a ring to our Kelly...
"Grandma... I have five hundred gold coins in cash. The value of these bracelets is five hundred gold. I will give you all these….. this scale….. this bangle box….
“Take it son…. Take…. Thank you so much my son…… we were saved from being caught by a great deceiver because of you my son...”
So the Bosat merchant took those things and went to the river bank. Thotia was given eight kahavanu. Boarded the boat and left. Then the merchant called Seri came back to that old plantation house.
“Where…. That Kelly who was in this house…… where….. that grandmother….” Then the grandmother came out. Kelly was also hanging on to her grandmother's arm.
"why…. What….?”
"Bringing those plates.... I came to give anything.... This is not Kelly's sin"
"She's stupid... The merchant…. and…. Now this Kelly has sinned. The gold disc worth one hundred thousand gold coins…….was not worth even half a piece of meat and was thrown away…….. not like you. A merchant with a man came... Oh, that child... He gave us all the money and goods. The gold disc is gone!”
Then the box that the seller was carrying fell to the ground. He also found himself on the ground. Knelt down. The eyes turned blue. He regained consciousness after a while.
"Heh... heh... say it again... Why did you take that gold disc of mine... Hey... Who did you give it to...?"
"That man is a good trader.... You go and learn the trade from that trader"
“Okay…. Ok….. where….. she… where did she go….. Hiyo…. Tell me, where did she go with my gold bracelet?"
Then Minibiri stretched her hand far away.
“Oh that good uncle…. Come and get in the boat"
The peddler forgot where they were. He clapped his hands on his chest. The two scales of the scales were thrown away. The scales were hammered like a club. Ate toothpicks. Eyes widened. Got up in a panic. The two shoes were thrown away. He put everything he had there. He ran towards the river in one breath. He went across the river and shouted from the undergrowth.
“Hey…. Sister... Here it is... "This time..." he shouted, shaking the scales with his hands. Then Bosat said to the merchant Thotia:
“The dock…. The manner of that merchant is not very good. As if with great hatred for me. Now if you divert you will destroy me….. So don't divert the boat. Let's go abroad."
Thotia did not turn the boat. Continued to go abroad. He has got eight yellow coins in his hands. You have to obey the advice of the person who gave you a large amount. The boat goes away. The Seri merchant knelt down across the river and left the scales. He spread his fingers and pressed his hands into the sand. A lot of sand was hammered. Hands raised. Biting his toothpicks and looking away. Eyes are red. A terrible appearance has come. Tears are shed. In front of their eyes, they can see that the merchant is slowly getting closer to the other side to cross the river. While waiting for one breath, his chest got tight. There was a big cough. He vomited blood from his mouth. He died there. Bosat developed a great hatred for the merchant and died.
Truly dear, dear children,
If this seri seller had kindly asked the Bosat seller, at least he would have asked for at least a part of the money received from the sale of that gold disc. But he did not come to Gangthera with a good mind. In a fierce rage. If Bosat was with the seller at that time, he would definitely destroy it. Bosat was saved because the merchant acted wisely.
So the Blessed One who told this story of the past also said:
"Now look dear sir,…. The gold was first received in the hands of that seri merchant. He had to have it. The lack of virtue in him affected it. So the gold was lost. This Sasune Ranthetiya is this great path to Nirvana. How can someone who does not strive through virtues progress? A good merchant with virtue and wisdom became the owner of Ranthati. Now my sasune is owned by such people. see…. At that time, Devadatta was the foolish merchant. I was the wise trader."
In this way, the Blessed One spoke the Dharma highlighting the path to Nirvana. The four truths were said by Manavin. Then that monk was born with the virtue of dispelling evil. The hero of growing merit was born. Magaphala was in crisis respectively. Many people who heard the story of this Jataka understood very well the error of losing immediate wealth. By preserving the virtues, the opportunity to create good was realized.
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