The king named the baby Kassapa. When Kassapa was seven years old, he was ordained in the Buddha’s house as a novice. And when Kassapa was twenty years old, he was ordained as a monk. He was expert on telling Dharma beautifully and finally was enlighten.

One day, the Buddha went back from receiving food offerings to the Buddhist house. After he sermonized monks and went to his place, monks chattered about the Buddha’s kindness and pointed that Devadatta almost made Kassapa and his mother lose their opportunity to be enlighten.

The Buddha went back from his place to the house, noticed that monks were talking. He asked “Look, all monks, what are you talking about ?”

“We are talking about your kindness and about your kindness to Kassapa and his mother.” monks replied.

“Look, all monks, I’m not only a shelter for these two people in this live, but also in previous life.” The Buddha said.

All monks asked the Buddha to reveal the truth. Therefore, the Buddha told the story as follows:

[To be continued ...]

At last, she was ordained in the house of female monks under Devadatta’s control. Months passed, other female monks noticed that her belly was bigger and bigger. Other female monks asked her “How did you get pregnant ?”. The pregnant monk answered “I don’t know but I never break any precept.”

Other female monks brought her to Devadatta’s house and asked Devadatta “My highness, this woman couldn’t favor her husband so she became a monk. Now she got pregnant. We don’t know that she got pregnant before or after becoming a monk. What should we do?”

Afraid that he would be criticized that he had a pregnant monk, Devadatta said “You should let her leave her monkshood.”

Female monks paid homage to Devadatta and went back.

After knew that Devadatta let her leave her monkshood, the pregnant monk said to other female monks “Devadatta is not the Buddha and I didn’t become a monk in Devadatta’s house. I actually became a monk in the Buddha’s house. In addition, my monkshood isn’t easy for me to get. Don’t make me lost my monkshood. Come on. Please brought me to Jetawan the great temple and see how the Buddha judge me.”

Other female monks accepted. They traveled about seven hundreds kilometers until they arrived at Jetawan the great temple.

[To be continued ...]

When the Buddha knew that all five hundreds monks had succeeded high level of meditation, the Buddha called Saribudra and Mokkallana, two Buddhist saints, to preach them and call them back.

On the next morning, Saribudra and Mokkallana brought all five hundreds monks back at Veruwan the great temple. All monks said “Saribudra, our big brother, is surrounded by five hundreds monks. This looks so beautiful.”

The Buddha said “Look, monks, Saribudra doesn’t only have many followers in this life, he used to have many followers in those days. Devadatta doesn’t only lose his followers in this life, he used to lose his followers in those days.”

Being asked to reveal the truth by all monks, the Buddha told the story as follows:

[To be continue ...]

In those days, there was a king named Makadeva, who ruled the throne morally. One day, he called his barber and said “My barber, whenever you see my white hair, please tell me.”

Year passed, the barber saw one white hair on the king’s head. Therefore, he told the king as ordered “My majesty, you have one white hair.”

“My friend, please pull out that hair and put in my hand.” the king ordered.

The barber used a golden tweezer to pull out the white hair and placed down on the king’s hand.

When the king saw white hair, although the king is not old, he felt that the death is coming. He thought “Silly Makadeva, you never think of renouncing desires until you have white hair.”  and decided to renounce his worldly life on that day.

He called his eldest son and ordered “Look, my son, I have a white hair. I’m an old man now. I have had enough worldly happiness. I’ll search for divine happiness. It’s time for me to become a priest. May you reign the throne. I’ll practice in Makadeva garden.”

Royal followers asked the king “My majesty, what is your reason to become a priest ?”

“My white hair appears. Deity appears. This is the time for being a priest.” The king replied.

The king became a priest on that day and kept practicing in the garden. After he passed away, he was born in the realm of Brahman. After that he was born as the king in the same country and became a priest in the garden again. After passed away, he was born in the realm of Brahman again.

The barber finally reincarnated as Anon, a famous Buddhist saint. The eldest son of the king finally reincarnated as Rahul, the son of the Buddha. The king  finally reincarnated as the Buddha.

Other monks had passed the new monk’s place and see a lot of yellow robes exposed there. With curiosity, the other monks asked “Whose yellow robes are those ?”

“They’re mine, sir.” The new monk replied.

The other monks said “The Buddha allowed only three robes, isn’t it ? Come on, we’ll bring you to see the Buddha.”

When the new monk and the other monks arrived, the Buddha asked the new monk “I heard that you have a lot of asset; is it true ?”

“It’s true, sir.” The new monk replied.

“Look, my monk, why do you own a lot of robes and clothes. I have said about advantage of being modest, solitary, modest, calm and persistent, haven’t I ?” The Buddha said.

The new monk got angry so he striped off his robes and stood out between monks.

The Buddha said “Look, my monk, you have ever been a water demon, who was looking for the shame of sins for twelve years. But now, when you was ordained in our religion, why did you abandon it ?”

Regaining the shame, the new monk wore his robe and paid homage to the Buddha.

Other monks asked the Buddha to unveil the history. The Buddha told the story as follows…

[To be continue ...]

However, the king was so stingy. He thought “If this appraiser still does his work, the royal asset will be exhausted. I’ll look for another man to do this job instead.” and then he looked around the palace court and found a villager. The king ordered his courtier to called the villager.

When the villager arrived, the king asked “Will you be my royal appraiser ?”

That man replied “Yes, sir.”

Then, the king appointed that man as a new royal appraiser.

From that day, the new royal appraiser appraised things haphazardly. But because of his position, his word is a final price.

One day, a merchant brought five hundred horses to the palace. The new royal appraiser estimated all horses at one liter of rice. Then he gave a merchant one liter of rice and brought all horses to the royal stable.

The merchant didn’t know what to do. He went to the old royal appraiser and asked what he should do. The old royal appriaser told the merchant to bribe the new royal appraiser to estimate the value of one liter of rice as agreed.

After that, the merchant, the old royal appraiser, along with the new royal appraiser, went to the throne hall. The king and many courtiers are already there.

The merchant asked the king “My majesty, I heard that five hundreds horses  worth at one liter of rice. But how much one liter of rice worth ?”

The king said to the new royal appraiser “My appraiser, how much five hundreds horses worth ?”

The new royal appraiser replied “They worth one liter of rice, sir.”

The king continued asking “Okay, all horses worth one liter of rice, so how much one liter of rice worth ?”

The new royal appraiser replied “It worth Varanasi, sir.”

The old royal appraiser said “How much one liter of rice worth ? How much Varanasi worth ? One liter of rice is equal to five hundreds horses ?”

Courtiers laughed and said “We thought that Varanasi is priceless. We just know that Varanasi, with the throne and a big beautiful palace worth only one liter of rice. You are the most suitable appraiser for our king.”

With shame, the king fired the new royal appraiser and gave the old royal appraiser his position back.

The old royal appraiser finally reincarnated as the Buddha. The new royal appraiser finally reincarnated as a stupid monk who made chaos between monks.

In the city, there was an old millionaire family. However, this family had lost their money and left only a girl with her grandmother. They usually worked for hire. Actually, they had a golden plate but the plate was dusty so they didn’t know that it’s actually gold.

When the first peddler arrived at the old millionaire family’s house, he shouted “Jewelries for sell or exchange !”

Seeing that, the girl said to her grandmother “Grandma, could you buy a jewel for me ?”

“We’re so poor. We have no money. How can we buy that ?” questioned grandmother.

“We have a big plate and we didn’t use it. We can exchange that plate with jewel.” replied the girl.

So the grandmother called the peddler, brought out the plate and said “Master, I’ll give this plate to you and you just give us some jewelries.”

The peddler took the plate. After holding, he thought that it may be a golden plate. He scratched on the back of the plate with the pin and found that it was a golden plate. He planed to take the plate for free, so he threw the plate to the ground and said “This plate doesn’t worth anything.” And then he left the house.

After a while, the second peddler arrived at the house. He shouted “Jewelries for exchange !”

The girl said to her grandmother again, “Grandma, I want some jewel.”

The grandmother replied “Don’t you see the previous peddler threw our plate away. What can we exchange jewel with ?”

The girl said “That peddler is so rude. This peddler looks gentle. He may accept our plate.”

The grandmother agreed and let the girl called the second peddler.

They brought the plate to the second peddler. Knew that the plate is actually a golden plate, the peddler said “Grandma, this plate worth a hundred thousands coins. I have not much jewelries or money to exchange with this golden plate.”

The grandmother said “The previous peddler said that this plate worth nothing and threw this plate away. I’ll give you this plate and you just give me anything.”

The peddler gave them almost all his money and jewelries, and then left the house. He brought back only scales, bags and eight coins and quickly went to the boatyard. He gave the boatman eight coins and went into the boat.

The first peddler went back to the house and told the grandmother “Give me that plate and I’ll give you something.”

“What the hell you said ? You make my golden plate worthles ! A fair peddler just gave me one hundred coins for that plate.” replied the grandmother.

Heard that, the hestitant peddler lost his conciousness. When he gained his conciousness, he quickly went to the boatyard. He saw the second peddler in a river, so he called the boatman “Dear boatman, please come back.”

The second peddler said to the boatman “Don’t go back.”

Saw that the boat didn’t come back, the hestitant peddler got very angry and then got dead with vengeful heart.

The first peddler finally reincarnated as Devadatta. The second peddler finally reincarnated as the Buddha.

The wise merchant thought that if he travel together with the foolish merchant, there would be not enough space, firewood and water. So he called the foolish merchant and consult with the foolish merchant, “Look, I think that it would be not good if we travel together. Do you want to travel first ?”

The foolish merchant thought that if he went first, way would be not muddy yet, his cows would have untouched grass, water would be clear, and he could set the price of merchandise by himself. So he said “I’ll travel first.”

The wise merchant thought that if he went last, way would be smoothed, his cows would have newly sprouted mild grass, there would be dug wells. He also thought that setting price is like killing people, so he preferred to sell merchandises at the set prices. Because of these, the wise merchant said “My friend, you should go first.”

The foolish merchant accepted and begun traveling. The path was lack of water, so he prepared many large water jars and put them on the carts.

While the foolish merchant was traveling in an arid forest, he found a small cart surrounded by twelve soaked guards. It looks like they had a lot of water. The small cart was stopped to give way to the foolish merchant’s carts.

One of the guards asked the foolish merchant “Where are you from ?”

“Noble man, we are from Varanasi.” the foolish merchant replied. “How about you ? You all looks so wet, is it rain on the way you passed ?”

The guard replied, “What you say ! On the way I have passed, there are a lot of water source. It always rain. However, I see that you have big carts at the end. They looks so heavy. What do they contain ?”

“They contains water.” The foolish merchant replied.

“Oh ! They are not need anymore !” the guard said, “there are a lot of water sources ahead. You should break all jars and travel with lighter carts.” and then went away.

The foolish merchant ordered his followers to break all water jars and went ahead. However, there is no water at all. After travel for a while, the foolish merchant and his followers were thirsty and exhausted so they all stopped the caravan and slept there.

Actually, the guards are ogres who masqueraded as the guards to deceive humans. They wanted to make deceived humans tired so they are easy to be eaten.

In the night, the ogres came from the ogres town. They ate all humans and cows. All five hundreds carts were untouched.

After the foolish merchant had left the village about half a month, the wise merchant started his caravan.

Before entering the arid forest, he announced to his followers “Noble men, unless you’ve got permission from me, you don’t waste any water. In the forest, there may be a poisoned fruit, if you found any fruit that you never eat, don’t eat it.” And then they entered the arid forest.

In the arid forest, the ogres with cart appeared again. The wise merchant noticed that they had red eyes and had no shadow. They also suggested that the wise merchant broke all water jars.

The wise merchant said “Thank you for your suggestion. However, I’m a merchant. I won’t discard any water if I don’t see new water source.”

When the ogres disappeared, the wise merchant said to his followers, “Those men aren’t humans, they are actually ogres. They want to deceived us to discard our water to make us tired. My friend is not smart, he may be deceived and has been eaten. We should go ahead fastly.”

They finally found five hundred carts with a lot of bones on the ground. In the night, the wise merchant ordered his followers to build a camp and guard the camp securely.

In the morning, the wise merchant ordered his followers to choose only strong carts and high-priced merchandises from the foolish merchant’s carts and then went ahead. When the wise merchant reached his destination, he could sell his merchandises with double to triple prices.

The foolish merchant finally reincarnated as Devadatta. The wise merchant finally reincarnated as the Buddha.

Moral: Trust only the truth, not estimation.

When the king woke up and knew this, he got angry and ordered his followers and his citizens to kill all dogs that were not owned; a lot of dogs were killed.

There was a group of dogs living near a graveyard. This group was leaded by a great dog. The great dog knew that many dogs were killed and he certain that the cart was damaged by the dogs in the palace.

Thought that no one could help dogs, the great dog ran through the graveyard, the city, the king’s followers, and finally laid down under the king’s throne.

After resting for a while, the great dog asked the king “My majesty, I heard that you have ordered to kill dogs. Is this true ?”

“Yes, that’s true,” the king replied.

“Why?” asked the great dog. Then the king explained why he ordered that.

The great dog said “Do you know which dogs have damaged your cart?”

The king replied “I don’t know.”

The great dog asked “Did you ordered to kill all dogs, or have any exception?”

“No, dogs in the palace are exempt from being killed,” replied the king.

The great dog said “If that’s true, you are unfair because you don’t know which dogs have damaged your cart, but you didn’t ordered to kill all dogs; you ordered to kill only not-owned dogs I certain that there were no dogs, except dogs in the palace, that can damage your cart.”

“Can you prove your claim?” asked the king.

“Yes, you just mix oil and grasses, and then force the dogs in the palace to eat.” replied the great dog.

The king ordered his followers to follow the instruction of the great dog. After a while, all dogs in the palace vomited out leathers.

Saw that, the king condoned all dogs, and ordered his followers to feed the great dogs and other dogs everyday.

The king finally reincarnated as Anon, a famous Buddhist saint. The great dog finally reincarnated as the Buddha.

One day, while he was on a mango tree, he saw a hog deer standing and observing the tree.

Noticing that, the hunter thrown a mango and then the mango was dropped in front of the hog deer.

Wondering why the mango was dropped too far from the tree, the hog deer looked up and found that there was a hunter on the tree.

The hog deer pretended that it didn’t see the hunter and said “The mango tree ! I know that you throw a mango to deceive me. I will prowl at another place.” and then turned back.

The hunter went down but was unable to catch the hog deer, he said “This time, I missed you.”

The hog deer looked back and said “Even though you missed me this time, but you won’t miss a hell in the next life because you had committed many sins.” and then went away.

When the hunter died, he was born in hell and was suffered for many lives.

The hunter finally reincarnated as Devadatta. The hog deer finally reincarnated as the Buddha.

Moral: If we have commit a sin, although we won’t be punished in this life, we will be punished in the next life or later.