A sinner becomes a saint (Buddha’s soul….)

 

There is a nice story in the Sutta Pitaka (DN 2: Samaññaphala Sutta) that says how even a worst sinner can get himself elevated through repentance and good deeds.

It is the story of a King ‘Ajätashatru’, a name that literally means ‘one who has no enemies. 

Quite to the contrary, this King who ruled over Magadha (present day Bihar state of India) had conspired to kill his own father Bimbisära, before usurping his kingdom. Not only that, he joined hands with one of the opponents of Buddha himself, to overthrow Buddha from his position as the head of the monastery. 

How Buddha brings in a change in such a conspirator and a damned sinner is very interesting.

Burdened by his own sins and with a restless mind, Ajätashatru finally approached Buddha, seeking peace of mind. He wanted to know whether taking up the Sanyäsa (a contemplative life) would guarantee him the peace ‘here and now’.

Ajätashatru was not interested in promises of peace in some remote time, remote world, and in a remote re-birth. He wanted to know whether he can get it in a predictable time frame. He wanted to know whether there is any benefit of taking up sanyäsa. 

The King had earlier approached several other teachers with the same question. But none of them gave him a clear answer. So, he asked the same question to Buddha.

Buddha answered the question in great detail and with complete authority. Ajätashatru got all his doubts cleared. 

He understood the fruits of taking up a contemplative life. He repented for having committed all the sins that he did in the past. And finally, he surrendered to Buddha and became his disciple.

Later, after Buddha’s death, it was Ajätashatru who took the initiative to formalize Buddha’s teachings by encouraging a congregation of Buddha’s close disciples. And that is how Tipitakas came into existence. And, as the story goes, Ajätashatru later took rebirth as a saint, both because of his repentance as well his good deed of propagating Buddha’s wisdom. 

If only he had not committed the grievous sin such as killing his own pious father, Ajätashatru would have attained the sainthood ‘here and now’ in the same birth – says the Tipitaka.

What exactly did Buddha tell Ajätashatru as fruits of contemplative life? We will see that in the next post.