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These two tales, based on verses from chapter 9 of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (the Wisdom Chapter), highlight the enduring power of aspirations and the inevitability of karmic consequences. In "The Power of Aspirations," the altruistic vow of the brahmin Śaṅku leads to the creation of a healing shrine that benefits others long after his death, showing that selfless intentions can have lasting effects. "The Ripening of Past Actions" tells how the Arhat Maudgalyāyana, though enlightened, still experienced the painful results of past negative karma, illustrating that all actions must bear fruit, even for the liberated. Together, these stories stress the transformative potential of virtuous intentions and the certainty of karmic results.
The stories presented here were translated by Gregory Forgues and Khenpo Könchok Tamphel.
The Power of Aspirations
The healing shrine of the garuḍa, Even when its builder was long dead, Continued even ages thence To remedy and soothe all plagues and venom.
Page(s) 142
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
དཔེར་ན་ནམ་མཁའ་ལྡིང་གི་ནི། །
མཆོད་སྡོང་བསྒྲུབས་ནས་འདས་གྱུར་པ། ། དེ་འདས་ཡུན་རིང་ལོན་ཡང་དེ། །
དུག་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཞི་བྱེད་བཞིན། །dper na nam mkha' lding gi ni/_/
mchod sdong bsgrubs nas 'das gyur pa/_/ de 'das yun ring lon yang de/_/
dug la sogs pa zhi byed bzhin/_/"The healing shrine of the garuḍa . . ." teaches that by cultivating the two accumulations of merit and wisdom, practitioners achieve the Dharma body for their own benefit, while the form bodies manifest for the benefit of others through the power of previous aspirations.
If someone were to claim that aspirations have no benefit, they would be mistaken. Consider this example:
In the past, there was a brahmin named Śaṅku, who noticed that all the people in his region were afflicted by ailments caused by nāga spirits. He thought, "I will seek a way to subjugate these nāgas and establish sentient beings in a state free from disease." As he searched for such a method, he observed a dark-skinned woman named Bang working in a field.
The woman was performing an unusual ritual: she would scatter some substance near her young child, causing a black snake to appear and bite the child, who would then fall unconscious as if dead. Later, she would scatter another substance, bringing forth a white snake that would touch the child, completely reviving him.
Witnessing this, the brahmin thought, "This woman surely possesses a method for controlling nāgas." When he approached and requested to learn this knowledge, she said, "You must find eight cups of milk from a black female dog."
After obtaining the eight cups of milk and returning to the woman, she instructed him to drink it all. He managed to consume seven cups but left one remaining. The woman master then said, "Had you drunk all eight cups, you would have gained control over the eight great nāga kings. However, now you have failed to bring the nāga named Limitless under your control. Because of this, you will face obstacles from nāgas. A young nāga emissary will come to poison you and take your life. If this happens, collect foam from the ocean and apply it to counteract the poison."
The brahmin returned to his village and successfully healed many people afflicted with nāga-caused illnesses. Later, when he began experiencing symptoms of nāga poisoning as predicted, he sent a servant to collect ocean foam. On the way, the servant encountered a nāga disguised as a physician, who asked where he was going. After hearing the servant's explanation and seeing the foam he had collected, the disguised nāga said, "This is not the correct substance," and replaced it with something else.
When the servant reported this encounter, the brahmin realized he would certainly die from the nāga's interference. Accepting his fate, he decided to create a lasting benefit for others. He carved an image of a garuḍa—the natural enemy of nāgas—on a stone pillar and established it as a sacred monument. Then he made a powerful aspiration: "May anyone who prostrates to this image, makes offerings to it, or serves it be freed from all harm caused by nāga spirits!"
Thanks to this aspiration made for the benefit of others, even after the brahmin's death, the stone pillar continued to dispel all kinds of nāga-caused afflictions for those who made offerings and performed rituals before it.
The Ripening of Past Actions
If through removal of defilement you are freed, Your freedom should occur at once. Yet those who from defilements are set free Continue to display the influence of karma.
Page(s) 143
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.
ཉོན་མོངས་སྤངས་པས་གྲོལ་ན་དེའི། །
དེ་མ་ཐག་ཏུ་དེར་འགྱུར་རོ། ། ཉོན་མོངས་མེད་ཀྱང་དེ་དག་ལ། །
ལས་ཀྱི་ནུས་པ་མཐོང་[p.109]Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)Slob dpon zhi ba lha and Mkhan po kun dpal. Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1990.
nyon mongs spangs pas grol na de'i/_/
de ma thag tu der 'gyur ro/_/ nyon mongs med kyang de dag la/_/
las kyi nus pa mthong [p.109]Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)Slob dpon zhi ba lha and Mkhan po kun dpal. Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1990.
"Yet those who from defilements are set free . . ." states the Bodhicaryāvatāra, teaching that the ripening of previous karma is inevitable and cannot be avoided.
The noble Arhat Maudgalyāyana, renowned for his supernatural powers, had in his youth as an ordinary being harbored hatred toward his parents due to household conflicts. Not only did he commit physical misdeeds against them, but he also spoke harmful words to others, saying, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone crushed my parents' limbs like worn-out shoes?"
By generating such harmful intentions toward those who had shown him nothing but kindness—a most sacred field of merit—he accumulated severe negative karma. As a result, he experienced intense suffering in the hell realms and other lower states of existence.
Later, having completely uprooted all afflictions, he attained Arhatship. While traveling with the noble Śāriputra to another region, they encountered a being named Purāṇa Kāśyapa, a former wandering ascetic who, because he had taught false doctrines, had been reborn in Temporary Hell where he endured immeasurable suffering.
Seeing the two Arhats, Purāṇa Kāśyapa asked, "Where are you noble ones going?" They replied, "We are traveling to Jambudvīpa." He beseeched them, "Please tell my disciples, the wandering mendicants in Jambudvīpa, that because I taught them false Dharma, I now suffer torments such as having my tongue plowed with a plowshare. Tell them not to teach or practice that false doctrine but to abandon it entirely." The Arhats agreed to deliver his message.
When they conveyed this message to the wandering mendicants, saying, "Your teacher has been reborn in hell and suffers greatly due to teaching false doctrines," the mendicants became enraged. "Our teacher in hell? Impossible!" they shouted in fury. They viciously attacked Maudgalyāyana, beating his limbs and torso with sticks until he was crushed like a reed.
Śāriputra wrapped his grievously injured companion in his robe and carried him away. When they met other Buddhist monks, these monks inquired, "Venerable one, have you experienced any good fortune on your journey?" When Śāriputra revealed Maudgalyāyana's broken body, the local king became distressed upon learning what had happened to this revered Elder.
The king declared, "I will ensure the healing of this holy one!" He summoned many physicians and commanded them, "If he survives, I will reward you generously. If he dies, I will have you executed."
Concerned for the welfare of these physicians, Maudgalyāyana said, "Bring me medicine, and I will perform a miracle." Through his supernatural powers, he temporarily revived, freeing the physicians from their fear of punishment. Having accomplished this final compassionate deed, he then passed into final nirvana.
The Buddha later explained that Maudgalyāyana's violent death was the karmic result of the harmful intentions he had directed toward his mother in a previous life, demonstrating that even Arhats, though free from all afflictions, must experience the ripening of past karma.
