Written by Rev. Tetsujo Kubota

Part One...
 1 of 3

Ajatasatru (Ajase in Japanese) can be translated into Chinese as "Misho on."
 Its meaning in Japanese is "a person who has a grudge before he is born".
It is common for parents to name their newly born babies "Yoshio" (Good Boy)
or "Yoshiko" (Good Girl), in the hopes that they will be good people.  So why
was he named "Ajatasatru", a cursed name?  There is a profound reason for
this and now I will explain the origin.

The King Bimbisara of Magada, India, and his wife, Queen Vaidehi, were
not blessed with any children, even years after their marriage.  Though he
had power and money as a king, it was most lonely for him not to have
a child.  One day he summoned a fortune teller and consulted him. The
fortune teller said, "There is a hermit now practicing in a mountain.  Before
long he will die and his spirit will live in the womb of your wife, and you
will have a baby."

The king, pleased with this answer, asked, "When will the hermit die?"
"Three years from now," was the answer.

Then the king pondered, "I'm very old, and what's more, I have no heir.
I can hardly wait for three years."

So he sent a messenger to the mountain, asking the hermit to shorten his
life.  As the hermit refused, they at length killed him.  It is said that the
hermit died, cursing, "I will without fail avenge myself in my next life!"

Soon after, the queen got pregnant.  In the month when she was going to
have her baby, the king consulted the fortune teller again, asking to see
whether the baby was a boy or girl.  Then, the fortune teller said, "My lord,
the baby in her womb is a prince.  But he has a deep grudge against you
and your wife."

The king and queen were astonished.  So they talked about what to do, and
plotted to have the queen give birth to the baby in a room up in a high tower
and to drop the baby after its birth and kill it.  They did so, but the baby only
injured its little finger and survived.  So he was named Ajatasatru.

Soon, as Ajatasatru grew up, he made friends with Devadatta, an evil person.  Devadatta, Shakya's cousin, was always envious of the fame of Shakya (muni).
So, he was displeased that the father, Bimbisara, was a fervent believer of
Shakya and was always making offerings to Shakya. There is a proverb that
says, "One bad apple may spoil the whole barrel."

Once, Devadafta whispered to Ajatasatru, "As Shakya has become old, I'll get
rid of him and become Buddha.  Also, as your father, Bimbasara, has become
old, you'll come to the throne!  It will be fun for us, as a new Buddha and a new
king to rule the world, won't it?"

Ajatasatru was surprised to hear that and got angry.  Then Devadatta asked,
"Prince, do you know the reason why you were given a strange name such as Ajatasatru?"

Devadatta told Ajatasatru all the circumstances and said that the wound on
his little finger was evidence of his tale.  Ajatasatru was seriously shocked.

Having been tempted by an evil friend, Devadatta, Ajatasatru put his father
Bimbisara into a harsh, seven-walled prison and didn't allow him to see even
his retainers.  Bimbisara, respected as a great king one day, became a poor
prisoner the next.

But Vaidehi, Bimbisara's wife, crushed by her misfortune, rose up.  She
immediately cleansed her body in a bath and applied honey mixed together
with milk and cracker meal on her body. She also hid wine in her hair ornaments
and met Bimbasara, letting him eat the cracker meal and drink the wine.  It is
also said that Maudgalayana and Purna, disciples of the Buddha, preached to
the imprisoned king using supernatural powers. So, Bimbisara grew more and
more vigorous.

About three weeks later, Ajatasatru asked a guard, "Hey, has my father the
king died?"

"No, not yet.  He's getting stronger by the day, to tell the truth."

The guard told him about Vaidehi's visits.  Ajatasatru got furious
when he heard:

"Even though she is my mother, as she defies King Ajatasatru and brings
food to my father, she is a traitor." So saying, he pulled out his sword and
tried to kill her.  Seeing this, Jivaka 1* and Gakko, his ministers, got very
surprised and remonstrated with him.

"My lord!  Since long ago, there have been eighteen thousand princes who
have killed their fathers to ascend to the throne.  But we've never heard about
a prince killing his own mother without remorse.  My lord! If you kill your own
mother, we can no longer serve under you as king."

Having been prevented by his two ministers, Ajatasatru went ahead and
imprisoned his mother in a different place.  Vaidehi couldn't even eat food
and she immediately lost weight.  One day, she happened to see the far
away Holy Eagle Peak (Ryojusen) from the window of the prison.  Vaidehi
knelt down and worshiped toward the Peak and prayed to Shakyamuni
from the bottom of her heart.

"Oh Lord Shakya!  I'm sorry that now I can't see your figure.  I wonder what
evil cause in my former life made me have such an undutiful son!  And also,
Lord Shakya, how can you be a cousin of that Devadatta?  I'm sick and tired
of this dirty Saha World.  I want to die and go to the Pure Land..."

Moved by the lament of Vaidehi, Shakyamuni told her that she should
renounce the Saha World and pass away to the Pure Land in the West where
Amitabha Buddha dwelled (Amitayur-dhyana-sutra.  However, this sutra is
one of the provisional teachings.  The true intention of Shakya is not to lead
people to the Pure Land in the West after their death.  His original intention
is the Lotus Sutra, and it promises to establish a peaceful Buddha Land in
this present, disturbed Saha World.)

  Note 1*  JIVAKA

The Buddha's Doctor

Jivaka was the celebrated doctor during the Buddha's time in India. Immediately after his birth,
Jivaka was placed in a wooden box and thrown away by his mother, a courtesan, on a rubbish heap
beside the road.

That morning, Prince Abhaya, a son of King Bimbisara happened to pass that way as he was
going to the palace. When the prince discovered that the baby was alive, he was moved by
compassion and ordered it to be brought up as his adopted son.

When he grew up, Jivaka studied medicine for seven years under a famous teacher. Soon his
unusual skill as a physician and a surgeon became known. He was called upon to treat kings and
princes, including King Bimbisara himself. But of all the distinguished people Jivaka attended to,
his greatest pleasure was to attend to the Buddha which he did three times a day. When a splinter
from a rock thrown by Devadatta wounded the Buddha’s foot, it was Jivaka who healed Him.

Realising the advantages of having a monastery close to his house, Jivaka built one in his mango
garden. He invited the Buddha and His disciples to the monastery, offered alms and donated the
monastery to the Buddha and the monks. After the blessing ceremony of this monastery, he attained
the first stage of Sainthood (Sotapanna).

Later, when King Ajatasattu asked him where he could go for religious discussions, Jivaka brought
him to see the Buddha. Although the king had killed his father under the evil advice of Devadatta,
King Ajatasattu became a distinguished lay follower of the Buddha and took a leading role in the
First Buddhist Council.