PREVIOUS LIVES OF BUDDHA

538’s life

PRINCE TEMIYA
The Silent Prince

Editions des Landes du Sud

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 Copyright © 2020 Danièle Le Gouaille
All rights reserved

No parts of this book may be reproducted in any form or by any electronic

or mechanical means, including information storage and retrievial systems,
whithout permission in writing from the publisher.

The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a

published review.

Published by
Editions des landes du Sud
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Challain la Potherie
49440 France

ISBN 978-2-9542861-4-3 9782954286143

Edited in France

This Tales were adapted from the book The Jataka or Stories of the
Buddha’s Former Births-Cambridge University Press, 1895-1907-edited by
E. B. Cowell, which is in the public domain.

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 INTRODUCTION
These tales were written long after the Buddha’s time. But still, they’re
all built around gathas.

A gatha is a verse or a song which is considered by Buddhists to be the

actual words of the Buddha himself: The Jataka tales were probably
created to show us there was a long, difficult path to Buddhahood.
And for us human being, it is easier to identify oneself with a pre-
enlightenment Bodhisatta, as he is still human and not infallible like
Buddha. Even today, these tales are used in sermons, ceremonies,
painting, songs, films and even operas.

But, the order of the stories is neither chronological, nor a progression

to Buddhawood.

Buddha, called the Bodhisatta, neither teaches a lesson nor performs

a meritorious act. The stories expose different Buddhist qualities as
sharing, ethical morality, patience, renunciation, wisdom, diligence,
truthfulness, determination, loving-kindness, equanimity… The
future Buddha will be born as a king, an outcast, a god, an elephant.
Whatever form he will have, he exhibits some virtue that the tale
thereby inculcates.

Temyia is a living example of great determination, renunciation,

patience and courage.

Danièle le Gouaille

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 TEMIYA Once upon a time there lived a just
king, the King Kasiraja, ruling over
theBenares.
The Silent
The King Kasiraja had sixteen
Prince thousand wives and yet he was
deprived of the blessing of an heir.

The King would lament for he very much desired a son to rule over
his kingdom before old age took over him. The good people of the
kingdom too were distressed by absence of an heir and beseeched
the king to pray for a son. Kasiraja ordered his sixteen thousand
wives to pray to the deities to bless them with an heir but none of
them was able to conceive.

Kasiraja asked his chief queen, Candadevi too, to pray for a son.
Candadevi was a woman of great piety and exalted character. On
the day of the full moon she took upon herself the Uposatha* vows
and prayed to the great God Sakka** in the following words;
“If I have never broken any commandments, and led a life of virtue,
then by the truth of my protestation may a son be born to me.”

Moved by her plea, the throne of Sakka became hot, signaling

injustice on earth.

Lord Sakka accepted Candadevi’s prayer

to bless the king with an heir.

*Uposatha is a day, linked to the lunar calendar, during which

Buddhists reaffirm their faith. There are four uposathas a month.

**Sakka is the ruler of the Trayastrimsa. Which is Heaven

according to the Buddhist cosmology.

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The king Kasiraja and the queen Candadevi in front of Benares.

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 Searching for a suitable son, Lord Sakka came across Bodhisatta
who himself once ruled over Benares for twenty years. His reign
tainted by tyranny. He behaved cruelly as a king. In return for it,
he was reborn in Ussada* Hell where he had to suffer for eighty-
thousand years.

Now a deity in heaven, he gave his consent to Lord Sakka to be

born to Queen Candadevi. He was conceived by Candadevi along
with five-hundred other deities who were conceived in the wombs
of the wives of the King’s ministers.

Great care was taken of the queen until the time of delivery. After
sometime a son was born to Candadevi with auspicious marks all
over his body. On the same day, five hundred young nobles were also
born in the ministers’ houses.

Upon hearing the news of his son’s birth, the king felt paternal
affection fill his heart. He presented the queen with sixty-four nurses
for Bodhisatta,all carefully selected for their flawless beauty and sweet
milk. As a token of gratitude, the king gifted his queen a boon**. The
queen postponed her request, for a day when she might be in dire
need of it.

On the day of naming the child, great honor was paid to the Brahmans
who proclaimed that the royal heir to the throne possessed ‘every
mark of good fortune’ much to the pleasure of the King. The baby
was named Temiya-Kumaro meaning ‘Prince Drenched in Water’ for it
had rained much on his birth and he was also delivered wet.

*Ussada was considered a place of great suffering and also a

place where people who have failed to keep their promises are
born. Beings born there have their tongue pierced with glowing
hooks and are dragged about on a floor of heated metal.

**Boon or a favour upon which he would grant her anything

she liked.

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When Prince Temiya turned a month old, he was adorned his
best and brought to the King’s court where everyone was in awe
of his beauty. His father was very pleased to see him and he was
brought to sit on his father’s lap when four robbers were brought
before the king to be judged. The prince witnessed as his father
sentence, one robber to a thousand strokes from thorn-baited
whips, another to imprisonment in chains, a third to death by the
spear, and a fourth to death by impaling. Terrified by the cruel
sentences set forth by his father, the infant prince thought to
himself “Acting as King my father is becoming guilty of grievous
actions. Condemning men to death or torture, he himself will
eventually be condemned to hell.”

The next day, Temiya woke from a short nap with alarm. Lying
under a great white umbrella, he began to recollect his past
life ruling overBenares for twenty years. He had to make many
dreadful decisions forced upon him as king. As a result of those
decisions he had had to suffer eighty thousand years in Ussada
hell. Now once more he was destined to rule as the King ofBenares
and feared the same fate would repeat itself if he took the throne.

Pondering over how he could escape the throne and the dreadful
fate, the goddess Uppalavanna ascended, dwelling in the white
umberella. She had been his mother in a previous birth and
advised him how to escape the throne saying,

“Temiya my child, do not fear. Instead do as I say. Pretend to be deaf and

dumb. Show no signs of intelligence. Become a cripple and don’t move your
limbs, neither use your voice. Only then will you be free from the burden of
the throne.”

At once, Prince Temiya began to show the signs as advised by

the goddess to act different. The chief Queen was informed by
the nurses that Temiya would neither cry for milk nor would he
move his limbs although they appeared to be perfectly normal.

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 The Goddess Uppalavana talking with Prince Temyia.

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In order to make the prince cry they would withhold his milk,
expecting him to cry out of hunger but the prince would remain
silent. They did so for the entire year but to no avail, as prince
Temiya would not even utter a sound. Instead he would remain
calm even in periods of starvation.

The coming year, they tempted the prince with cakes and sweets
that all children his age craved and would fight for. They also placed
various toys beside him, asking him to take what he liked but he
would remain indifferent and did not eat any of those sweets, nor
did he take any of the toys, while all the other children greedily
came for what they liked. Prince abstained by reminding himself
of the torment of the hell-fire.

In the coming years the nurses and chief queen continued to test
him with various exotic kinds of fruits and foods but he maintained
the same response remaining steadfast in his resolve.

When the Prince turned five, in order to make him speak the
servants were ordered to set ablaze a hut made from palm leaves,
thinking it will terrify the prince and make him shriek. The other
children ran away but the prince remained motionless until he was
taken away by his attendants.

At six, they let loose a wild elephant on him that came striking and
trumpeting. The other children fled in all directions fearing for
their lives but Temiya remained calm.

At seven, they let snakes envelope his body spreading their hoods
but once again the Prince gave no response. In the coming years
they threatened him with swords, showed him disturbing mimes
and even placed conch players beside his bed to test if he were
really deaf. They tried him with drums and then with lamps
that would come ablaze all at once just to startle him but Prince
remained calm as ever, not the least disturbed.

Desperate for a response, they smeared his entire body with

molasses and laid him in a place infested with flies that immediately
covered him and bit him like fine needles but he remained perfectly
apathetic.

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 At 7, Prince Temiya was enveloped by snakes.

When he turned fourteen, they tested him with uncleanliness,

suspecting that the need to bathe will overpower him but they
failed. They placed pans of fire under his bed which made boils
break out all over his body but Temiya kept reminding himself
that the fire of hell was a thousand times worse than this fire.

His parents heartbroken implored him to speak, move his limbs

for they were confident that their son was not a cripple and this
they too tried for a year but Temiya held on as if he heard them
not.

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At sixteen, he was led to a perfumed chamber which was full of
beautiful maidens, all of whom tried to tempt him but Temiya
held his breath so as to not grow weak because of the incense. He
would turn rigid and refused to mingle with nay of the maidens.

So for sixteen years the young prince was tried with sixteen great
tests but he kept his resolve. One day the king, full of vexation,
called the Brahman fortune-tellers. He questioned them for they
had given tidings of fortune upon the birth of the prince who
turned out to be deaf, dumb and a cripple. The fortune-tellers
said they sensed the coming afflictions but dared not spoil the
King’s happiness of finally receiving an heir. But now sensing the
dangers of keeping Temiya in the kingdom would threaten the life
of the King, Queen and the royal power. They advised the king to

“yoke some horses to a chariot and exiting through the western gate take him
to the graveyard where he ought to be buried.”

Upon hearing the King’s assent to the advice of the fortune tellers
Candadevi rushed to the King now asking him to grant him the
‘boon’ she had kept all these years.

“Give the kingdom to my son”, she demanded. “For once he is crowned, he

will certainly speak.” The king protested. “I cannot, my Queen, for your son
will bring only ill-luck.”

“Then give it to him for seven years”, she responded. “I cannot, my Queen.”
Kasiraja refused.

“Then for seven months”, she pleaded. “O Queen”, he said, “I dare not.”

“Then, alas, for seven days.” she sighed. “Very well.” The king Kasiraja
relented. “Your wish is granted.”

As promised, the prince was crowned as King and his reign officiated
in a procession most extravagant. The whole city was decorated,
lavishly and the new King was led around the kingdom but he did
not move any of his limbs. Neither did he break his silence. His
mother Candadevi would cry to him, her heart breaking.

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 For his 16’s birthday he was crowed by his father the King Kasiraja.

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“My child, prince Temiya, for sixteen years I have wept my eyes are parched up,
and my heart is pierced with sorrow; I know that you are not really a cripple
or deaf and dumb, — do not make me utterly destitute.” In this manner she
implored him day after day for five days. Gravely considering the request of his
mother Temiya thought to himself “If I do not break my silence, my mother’s
heart will break, but if I keep my pledge then my parents will be saved from
hellfire.” And once more Temiya held onto his pledge satisfied that the end to
his efforts was dawning nearer when he would finally be free from the burden
of the throne.

On the sixth day, the King summoned the charioteer Sunanda and
ordered him to take the Prince through the western gate

“Yoke some horses to a chariot and set the prince in it. Take him out the western
gate and find ground in which to dig a grave. Break his head with the back of
your spade to kill him. Throw him into the dug hole and scatter dust over him
and make a heap of earth above. After bathing yourself, come back here.”

Next morning Sunanda took prince Temiya and thinking he was

going through the Western Gate, “The Death Gate”, he actually
went through the Eastern Gate, “The Victory Gate” where the wheel
struck at the threshold.

At that moment Temiya’s heart gladdened as he was nearing the

end. Finding a suitable place Sunanda brought the chariot to a halt.
He removed Temiya’s royal adornments and with them he was
finally free from his vow. As Sunanda began to dig, Temiya said to
himself “For sixteen years I have never moved my hands or feet, are they still
in my power?” So he rubbed his hands together, and his feet with his
hands and alighted from the chariot. As his feet touched the ground,
it became as though a cushion full of air. He then tested his limbs,
walking in long strides to and forth until he was satisfied that he had
the strength to go a hundred times the distance.

Then the Prince thought to himself “If the charioteer is set against me,
do I have the power to contend against him?” In order to test his strength,
he seized one end of the chariot and was able to lift it up in the air
as if it were a mere toy-cart. Satisfied with his own strength Temiya
set it down and walked up to the charioteer who was busy digging.

“O charioteer, why are you in such a hurry and why are you digging that pit?”

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 Sunanda answered without looking at him “I am to dispose of the
young prince who is deaf, dumb and a cripple, and therefore in no way fit to
be the heir to the throne.”

“But I am neither deaf, nor dumb, and neither are my limbs lame. So should
you cause me harm, you will be of the sinners condemned to the wrath of hell”

Sunanda at his discourse, did not recognize prince Temiya at

first, completely taken aback by his beauty, for he had donned the
adornments presented by Lord Sakka and looked like a heavenly
being on earth.

Temyia in his glory in the garment offered by sakka.

Once more Temiya identified himself. Sunanda, upon inspecting

the chariot found the prince nowhere and his ornaments in place,
suddenly realized that the being in front of him was indeed Prince
Temiya.Instantly he fell on his knees, stammering that he would be
honored to escort the prince back to the kingdom, for the king and
queen would be overjoyed. But Temiya declined, saying he had chosen
the life of the ascetic for wealth and throne were worldly things that
only deterred him from living a pure meditative life. He ordered
Sunanda to inform his parents that he was still alive as it would spare
them the unnecessary grief of losing their only child.

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At least Temyia can finally have an ascetic life.

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 When the charioteer arrived back, the palace was in mourning
for the death of Temiya, but as soon as he informed the king and
queen of Temiya’s discourse, they were overjoyed and prepared a
procession at one to greet the Prince. All the wives along with the
king and courtiers came to the forest where Temiya now took his
abode, a hut of leaves prepared by Lord Sakka. The King Kasiraja
and Queen Candadevi found their son had discarded his royal
adornments, instead had donned on the ascetic’s garments of red
bark and leopard skin with a carrying pole over his shoulder. His
hair was matted and tied neatly at the nape of his neck and he held
a walking staff in his other hand.

Temiya welcomed the procession and explained to them the

meditative life he had taken upon and therefore freed himself
from the shackles of worldly concerns. He lived every day to the
fullest. He had no greed for wealth or treasure, nor did he fear for
old age, instead he embraced life as it came which set his soul free
from his own desires.

The king and queen were so moved by the words of their son that
the King ordered that all the treasures of the kingdom be open to
public and whosoever desired could take what they like.

The citizens too left their homes, as he and the entire kingdom
embraced the ascetic life along with Prince Temiya. Together they
all took the ascetic vow with him and set out on the path of a pure
meditative life of seeking greater enlightenment.

End

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