Vesak Day 2021

Ashnith Wickramanayake

For this year's Vesak Day Display, the Executive Committee decided to use the story selected in 2019 for Vesak 2020 and its relevant decorations, as it was cancelled due to the emergence of COVID-19. The story, further detailed in the paragraphs below, illustrates the importance of maintaining moral conduct and how desire can cause negative repercussions.

The Bodhisattva hatched from a golden egg into a golden and radiant peacock due to the immense good karma he accumulated from his past lives. As time went the peacock grew larger than other peacocks and with size, he became more mesmerising. He had never seen his own beauty, until one day when he saw his reflection through some clear water, seeing his radiant golden hue. The Bodhisattva was shocked and knew he would be hunted if he was seen by humans. The Bodhisattva flew for many months, from mountain to mountain, and he eventually reached the Himalayan mountains. He was able to accomplish this because of his immense good karma that gave him incredible strength. After landing on the tallest mountain, the Bodhisattva thought he was finally safe from all humans and animals. Every morning at the first ray of sunlight, the Bodhisattva climbed up to the top of the mountain. He faced the rising sun and chanted the two verses:

Udet’ayam cakkhumā ekarājā
Harissavanno pathavippabhāso
Tam tam namassāmi harissavannam, pathavippabhāsam
Tay’ajja guttā viharemu divasam

"There he rises, sun king all-seeing, making all things bright and illuminating our world with his golden light. Thee I worship, glorious being, keep me safe, I pray, through the coming day."

Ye brāhmanā vedagü sabbadhamme
Te me namo, te ca mam pālayantu
Namatthu Buddhānam, namatthu bodhiyā
Namattu Buddhānam, namattu bodhiyā
Namo vimuttānam, namo vimuttyā
Imam so parittam katvā moro carati esanā

"All Buddhas that have lived in this Universe, them I honour and worship with my whole heart. May all these Buddhas protect me. All the Supreme Buddhas, Pacekka Buddhas and Arahants who conquered defilements. I worship them with great respect. I worship the path to enlightenment. May I be protected"

His chanting was so powerful, that not even a rotten branch or leaf fell upon him from that day on. During sunset, the peacock would again chant to gain protection from the darkness.

Apet’ayam cakkhumā ekarājā
Harissavanno pathavippabhāso
Tam tam namassāmi harissavannam, pathavippabhāsam
Tay’ajja guttā viharemu divasam

"There he sits, the sun king all-seeing, He that makes all bright with his golden light. Thee I worship, glorious being. Making all things bright with thy golden light. Through the night, as though the day, keep me safe, I pray."

The Bodhisattva was able to live in secrecy and protection for 700 years. In the kingdom of Baranasa, there lived a king called Brakhmadhata and his queen Khema. One day, Queen Khema saw a magnificent dream of a dhamma sermon from a radiant and mesmerising golden peacock. Soon the queen had a strong desire to actually hear the dhamma sermon from such a golden peacock. Queen Khema knew the King would not believe her if she told him about the dream, so she made him believe she was pregnant and needed to hear this same dhamma sermon from a golden peacock. The king summoned all his ministers and all the Vedas across the country to find a golden peacock and in return, he promised them the wealth of an entire village or even a palace if they so desired. The Vedas told him in all their generations they have never seen a golden peacock. However, one Veda mentioned a story told by his ancestors of a golden peacock who lived in the Himalayan mountains. Hearing this, the king became overjoyed and ordered them to find the peacock. The Veda immediately left, armed with spears, arrows, traps, and other weapons. From mountain to mountain he travelled.

After many months, he saw a beautiful golden peacock fly through the mountains. The Veda was stunned - the ancient story was indeed true. The Veda was very skilled in creating traps, and aimed his traps towards the peacock. The traps flew straight for the peacock but at the last minute changed direction. This continued to happen with everything the Veda tried to trap the peacock with. He even used a special mantra that would curse that trap into trapping the peacock, but alas, the Bodhisattva’s chanting was much stronger. The Veda tried for many months yet was defeated each time. He thought to himself it would be easier to kill the peacock than capture it, and the king would still reward him. One morning, the Bodhisattva was standing on a tree branch and the Veda aimed his arrow and shot right at it, and again at the last minute, it changed direction. The Veda was stunned as his arrows never missed, he knew there had to be another reason for this and decided to study the peacock. Thus, he followed the peacock everywhere, and one day he saw the peacock travel to the highest mountain and saw it observing the Brakmachari moral conduct. He realised that the chanting was the secret to the Bodhisattva’s protection and that he need to break the moral conduct in order to capture him. The Veda went deep into the forest in search of a beautiful peahen. Once he found one, he taught her to dance when given a signal.

When the time was right, he brought the peahen to the mountains. When the Bodhisattva climbed up the mountain, he stared at the sun, but before he could begin his chanting, the Veda clapped loudly. The peahen chirped sweetly and danced beautifully spreading her feathers. The Bodhisattva, who hadn’t heard a peahen in over 700 years was perplexed. Immediately, he was so mesmerised and infatuated that he forgot his chant and flew towards her. As he landed next to her, he fell into the Veda's trap. Overjoyed, the Veda took the peacock to the king. The king, elated with the Veda's accomplishments, showered him with immense wealth and presents. The king suddenly remembered an ancient tale, that if one eats the meat of the golden peacock, he will be able to live for an eternity. Suddenly, the king cared more about the possibility of immortality than his Queen's wish. He announced to the Bodhisattva that he would eat him in order to live forever and rule as king eternally. The Bodhisattva ridiculed him: “Oh, King! If it is possible for a creature as exotic and divine as me to die, how is it possible that the one who eats my meat will live forever?”

The king was baffled. He was unsure whether he would be able to kill the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva told the king of stories from his past lives, informing him of his immense good karma that he accumulated resulting in his present appearance. The King did not believe him, so the Bodhisattva told him to dig deep inside his lake and he would find a golden cart. The king immediately sent his soldiers out to start digging. They found the cart after some time and, in great astonishment, released the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva preached the dhamma to the kingdom, and afterwards, flew far away to the Himalayan mountains. In the Mora Jataka, our Bodhisattva lived with exemplary moral conduct. This moral conduct was so powerful that the Bodhisattva lived for 700 years without experiencing harm. However, a single moment of desire was enough to break this moral conduct. Thus, it is clear - always protect your sila, or moral conduct, with mindfulness in every moment.