Is there a relationship between human atrocities and the changing weather patterns that have now clearly emerged? The short answer is, yes. Some 2,550 years ago, Lord Buddha clearly explained these events when interpreting the 16 dreams seen by King Pasenadi of Kosala,
The king had had some disturbing dreams, which he felt represented some misfortune. Summoning the Brahmin priests the king asked them to interpret his dreams. Claiming that the Gods were displeased, they requested a huge animal sacrifice to appease the Gods. Mallika, who practised the Buddha’s teaching of compassion and loving-kindness to all living beings, was horrified to find preparation for the slaughter of so many animals. She advised the King to seek the Buddha’s counsel on the meaning of his dreams.
King Pasenadi, was the son of King Maha Kosala. He was a just ruler respected by his subjects and was a supporter of Lord Buddha. Being of the same age, they knew each other when both were quite young. The King was most respectful to the Buddha and used to seek His counsel on various issues both personal as well as on affairs of state. One night, the King had a series of 16 dreams and woke up in great fright as to what these dreams might portend. Amazingly, the King could remember the details of the 16 dreams after awakening. Fearing a great tragedy that the dreams may have foretold, the King summoned his advisors and asked for their advice. The crafty Brahmins realizing that here is an opportunity for them to make a ‘killing’, predicted - after listening to the King’s dreams – that one of three calamities is about to happen: harm to the kingdom, danger to his life or his wealth.
“Is there a remedy?” asked the King.
“It is a very difficult task my Lord, but we shall try,” they all said collectively, hoping to create further fear in the mind of the King.
“My life is in your hands, make haste” pleaded the King.
The crafty and avaricious Brahmins informed the King that a large sum of money is necessary and a host of animals and birds would have to be sacrificed to overcome the imminent dangers. The King readily agreed.
Fortunately, his chief queen, Queen Mallika, a beautiful and a noble lady, enquired from the King what these preparations were in aid of. When the King explained his quandary, the wise queen suggested that they should first consult the Buddha before taking any further steps. Finally the King and his queen presented the problem to the Samma Sambuddha. Then the Buddha requested the King to relate his dreams.
THE FIRST DREAM
The King said: “In my dream, I saw four black bulls coming to the Royal courtyard from the four cardinal points with the avowed intention of fighting and a great multitude of people flocked to watch. But the bulls only made a show of fighting, they roared and bellowed but finally went off without fighting.”
The Buddha gave the King the following interpretation:
“Sire, that dream has no bearing to the present time. However, in future times when kings are unrighteous, in days when people are unrighteous, when the world is perverted, when good is waning and evil is waxing, there shall fall no rain from the heavens. Crops shall wither and famine will affect the land. Clouds will gather as if for rains, thunder shall bellow, lightning will flash but even as the bulls in your dream that fought not, so shall the clouds flee without raining. But no harm shall come to you. What the Brahmins told you was merely to get themselves a livelihood.”
THE SECOND DREAM
“Sir” said the King, “ in my second dream I saw many tiny trees and shrubs bursting through the soil and when they had grown scarce a span or two high, they flowered and bore fruits!
“Sire” the Buddha replied, this dream too would have its fulfillment in days when the world has fallen into decay and when men are short-lived. In time to come, passions shall be strong. Quite young girls will go and live with men and bear children.
THE THIRD DREAM
“My Lord”, said the King “I saw cows suckling the milk of calves which they had borne that selfsame day. What will come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “This dream would have its fulfillment when respect shall cease to be paid to elders. During that era, there will be no reverence shown to parents or parents-in-law. The young will administer the family estate themselves and deprive the elders of their ownership and only give them food and clothing. Then the old folks shall become destitute and dependent and would have to exist on the favour of their children, like big cows suckling calves a day old.”
FOOTNOTE
It is not uncommon in today’s society how aged parents – who have already bequeathed their property to their children – are languishing unattended at home or dumped into Old Folks Homes while the children are abroad earning big money.
THE FOURTH DREAM
The King said: “I saw men unyoking a team of draught-oxen, sturdy and strong, and instead setting young steers to draw the load: and the steers proving unequal to the task laid on them, refused and stood stock still, so that the wagons did not move. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “ During the days of unrighteous rulers, wisemen and aged councillors skilled in the precedent, fertile in expedience and able to get through business, learned in the laws of the country, will not be honoured nor appointed to courts of law. Those appointed officials, ignorant alike of statecraft and of practical knowledge shall not be able to bear the burden of their honours or to govern, and because of their incompetence would not be able to discharge their duties. Whereupon the aged and wise lords shall keep in mind having been passed over earlier and shall decline to assist saying: “It is of no business of ours, we are outsiders. You were appointed, now you carry on.” Hence they shall stand aside and ruination will result just as the yoke that was laid on the young steers that were not strong enough to carry the wagons.
FOOTNOTE
Rulers will pick ministers whom they can manipulate and reject the older, more experienced and honest men. Such unsuitable ministers will not know how to deal with affairs of state to the benefit of the country as a result of which the people will suffer.
THE FIFTH DREAM
The King said “Sir, I saw a horse with a mouth on either side, to which fodder was given on both sides and it ate with both mouths. This was my fifth dream. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “In the days of unrighteous and foolish rulers who shall appoint unrighteous and covetous men to be judges. These base ones, fools, despising the good, would take bribes from both sides as they sit in the seat of judgement and shall be filled with this two-fold corruption even as the horse that ate fodder with both mouths at once.”
THE SIXTH DREAM
The King then related his sixth dream: “Sir, I saw people holding out a golden bowl worth a hundred thousand pieces of kahavanu and begging an old jackal to urinate therein. And I saw the beast doing so. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “Unrighteous rulers though being descendants of a race of nobility yet mistrusting the scions of their ancestors shall not honour them, instead appoint and exalt the lowborn and thus the lowborn shall be raised to lordship. As a result, the nobility by their need to live by dependence on such upstarts, shall offer them their daughters in marriage. And the union of the noble maidens with the low-born shall be like unto the urinating of the old jackal into the golden bowl.”
THE SEVENTH DREAM
The King related: “Sir, a man was weaving rope and as he wove he threw it down at his feet. Under his bench lay a hungry she-jackal that kept eating the rope as he wove, but without the man knowing it. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha said: “When the rulers of a country are unrighteous. women shall lust for men, strong drink, finery and gadding about. In their wickedness and abandonment to vices these women would indulge in strong drink with their paramours, flaunt in garlands and perfumes, and be heedless of their household duties. They shall keep watching for their paramours and even pound the very seed corn that should be sown on the morrow so as to provide good cheer. In all these ways shall they plunder the store filled by the hard work of their husbands, just as the hungry jackal under the bench ate up the rope made by the rope-maker as he wove it.”
FOOTNOTE
In future times when leaders of a country are unrighteous, their wives being full of greed and lust, will squander their earnings and property in wanton ways without the knowledge of the husbands.
THE EIGHTH DREAM
“I saw at a palace gate” said The King, “a big pitcher full to the brim standing alongside a number of empty ones. From all directions there kept coming a constant stream of people carrying water and pouring it into the pitcher that was full and ignoring the empty ones. Naturally, the water from the full pitcher kept overflowing and ran away but still none bothered to even look at the empty ones.”
The Buddha said: “When the rulers of a country are unrighteous country, would be poor and have less money in their treasury, they (the rulers) will get the people to work for them to fill the coffers in their treasury. The ordinary folk will toil for the ruler neglecting their own sustenance. And as they work for the welfare of the rulers, the king’s treasury would be filled to overflowing – just as the pitcher in your dream – but their own barns would be empty, just as the pitchers that were neglected and empty.
THE NINTH DREAM
The King then related his ninth dream: “Sir, I saw a deep pool with shelving banks all round and overgrown with five kinds of lotuses. From every side two-footed and four-footed creatures flocked to drink of its waters. The water in the middle was muddy, but the water was clear and sparkling at the margin where the various creatures went down into the pool.”
The Buddha explained “Whenever the rulers are found wanting and rule their countries according to their whims and fancies without any regard to fairplay and justice. These rulers shall hunger after riches and wax fat on bribes and shall not show any mercy, love or compassion to the people. Due to insufferable taxes and the oppressive conditions in the country, people shall flee from the villages and towns.”
FOOTNOTE
In modern terms, this is called brain drain, and Sri Lanka is one country that has had more than her fair share of this problem.
THE TENTH DREAM
The King then related his next dream. “I saw rice boiling in a pot without getting done. I mean it looked as though it was sharply marked off and kept apart, so that the cooking seemed to go on in three distinct stages. One part was sodden, another hard and raw but the last part cooked to a nicety. What shall come off it, sir?”
“Around such rulers” the Buddha commented “ the people surrounding the kings too would be of the same ilk, as also Brahmins, householders, townsmen and country-folk. Rains will not fall in due season. When they fall, it falls not on the whole area that has been tilled but only on some. On some areas there will be heavy rains and spoil the crop and in other areas there will be no rain at all and the crop would be ruined due to drought and wither. ”
THE ELEVENTH DREAM The King then related his next dream. “Sir, I saw sour buttermilk bartered for precious sandalwood worth 100,000 pieces of money. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “In the future the Dhamma will wane. This is because shameless brethren (monks) shall arise who for their bellies’ sake shall preach the very words I preached against. Their preaching will not lead to Nibbana. Nay, their only thought as they preach by fine words and sweet voices shall be to induce men to give them costly raiment and gifts. Others, seated in the highways, at street corners, at the doors of kings’ palaces, shall stoop to preach for money as they barter away for food, raiment or gifts, the doctrine the worth whereof is Nibbana. They shall be as those who barter away precious sandalwood worth 100,000 pieces of money for sour buttermilk.”
FOOTNOTE
This is very clearly observed today. Many monks are certainly not teaching the true Dhamma. Whereas the basic teaching of the Tathagathas is to subdue sensual pleasures, some monks are busy composing music and seen accepting awards, titles and prizes offered by the laity for their troubles! The teaching of Samatha and Vipassana meditation as taught by the Tathagathas would be a thing of the past as the Sasana deteriorates rapidly. There would be hardly any inspiration for samaneras/learners to begin orthodox practice. Yet, as the Buddha preached in the Anguttara Nikaya in the Books of Ones:
“ Monks, those who point out what is not Dhamma as Dhamma, who point out what is not the Discipline as the Discipline, and what is the Discipline as not the Discipline, who point out what is not uttered by the Tathagatha as what is uttered by the Tathagatha……….., the conduct of such monks cause loss to many folks, loss and injury and misery to devas and mankind. Moreover, such monks beget great demerit (to themselves) and cause the disappearance of the true Dhamma.”
THE TWELFTH DREAM
The King said: “My Lord, I saw empty pumpkins sinking in the water. What will come of it”?
The Buddha replied: “In the days when the world is perverted with unrighteous rulers, the kings will not show favour to the scions of nobility but to the lowborn and the latter will become great lords whilst the nobles sink to obscurity and poverty. Everywhere, it is the word of the lowborn that shall be established just as the empty pumpkins had sunk till they rested on the bottom. So too among the Sangha, in the greater and lesser conclaves and in enquiries regarding bowls, robes, lodgings and the like, the counsel of the wicked and the vile shall be considered, not that of the noble monks. Thus everywhere it shall be the same as when the pumpkins sank.”
THE THIRTEENTH DREAM
The King said: “Sir, I saw huge blocks of solid rock, as big as houses, floating like ships upon the waters. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha explained: “In the days when unrighteous kings rule, they show honour only to the lowborn, and who shall be treated as great lords whilst the nobles sink into poverty and oblivion. Not to the nobles but to the upstarts shall respect be paid. In the royal presence or in the courts of justice the words of the nobles and the learned in the law (it is them the solid rocks signify) shall drift idly by and not sink deep into the hearts of men: when they speak the upstarts merely laugh. So too it is in the assemblies of the Sangha. The words of such worthies shall not sink deep but drift idly by even as the rocks floated upon the waters.
FOURTEENTH DREAM
“My Lord” said the King, “I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than tiny flowerets, swiftly pursuing huge black snakes, chopping them up like so many lotus-stalks and gobbling them up.”
The Buddha interpreted this dream as follows: “When the world is decaying, the wife will dominate over the husband and the household staff. Thus like the tiny frogs who gobble up large snakes, wives will hold sway over their husbands when the world begins to decay and when men’s passion and lust predominates.
THE FIFTEENTH DREAM
“My Lord”, said the King, I saw a village crow, in which dwelt the ten vices* or immoral conduct, being escorted by a retinue of those birds, because of their golden sheen, are called Royal Golden Mallards. What does it signify”?
*1. Killing or injuring living beings.2. Taking or destroying what is not yours. 3. Indulging in sexual misconduct. 4. Telling lies. 5. Backbiting and spreading rumour. 6.Using abusive language 7.Taking part in frivolous language. 8.Covetousness 9. Malevolence & 10. Wrong views.
The Buddha replied: “ In future times weak kings will arise who are not adept in the skills of any art or skill that is necessary for a ruler and as a result are cowards. Fearing to be deposed and cast from the royal estate, these weak kings shall raise to power not their peers but their footmen, bath attendants, barbers and such-like. Thus shut out from royal favour and unable to support themselves, the nobles shall be reduced to dancing attendance on the upstarts as when the lowly crow had Royal Golden Mallards for a retinue.”
THE SIXTEENTH DREAM
The King now related his final dream. “So far it used to be panthers who killed goats but I saw goats chasing panthers and devouring them. The bare sight of goats afar made wolves flee in terror and hid themselves in the thickets. Such was my dream.”
The Buddha interpreted this dream as follows: In the days when the lowborn shall be made royal favourites and be raised to lordship the nobles would sink into obscurity and distress. Gaining influence in the courts of law because of their favour with the king, these upstarts shall claim the ancestral homes, the raiment and all the property of the old nobility. Pleading before courts of law by the nobles, will not help and the minions will threaten the old nobles with physical injury. Hereupon the terrified nobles shall affirm that the property really belongs to the overbearing upstarts. Likewise in the Sangha when the noble monks would be forced to flee to the jungle. And this oppression of the nobles and of the good monks by the low-born and evil monks respectively shall be like the scaring of panthers by goats.”
FOOTNOTE
In the future when the rulers driven by greed, hatred and delusion, and only want to enrich themselves, the lowborn shall be made royal favourites while the nobles will sink to obscurity and distress. Adhamma will rule the land. Gaining influence in the courts of law, these plebian-types shall forcefully claim the ancestral estates of the nobles and deprive the latter of their rightful wealth. Through fear the nobles would be forced to relinquish their ownership. Similarly, in the Sangha, the evil monks would hold sway over the virtuous ones and force the latter to flee to the jungle just as the goats scared the panthers.
The king had had some disturbing dreams, which he felt represented some misfortune. Summoning the Brahmin priests the king asked them to interpret his dreams. Claiming that the Gods were displeased, they requested a huge animal sacrifice to appease the Gods. Mallika, who practised the Buddha’s teaching of compassion and loving-kindness to all living beings, was horrified to find preparation for the slaughter of so many animals. She advised the King to seek the Buddha’s counsel on the meaning of his dreams.
King Pasenadi, was the son of King Maha Kosala. He was a just ruler respected by his subjects and was a supporter of Lord Buddha. Being of the same age, they knew each other when both were quite young. The King was most respectful to the Buddha and used to seek His counsel on various issues both personal as well as on affairs of state. One night, the King had a series of 16 dreams and woke up in great fright as to what these dreams might portend. Amazingly, the King could remember the details of the 16 dreams after awakening. Fearing a great tragedy that the dreams may have foretold, the King summoned his advisors and asked for their advice. The crafty Brahmins realizing that here is an opportunity for them to make a ‘killing’, predicted - after listening to the King’s dreams – that one of three calamities is about to happen: harm to the kingdom, danger to his life or his wealth.
“Is there a remedy?” asked the King.
“It is a very difficult task my Lord, but we shall try,” they all said collectively, hoping to create further fear in the mind of the King.
“My life is in your hands, make haste” pleaded the King.
The crafty and avaricious Brahmins informed the King that a large sum of money is necessary and a host of animals and birds would have to be sacrificed to overcome the imminent dangers. The King readily agreed.
Fortunately, his chief queen, Queen Mallika, a beautiful and a noble lady, enquired from the King what these preparations were in aid of. When the King explained his quandary, the wise queen suggested that they should first consult the Buddha before taking any further steps. Finally the King and his queen presented the problem to the Samma Sambuddha. Then the Buddha requested the King to relate his dreams.
THE FIRST DREAM
The King said: “In my dream, I saw four black bulls coming to the Royal courtyard from the four cardinal points with the avowed intention of fighting and a great multitude of people flocked to watch. But the bulls only made a show of fighting, they roared and bellowed but finally went off without fighting.”
The Buddha gave the King the following interpretation:
“Sire, that dream has no bearing to the present time. However, in future times when kings are unrighteous, in days when people are unrighteous, when the world is perverted, when good is waning and evil is waxing, there shall fall no rain from the heavens. Crops shall wither and famine will affect the land. Clouds will gather as if for rains, thunder shall bellow, lightning will flash but even as the bulls in your dream that fought not, so shall the clouds flee without raining. But no harm shall come to you. What the Brahmins told you was merely to get themselves a livelihood.”
THE SECOND DREAM
“Sir” said the King, “ in my second dream I saw many tiny trees and shrubs bursting through the soil and when they had grown scarce a span or two high, they flowered and bore fruits!
“Sire” the Buddha replied, this dream too would have its fulfillment in days when the world has fallen into decay and when men are short-lived. In time to come, passions shall be strong. Quite young girls will go and live with men and bear children.
THE THIRD DREAM
“My Lord”, said the King “I saw cows suckling the milk of calves which they had borne that selfsame day. What will come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “This dream would have its fulfillment when respect shall cease to be paid to elders. During that era, there will be no reverence shown to parents or parents-in-law. The young will administer the family estate themselves and deprive the elders of their ownership and only give them food and clothing. Then the old folks shall become destitute and dependent and would have to exist on the favour of their children, like big cows suckling calves a day old.”
FOOTNOTE
It is not uncommon in today’s society how aged parents – who have already bequeathed their property to their children – are languishing unattended at home or dumped into Old Folks Homes while the children are abroad earning big money.
THE FOURTH DREAM
The King said: “I saw men unyoking a team of draught-oxen, sturdy and strong, and instead setting young steers to draw the load: and the steers proving unequal to the task laid on them, refused and stood stock still, so that the wagons did not move. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “ During the days of unrighteous rulers, wisemen and aged councillors skilled in the precedent, fertile in expedience and able to get through business, learned in the laws of the country, will not be honoured nor appointed to courts of law. Those appointed officials, ignorant alike of statecraft and of practical knowledge shall not be able to bear the burden of their honours or to govern, and because of their incompetence would not be able to discharge their duties. Whereupon the aged and wise lords shall keep in mind having been passed over earlier and shall decline to assist saying: “It is of no business of ours, we are outsiders. You were appointed, now you carry on.” Hence they shall stand aside and ruination will result just as the yoke that was laid on the young steers that were not strong enough to carry the wagons.
FOOTNOTE
Rulers will pick ministers whom they can manipulate and reject the older, more experienced and honest men. Such unsuitable ministers will not know how to deal with affairs of state to the benefit of the country as a result of which the people will suffer.
THE FIFTH DREAM
The King said “Sir, I saw a horse with a mouth on either side, to which fodder was given on both sides and it ate with both mouths. This was my fifth dream. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “In the days of unrighteous and foolish rulers who shall appoint unrighteous and covetous men to be judges. These base ones, fools, despising the good, would take bribes from both sides as they sit in the seat of judgement and shall be filled with this two-fold corruption even as the horse that ate fodder with both mouths at once.”
THE SIXTH DREAM
The King then related his sixth dream: “Sir, I saw people holding out a golden bowl worth a hundred thousand pieces of kahavanu and begging an old jackal to urinate therein. And I saw the beast doing so. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “Unrighteous rulers though being descendants of a race of nobility yet mistrusting the scions of their ancestors shall not honour them, instead appoint and exalt the lowborn and thus the lowborn shall be raised to lordship. As a result, the nobility by their need to live by dependence on such upstarts, shall offer them their daughters in marriage. And the union of the noble maidens with the low-born shall be like unto the urinating of the old jackal into the golden bowl.”
THE SEVENTH DREAM
The King related: “Sir, a man was weaving rope and as he wove he threw it down at his feet. Under his bench lay a hungry she-jackal that kept eating the rope as he wove, but without the man knowing it. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha said: “When the rulers of a country are unrighteous. women shall lust for men, strong drink, finery and gadding about. In their wickedness and abandonment to vices these women would indulge in strong drink with their paramours, flaunt in garlands and perfumes, and be heedless of their household duties. They shall keep watching for their paramours and even pound the very seed corn that should be sown on the morrow so as to provide good cheer. In all these ways shall they plunder the store filled by the hard work of their husbands, just as the hungry jackal under the bench ate up the rope made by the rope-maker as he wove it.”
FOOTNOTE
In future times when leaders of a country are unrighteous, their wives being full of greed and lust, will squander their earnings and property in wanton ways without the knowledge of the husbands.
THE EIGHTH DREAM
“I saw at a palace gate” said The King, “a big pitcher full to the brim standing alongside a number of empty ones. From all directions there kept coming a constant stream of people carrying water and pouring it into the pitcher that was full and ignoring the empty ones. Naturally, the water from the full pitcher kept overflowing and ran away but still none bothered to even look at the empty ones.”
The Buddha said: “When the rulers of a country are unrighteous country, would be poor and have less money in their treasury, they (the rulers) will get the people to work for them to fill the coffers in their treasury. The ordinary folk will toil for the ruler neglecting their own sustenance. And as they work for the welfare of the rulers, the king’s treasury would be filled to overflowing – just as the pitcher in your dream – but their own barns would be empty, just as the pitchers that were neglected and empty.
THE NINTH DREAM
The King then related his ninth dream: “Sir, I saw a deep pool with shelving banks all round and overgrown with five kinds of lotuses. From every side two-footed and four-footed creatures flocked to drink of its waters. The water in the middle was muddy, but the water was clear and sparkling at the margin where the various creatures went down into the pool.”
The Buddha explained “Whenever the rulers are found wanting and rule their countries according to their whims and fancies without any regard to fairplay and justice. These rulers shall hunger after riches and wax fat on bribes and shall not show any mercy, love or compassion to the people. Due to insufferable taxes and the oppressive conditions in the country, people shall flee from the villages and towns.”
FOOTNOTE
In modern terms, this is called brain drain, and Sri Lanka is one country that has had more than her fair share of this problem.
THE TENTH DREAM
The King then related his next dream. “I saw rice boiling in a pot without getting done. I mean it looked as though it was sharply marked off and kept apart, so that the cooking seemed to go on in three distinct stages. One part was sodden, another hard and raw but the last part cooked to a nicety. What shall come off it, sir?”
“Around such rulers” the Buddha commented “ the people surrounding the kings too would be of the same ilk, as also Brahmins, householders, townsmen and country-folk. Rains will not fall in due season. When they fall, it falls not on the whole area that has been tilled but only on some. On some areas there will be heavy rains and spoil the crop and in other areas there will be no rain at all and the crop would be ruined due to drought and wither. ”
THE ELEVENTH DREAM The King then related his next dream. “Sir, I saw sour buttermilk bartered for precious sandalwood worth 100,000 pieces of money. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha replied: “In the future the Dhamma will wane. This is because shameless brethren (monks) shall arise who for their bellies’ sake shall preach the very words I preached against. Their preaching will not lead to Nibbana. Nay, their only thought as they preach by fine words and sweet voices shall be to induce men to give them costly raiment and gifts. Others, seated in the highways, at street corners, at the doors of kings’ palaces, shall stoop to preach for money as they barter away for food, raiment or gifts, the doctrine the worth whereof is Nibbana. They shall be as those who barter away precious sandalwood worth 100,000 pieces of money for sour buttermilk.”
FOOTNOTE
This is very clearly observed today. Many monks are certainly not teaching the true Dhamma. Whereas the basic teaching of the Tathagathas is to subdue sensual pleasures, some monks are busy composing music and seen accepting awards, titles and prizes offered by the laity for their troubles! The teaching of Samatha and Vipassana meditation as taught by the Tathagathas would be a thing of the past as the Sasana deteriorates rapidly. There would be hardly any inspiration for samaneras/learners to begin orthodox practice. Yet, as the Buddha preached in the Anguttara Nikaya in the Books of Ones:
“ Monks, those who point out what is not Dhamma as Dhamma, who point out what is not the Discipline as the Discipline, and what is the Discipline as not the Discipline, who point out what is not uttered by the Tathagatha as what is uttered by the Tathagatha……….., the conduct of such monks cause loss to many folks, loss and injury and misery to devas and mankind. Moreover, such monks beget great demerit (to themselves) and cause the disappearance of the true Dhamma.”
THE TWELFTH DREAM
The King said: “My Lord, I saw empty pumpkins sinking in the water. What will come of it”?
The Buddha replied: “In the days when the world is perverted with unrighteous rulers, the kings will not show favour to the scions of nobility but to the lowborn and the latter will become great lords whilst the nobles sink to obscurity and poverty. Everywhere, it is the word of the lowborn that shall be established just as the empty pumpkins had sunk till they rested on the bottom. So too among the Sangha, in the greater and lesser conclaves and in enquiries regarding bowls, robes, lodgings and the like, the counsel of the wicked and the vile shall be considered, not that of the noble monks. Thus everywhere it shall be the same as when the pumpkins sank.”
THE THIRTEENTH DREAM
The King said: “Sir, I saw huge blocks of solid rock, as big as houses, floating like ships upon the waters. What shall come of it?”
The Buddha explained: “In the days when unrighteous kings rule, they show honour only to the lowborn, and who shall be treated as great lords whilst the nobles sink into poverty and oblivion. Not to the nobles but to the upstarts shall respect be paid. In the royal presence or in the courts of justice the words of the nobles and the learned in the law (it is them the solid rocks signify) shall drift idly by and not sink deep into the hearts of men: when they speak the upstarts merely laugh. So too it is in the assemblies of the Sangha. The words of such worthies shall not sink deep but drift idly by even as the rocks floated upon the waters.
FOURTEENTH DREAM
“My Lord” said the King, “I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than tiny flowerets, swiftly pursuing huge black snakes, chopping them up like so many lotus-stalks and gobbling them up.”
The Buddha interpreted this dream as follows: “When the world is decaying, the wife will dominate over the husband and the household staff. Thus like the tiny frogs who gobble up large snakes, wives will hold sway over their husbands when the world begins to decay and when men’s passion and lust predominates.
THE FIFTEENTH DREAM
“My Lord”, said the King, I saw a village crow, in which dwelt the ten vices* or immoral conduct, being escorted by a retinue of those birds, because of their golden sheen, are called Royal Golden Mallards. What does it signify”?
*1. Killing or injuring living beings.2. Taking or destroying what is not yours. 3. Indulging in sexual misconduct. 4. Telling lies. 5. Backbiting and spreading rumour. 6.Using abusive language 7.Taking part in frivolous language. 8.Covetousness 9. Malevolence & 10. Wrong views.
The Buddha replied: “ In future times weak kings will arise who are not adept in the skills of any art or skill that is necessary for a ruler and as a result are cowards. Fearing to be deposed and cast from the royal estate, these weak kings shall raise to power not their peers but their footmen, bath attendants, barbers and such-like. Thus shut out from royal favour and unable to support themselves, the nobles shall be reduced to dancing attendance on the upstarts as when the lowly crow had Royal Golden Mallards for a retinue.”
THE SIXTEENTH DREAM
The King now related his final dream. “So far it used to be panthers who killed goats but I saw goats chasing panthers and devouring them. The bare sight of goats afar made wolves flee in terror and hid themselves in the thickets. Such was my dream.”
The Buddha interpreted this dream as follows: In the days when the lowborn shall be made royal favourites and be raised to lordship the nobles would sink into obscurity and distress. Gaining influence in the courts of law because of their favour with the king, these upstarts shall claim the ancestral homes, the raiment and all the property of the old nobility. Pleading before courts of law by the nobles, will not help and the minions will threaten the old nobles with physical injury. Hereupon the terrified nobles shall affirm that the property really belongs to the overbearing upstarts. Likewise in the Sangha when the noble monks would be forced to flee to the jungle. And this oppression of the nobles and of the good monks by the low-born and evil monks respectively shall be like the scaring of panthers by goats.”
FOOTNOTE
In the future when the rulers driven by greed, hatred and delusion, and only want to enrich themselves, the lowborn shall be made royal favourites while the nobles will sink to obscurity and distress. Adhamma will rule the land. Gaining influence in the courts of law, these plebian-types shall forcefully claim the ancestral estates of the nobles and deprive the latter of their rightful wealth. Through fear the nobles would be forced to relinquish their ownership. Similarly, in the Sangha, the evil monks would hold sway over the virtuous ones and force the latter to flee to the jungle just as the goats scared the panthers.
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