Prince
Five-Weapons and the Sticky-Hair Monster
(The
Diamond Weapon)
Once upon a time, the Bodhisattva was born a prince, heir to
the King and Queen of Benares. 800 fortune tellers were invited to the palace
on the day of his naming, and were given their hearts’ desires as presents.
They were asked to tell the fortune of the newborn prince, so that they could
find a good name for him. One of the fortune tellers was an expert in reading
the marks on the body. He said,
“My lord, this is a being of great merit. He will become the
next king.” The fortune tellers were very clever. They told the king and queen
only good things.
“Your son will be trained and become the most skilful person
in the use of five weapons. He will be famous and stand peerless as the greatest
master of all the five weapons throughout India,” they said. Based on this, the
king and queen named their son ‘Prince Five-Weapons’.
When the prince turned 16, the king decided to send him to
college. “Go, my son, to the city of Takkasila. Find a world-famous teacher and
learn all you can from him. Give him these one thousand gold coins as payment,”
he said and sent him on his way.
Prince Five-Weapons studied very hard under the tutelage of
the world-famous teacher of Takkasila, and soon became his best student. When
the teacher had taught him all that he knew, he gave the prince a special
graduation award. He gave a gift of five weapons and then sent him back to
Benares. On his way home, he came to a forest which was haunted by a monster.
“Young man, don’t venture into the forest,” the local people warned Prince
Five-Weapons. “There is a monstrous demon called Sticky-Hair living inside the
forest. He kills everyone he sees!” But the prince was fearless like a young
lion, so he journeyed deep into the forest, until he came upon the dreadful
monster. It was as tall as a tree, with a head as gigantic as the roof of a
house and eyes as large as dishes. It had two huge yellow tusks sticking out of
its gaping mouth, which was filled with ugly brown teeth. Its enormous belly was
covered with white spots, and its hands and feet were blue.
The monster roared and growled at the prince, “Where are you
going in my forest, little man? You look like a tasty morsel to me. I’m going
to gobble you up!” The prince had just graduated from college and won the
highest award from his teacher. So he thought he knew just about everything,
and that he could do just about anything. He replied, “Oh fierce demon, I am
Prince Five-Weapons, and I have come on purpose to find you. I dare you to
attack me! I will kill you easily with my first two weapons — my bow and
poison-tipped arrows.”
He put a poisoned arrow in his bow and shot it straight at
the monster. But the arrow just stuck to its glue-like hair, without hurting it
at all. Then the prince shot again and again, one after another, until all 50
poison-tipped arrows he had with him were sent flying towards the demon.
However, like the first arrow, they too glued fast to the hair of the beast
called Sticky-Hair without harming it in the least. The beast shook its body,
from its ugly rooftop-sized head down to its blue coloured feet, and all the
arrows fell to the ground.
Prince Five-Weapons drew his third weapon, a 33-inch-long
sword, and plunged it into his enemy. But, like the arrows, his sword simply
got trapped in the thick coat of sticky hair. Next, the prince hurled his spear
at the monster. This also just wedged in its hair. Then he attacked with the
last of his five weapons, his club. This, too, did not hurt the monster but just
stayed fixed onto its gooey sticky coat of hair.
“Hey you, monster! Haven’t you ever heard of me, Prince
Five-Weapons? I have more than just my five weapons. I also have the strength
and the agility of a young man. I will crush you into pieces,” the prince
yelled. He hit Sticky-Hair with his right fist, just like a boxer, but his hand
simply got caught in the hairy coat, and he couldn’t remove it. He tried again
with his left fist, but this too just jammed fast to the gooey mess of hair.
Unfazed, he kicked it with his right foot and then his left, just like a
martial arts master, but they also got stuck. Finally, he head-butted against
it as hard as he could, just like a wrestler, but, lo and behold, his head got
trapped as well. Even though he was glued to the hairy monster in five places
and hanging down from the monster’s coat, the prince was not afraid at all.
Sticky-Hair thought, “This is very strange indeed. He is more
like a lion than a man. Even while in the grasp of a ferocious monster like me,
he does not tremble with fear. All this while that I’ve been killing people in
this forest, I’ve never met anyone as great as this prince. Why isn’t he afraid
of me?” Since Prince Five-Weapons was not like any other ordinary men,
Sticky-Hair was afraid to eat him right away. Instead, it asked him, “Young
man, why aren’t you afraid of death?” “Why should I be afraid of death? There
is no doubt that anyone who is born will definitely die!” the prince replied. “The
five weapons given to me by my teacher have been useless. Even the lion-like strength
of my youth is useless too. I must go beyond my teacher, beyond my youth and my
body, to the weapon inside my mind — the only weapon I need,” thought the Bodhisattva
to himself.
Then the prince continued, “There’s one small detail, oh
monstrous one, that I didn’t tell you about. In my belly is my secret weapon, a
diamond weapon that you cannot digest. It will cut your intestines into pieces
if you are foolish enough to swallow me. So if I die — you will die too! That’s
why I’m not afraid of you.” In this way, the prince used his greatest inner
strength in a manner that Sticky-Hair could easily understand. He realised that
the greatest of all weapons was the precious diamond gem of his own
intelligence — his mind. “No doubt this man must be telling the truth; for in
the face of danger, he is still calm and as cool as a cucumber. Even if I
gobble this little pea-sized morsel of a hero, I won’t be able to digest him.
In that case, I might as well let him go,” thought the monster fearing he would
die if he ate the prince.
“You are a great man. I will not eat your flesh. I shall set
you free. Just like the moon that reappears after an eclipse, so may you shine
pleasantly and gladden the hearts of all your friends and relatives,” said
Sticky-Hair and set the prince free. Through this encounter, the Bodhisattva
realised that the only worthwhile weapon to work on was the intelligence inside
us, not the weapons of the world outside. And with this diamond weapon, he also
understood that destroying life brings only suffering to the killer. In
gratitude, he taught this knowledge to the unfortunate demon. “Oh Sticky-Hair, understand
this. You were born as a murderous blood-sucking, flesh-eating demon because of
the unwholesome deeds you had committed in your past lives. If you continue to
kill, it will only lead you to greater suffering — both in this life and
beyond. You can only go from darkness to darkness. “Now that you have spared
me, do not take up killing so easily again. Bear this in mind — destroying
lives only leads one to misery in this life and the next. You will be reborn as
a hell being, an animal or a hungry ghost! Even if you are fortunate enough to
be reborn as a human being, your life would be a short one.”
Prince Five-Weapons then continued to teach Sticky-Hair. The
monster listened and eventually agreed to follow the Five Precepts. Prince
Five-Weapons had transformed Sticky Hair from a monster into a friendly forest
fairy. When he left the forest, the prince told the local people about the
change in the creature. They fed it regularly from that day onwards, and
together lived in peace and harmony. Prince Five-Weapons, on the other hand,
travelled back to Benares and later became its king. When he passed away in old
age, he was reborn as he justly deserved.
0 Response to "Prince Five-Weapons and the Sticky-Hair Monster (55)"
Post a Comment