The
Fish That Worked a Miracle
The Fish That Worked a Miracle
(The Power of Wholesomeness)
Once upon a time, the Bodhisattva was
born as a pond fish in northern India. There were all kinds of fishes, big and
small, living in that pond with the Bodhisattva. All went well until one day, a
period of severe drought occurred. Somehow, the rainy season did not come as
usual. Crops died and many ponds, lakes and rivers dried up from the lack of
water.
The fishes and turtles, in a frantic
bid to stay alive and save themselves, dug and buried themselves deep in the
wet mud. The crows and other birds that were around the pond were pleased to
see this. They hovered around for a while before using their beaks to pull up
the frightened little muddy fishes and gobble them up.
The suffering, pain and death
experienced by other fishes around the Bodhisattva greatly saddened him. It
filled him with pity and compassion, and he wished he could help relieve their
suffering. He realised that he was the only one who could save them, but it
would take a miracle to do so.
The Bodhisattva was pure in body for
he had never taken the life of any being. He was determined to use his purity
to invoke rain from the sky and release his relatives from their misery and
deaths.
With great determination, he pulled
himself up from under the black mud. He was a huge fish, and after being
stained by the dark coloured mud, he appeared as black as polished ebony. He
opened his eyes, which sparkled like rubies, looked up at the sky, and beckoned
the rain god Pajjunna. “Oh my friend Pajjunna, god of rain, my heart is heavy
for my relatives’ sake. Why is it that you send no rain from heaven when I, one
who is perfectly wholesome, am distressed for my relatives?” he exclaimed.
“Though I’m born among fishes, I have
never eaten another of my kind, even one as tiny as a rice grain, for survival.
In fact, I have never robbed any beings of their lives. The truth of my purity
gives me the right to order you: bring forth the thunder and the rain! Relieve
the suffering of my relatives!
“Let the rain drops fall from the
thunderclouds! Do not allow the crows to find their hidden treasures! Make them
feel the sorrow of their unwholesome actions. At the same time, release me from
my sorrow, for I have lived in perfect wholesomeness,” he continued, in a
commanding tone, as though he was ordering a servant, to the mighty rain god
Pajjunna.
A short while later, it was as if the
heavens heard the protestation, for it poured heavily, and saved many — fishes,
turtles and even humans — from the fear of death. When the great fish that had
worked this miracle eventually died, he was reborn as he deserved.
The moral is ✏ True purity and
wholesomeness relieve the suffering of many.
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