Chapter 45
(4) Next, Sakka, looking intently at the walls, willed in his mind: ‚Let there appear
wishing trees inside each of the seven walls,‛ and instantly there appeared wishing
trees inside each of the seven walls
(5) Next, Sakka, looking intently at the mansion, willed in his mind: ‚Let there appear four
gold jars full of precious stones at each of the four corners of the mansion,‛ and his
wish materialized. (In this connection, Jotika's four treasure jars are different from the
treasure jars that usually appeared for Bodhisattas, in that in the latter case, the four
jars were of various sizes at their mouths varying from one
yojana
in diameter, three
gÈvutas (i.e. 3/4
yojana
), two
gÈvutas
(i.e. 1/2
yojana
), and one gÈvuta (i.e. 1/4
yojana
);
they had their bottoms reaching down to the base of the great earth. In the former case,
the size of the mouths of the jars is not mentioned in the old Commentaries, but they
contained jewels about the size of Palmyra fruits whose faces were cut off.)
(6) At the four corners of the great mansion, four sugar cane plants of solid gold
appeared, each with a stem the thickness of a Palmyra tree. The leaves of the trees
were emerald. These trees bore witness to Jotika’s immense past merit.
The seven entrances to the seven walls were guarded by seven
yakkha
generals with their
armies, namely, (i) at the first gate, YÈma KoÄÊ was in charge with one thousand yakkhas
under him; (ii) at the second gate, Uppala was in charge with two thousand
yakkhas
under
him; (iii) at the third gate, Vajira was in charge with three thousand
yakkhas
under him, (iv)
at the fourth gate, VajirabÈhu was in charge with four thousand
yakkhas
under him; (v) at
the fifth gate, Kasakanda was in charge with five thousand
yakkhas
under him; (vi) at the
sixth gate, Katattha was in charge with six thousand
yakkhas
under him and (vii) at the
seventh gate, DisÈmukha was in charge with seven thousand
yakkhas
under him.
King BimbisÈra makes Jotika Royal Treasurer
When King BimbisÈra heard the news of the Jotika phenomenon comprising the arising
through the earth of the bejewelled seven-storied mansion, the seven walls and its great
gates, and the appearance of the four great gold jars, etc. he made him the Royal Treasurer,
with all the paraphernalia of the office such as, the white Umbrella, etc. sent to him. From
that time, Jotika was widely known as the Royal Treasurer.
Devas send SakulakÈyÊ of The Northern Island Continent as A Bride for Jotika
The lady who had been Jotika's partner in doing meritorious deeds in the past now
happened to be reborn in the Northern Island Continent. The devas took the lady, named
SakulakÈyÊ, from her native Island Continent and installed her at Jotika's seven-stories
mansion. She brought with her a small measure of rice and three crystals with heat
potential in them. This quantity of rice and the three stones provided all the cooked food
throughout their lives. The small vessel that contained original rice could contain any
quantity of fresh rice, even as much as a hundred cart-loads of them could be poured into
it!
When the rice was to be cooked, it was put into a cooking pot and placed on the three
crystals, which served as a fireplace and which glowed with heat until the rice became
properly cooked and then the glow faded out. When curries and other dishes were cooked,
the three crystals worked on the same purpose. Thus the Jotika couple never had the use of
fire for cooking. For lighting as well, they never used fire because they had emerald and
rubies that glowed and gave sufficient light.
The great opulence of Jotika became well-known throughout the whole of the Southern
Island Continent and people thronged to his mansion to admire it. Some came from afar
using carts and other vehicles. Jotika entertained them to the special quality rice that grew
only in the Northern Island Continent which was cooked on the three crystals. He also
asked his visitors to take away whatever they fancied at the Wishing Trees. Further, he
would ask them to take away gold, silver and jewels from the gold jar whose mouth was
one quarter of a
yojana
wide. All visitors from the Southern Island Continent enjoyed
Jotika munificence. It is especially remarkable that the gold jar never deplete even for an
inch but always remained full to its brim. This wonderful phenomenon was the result of