Chapter 45
divided into two for two persons. Do not consider my welfare for this present world but
consider my welfare in the hereafter. I wish to offer the whole lot to your reverence.‛ Then
he aspired thus: ‚Venerable Sir, may I never, in my faring in
saÑsÈra
, meet with famine
like this. From now on, may I be the provider of food and seed grains to all the population
of the Southern Island Continent. May I be free from manual labour to earn my bread. May
I have 1250 store-houses for storing rice grain, in which superior red rice grains falling
from the sky, get filled up the moment I look up skyward as I sit there with my head
washed.
‚In all my future existences, may I have my present wife as my wife, my present son as
my son, my present daughter-in-law as my daughter-in-law, and my present servant as my
servant.‛
The Deep Conviction of The Other Members of The Householder
The wife of the rich man thought to herself: ‚I cannot eat when my husband starves,‛ and
offered her share of the rice to the Paccekabuddha. She made her wish thus: ‚Venerable
Sir, may I never, in my faring in
saÑsÈra
, meet with starvation. May I have a vessel of
cooked rice which never gets depleted however much is taken from it by the populace of
the Southern Island Continent, while I sit distributing the rice. In all my future existences,
may I have my present husband as my husband, my present son as my son, and my present
daughter-in-law as my daughter-in-law, and my present servant as my servant.‛
The Rich Man's son also offered his share of the rice to the Paccekabuddha, and made his
wish: ‚May I never, in my faring in
saÑsÈra
, meet with starvation. May I have a bag of
silver coins containing a thousand pieces out of which I may distribute the silver to
everyone in the Southern Island Continent, and may the bag remain as full as ever. In all
my future existences, may my present parents be my parents, may my wife be my wife,
and may our present servant be our servant.‛
The Rich Man's daughter-in-law also offered her share of the rice to the Paccekabuddha
and made her wish thus: ‚May I never, in my faring in
saÑsÈra
, meet with starvation. May
I have a basket of rice grain, out of which I may distribute the rice to all the populace of
the Southern Island Continent, and may that basket never get depleted. In all my future
existences, may my present parents-in-law be my parents-in-law, may my present husband
be my husband, and may our present servant be our servant.‛
The servant PuÓÓa also offered his share of the rice to the Paccekabuddha and made his
wish thus:
‚May I never, in my faring in
saÑsÈra
, meet with starvation. In all my future existences,
may all the present members of my master's family be my master. When I plough a field,
may there appear three extra furrows on the left and three extra furrows on the right of the
main furrow in the middle, thereby accomplishing my work sevenfold, making a seed bed
for sowing four baskets of seed grains.‛
(PuÓÓa could have wished for and become Commander-in-Chief if he so aspired to
it. However, his personal ties with the Rich Man's family were so strong that he
wished that in all his future existences his present masters be his masters.)
When the five donors had made their respective wishes the Paccekabuddha said:
‚May your wishes be fulfilled quickly. May all your aspirations come to full
realisation like the full moon.
‚May your wishes be fulfilled in every respect. May all your aspirations come to
full realisation like the wish-giving gem.‛
Having expressed His appreciation of the offerings, He made a wish that His donors, for
enhancement of their convictions, see Him and His further actions, then He rose into the
air and to the GandamÈdÈna mountain, and shared the alms-food He had collected with the
five hundred Paccekabuddhas. The rice that was meant for the consumption of five persons
were offered and satisfied the five hundred Paccekabuddhas, thanks to the supernormal
powers of the original offeree. This was witnessed by the five donors whose devotion