Abhidhamma in Daily Life (by Ashin Janakabhivamsa)

by Ashin Janakabhivamsa | 66,666 words

English translation of "Abhidhamma in Daily Life" by Professor Ko Lay. Revised by Sayadaw U Silananda, International Theravada Buddhist Missionary University, Yangon, 1999...

Factor 6 - Adosa (non-anger, loving kindness, forgiveness, harmlessness)

Adosa is non-ferocity or non-savageness. It is the direct opposite of dosa just as snakes are of geckos. Those who are with adosa are polite as much as those who are with dosa are ferocious. They can pacify themselves even when other people talk to them with dosa because their minds are peaceful. Not only are they peaceful in mind, their facial expression also is pleasant and beautiful like the silvery moon whereas that of those who are with dosa is stem. Moreover, they look glorious for their pleasant speech and nobody who ever meets them can hate them. Thus the innate nature of being with adosa is full of benefits. In fact adosa is synonymous with metta (loving-kindness), which is welcome every where in the world.

[The nature of metta wilt be dealt with soon.]

The Bodhisatta’s Alobha and Adosa

Once the Bodhisatta was a son of King Brahmadata of Baranasi. When the chief queen died, the king promoted a young, beautiful queen to the title. Crown Prince Mahapaduma, the Bodhisatta, took responsibility of the capital city when the king marched out to suppress a rebellion. When his father the king was about to arrive back at the palace, the Crown Prince had an audience with the young chief queen for the purpose of announcing the monarch’s return. At this time she was alone and she, out of lust, tried to seduce the prince three times. But the Bodhisatta by refusing to give in to her enticements embarrassed the queen and made her very furious. So she, in revenge, fabricated an accusation that the Crown Prince Mahapaduma tried to molest her. The king believed her false accusation.

In fact, the queen employed all her wiles (pariyaya and maya) to bring Paduma to ruin.

The thoughtless king immediately sentenced his son to death. Since the prince was popular with the people, he feared that they would take him away. So the king himself led the procession of executioners to the top of the mountain from where he pushed down his son. However, due to the power of metta of the prince, he was rescued by the guardian spirit of the mountain.

Comments on the Jataka

In the first part of the Jataka, when the young chief queen met Prince Paduma, she was overcome with lust (tanha). But the Prince cultivated alobha, the opposite of greed and lust. Later on, the young chief queen. in order to cover up her wickedness, made up stories against the prince. This was the application of maya combined with musavada, falsehood. Then the king was overwhelmed by anger from the time he heard the fabricated story of molestation till the time he sentenced his own son to death. The character of Prince Paduma reveals the characteristics of non-greed (alobha), non- grudge, patience and loving-kindness. In this Jataka, the prince was Bodhisatta, the young chief queen was Cincamanavika-to-be, and the king was Devadatta-to-be.

Action and Reaction

After he was pushed down from the top of the mountain, the prince was conveyed by the serpent king to his kingdom where he stayed for a year. Then he returned to the human world where he lived the life of a recluse. After some years, a hunter saw him and reported the matter to the king. The king, his father, came to him and asked him to return to the palace but Prince Paduma refined and remained a hermit. The king now learnt the truth and flung down his young chief queen from the top of the mountain. She suffered greatly for her evil deeds before she died.

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