The Story Which Shows
Benefits of Saranagamana (The Story of a Wood-cutter and His Son)
The Story of a
Wood-cutter and His Son
It was the time under the
reign of King Bimbisarain Rajagaha. At that time there lived two boys, who were
friends. One of them was the son of a holder of the right view while the other
was the son of a holder of the wrong view.
They used to play a game
of balls. The first boy always won the game, and the latter learnt that the
former recited “Namobuddhassa” (I pay homage to the Buddha)
whenever he threw the ball . So the second boy also recited “Namobuddhassa” most
of the time.
One day, the second boy
accompanied his father who went into the wood to cut some firewood. On their
return home in the evening, they stopped near a cemetery to have their
meal.They also took off the yoke from the two oxen to enable them to graze
nearby. But the two oxen went away without being noticed. As soon as they knew
that the two oxen were missing, the wood-cutter went to look for them. Leaving
his son with the cart of fire-wood. The father entered the town, looking for
his two oxen.
When he returned with the
two oxen, it was too late for the city-gate was already closed. Therefore,the
young boy had to spend the night alone under the cart. That night two ogres
came by the cart as they looked for food. Of the two ogres, one was a right
viewer while the other was a wrong viewer. The wrong-viewed ogre wanted to eat
the boy as soon as he saw the boy. The right-viewed orge stopped him, but the
latter went ahead pulling the leg of the boy. The boy was awakened and he
suddenly cried out “Namobuddhassa” as he was used to saying it
very often. The ogres got frightend and stepped back. The right-viewed ogre
said that as they had done something wrong to the boy, they must look after the
boy to undo their actions. As he looked after the boy, his friend went to the
palace of Bimbisara and brought some food with the royal bowl.The two ogres
then fed the boy as if they were his parents. Then they left a written message
on the royal bowl, and they went away at dawn. In the morning the king’s men noticed
that the royal bowl was missing and they went around looking for it When they
found it on the cart of the wood-cutter ,they brought the bowl together with
the boy to the king. The king saw the message on the bowl and realized that a
strange event had happened. When the boy’s parents arrived at the palace, the
King took them to the Buddha. He presented the facts as he knew to the Buddha
and asked the Exalted One what had happened. The Buddha told the King the whole
story. The King realized that the boy’s mindfulness of the Buddha had saved the
boy from being eaten by the ogres. The Buddha explained the benefits of
mindfulness on the virtues of the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Samgha to them. At
the end of the explanation the boy and his parents became Steamwinners.
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