Two kings belonging to two different realms, with their ranged armies, stood on the banks of the river Rohini. The armies were there to fight. But one hundred and sixty thousand women were there, too: they were weeping for their children, their husbands, their brothers and fathers, their near and dear ones. For war means slaughter! War means death and destruction!
What was the quarrel between the two kings? What was the battle being fought over? Each kingdom was claiming its right over the waters of the river Rohini.
The Buddha sees the two armies ranged, one against the other, on the banks of the Rohini, prepared to fight over water. He stands between the kings of the two armies. “Tell me, O Kings,” says the Buddha. “How much do you think water is worth?” Each king says, “O Blessed One! You know and we know, water is worth very little!” “How much,” asks Buddha, “is this earth worth?” And each king says, “O Blessed One! The earth is of great worth!” “And how much,” asks the Buddha, “Are the kings worth?” “Great is their worth,” answers each king. “And how much are your queens worth?” asks the Blessed One.
“The queens,” said each, “are worth a great deal: I love my queen dearly!” “And how much worth are the lives of your soldiers who are here to fight and slay one another?” asks the Buddha. And each king says, “Precious to me is the life of every one of my soldiers: precious is their life-blood!” “O ye wise Kings!” says the Buddha, “Why then are you out to destroy each other? Your queens are so dear to you, as are your people, and your soldiers. And yet, for the sake of a little water, you are prepared to risk their lives! Is not peace better than letting flow a river of blood?”
There is, in the presence of the Buddha, a divine love which heals and illuminates. And as the kings listen to the Blessed One, their weapons fall to the ground: they are silent, lost in speechless wonder. There are life-like paintings in some of the ancient viharas, depicting the two kings gazing at the divine beauty of the Buddha’s countenance. How eager they seem to listen to the Lord!
(May 5 is Buddha Poornima)
Dada J P Vaswani is a humanitarian, philosopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader
