This is the third of the five-part series: 15 Days of Miracles. It tells the story of how the Buddha’s feet have the Thousand-spoked Wheel.
When the Buddha completed the fifteen miracles, King Bimbisara knelt and spoke to him. He asked, “I beseech the Buddha to tell us the cause of why the Buddha has the thousand-spoked wheel on the soles of his feet.”
The Buddha replied, “Great King, it is because in times long past, I followed the ten virtues and inspired others to do the same.”
Then, the Buddha told this story.
Long time ago, there was a great king with 84,000 lesser kings under him. This king did not have a son to inherit the kingdom. He was very sad. One day, his wife became pregnant, and a boy was born. The boy was very handsome, comely, with a good complexion.
A soothsayer came and predicted that this boy would become a Universal Monarch. Because when the mother was pregnant, the child made her more intelligent and caused her to perform the ten virtues, the soothsayer named the boy Light of Wisdom.
When the child grew up, he excelled in everything. He was intelligent and wise. Soon, the king died. The ministers all grieved and asked the son to become king. The son said, “I cannot become king unless all the people do virtues and abandon their misdeeds”.
The ministers said, “We will fulfil your wish.” So, a proclamation was made that all of the population must only do the ten virtues. The land became prosperous and all enjoyed profound happiness. Following this promise, the prince became the next king.
Then, Mara, the great deceiver, was greatly worried by these events. So, using the king’s name, he made an opposite proclamation. He proclaimed, “there are too much virtue. This has proven to be wrong. Please do non-virtue and evil deeds as you wished”.
But, the ministers questioned the king. The king answered, “My name was used wrongly. I did not issue this decree.” Thus, the initial declaration of the king was upheld.
Then, Mara again tried to conjure a vision. He made a big fire in the middle of the road with a man burning in it. The man was wailing, “Because I did virtues before, now I am burning and suffering. Please stop doing virtues!”.
However, the king was passing by, and stopped. He said, “There is no law which says that the result of doing good is suffering. I have no compassion for your present misery because only happiness results from virtue.” At this, the conjured image vanished.
The king continued to encourage everyone to do virtue and good deeds. When everyone praised the king for his wisdom and firmness, the king finally possessed the seven possessions of the Universal Monarch. He then became a Universal Monarch encouraging all beings to enter the Dharma.
“This king was one of my former lives. Due to me doing the ten virtues and encouraging a vast number of people to do the same, this thousand-spoke wheel was imprinted on the soles of my feet,” the Buddha said.
Next, Part 4: Why the Six False Teachers dare to challenge the Buddha
Previous, Part 2: The fifteen days of miraculous displays and victory