The Buddha and the Tigress
Long before Prince Siddhartha became the Buddha, he lived many lives of great virtue, acquiring karma as a Bodhisattva. In one such life he was born as the great prince Mahasattva.
Prince Mahasattva was known for his generosity. The people of the kingdom praised his purity and compassion.
Mahasattva had two older brothers. One day, the king and the princes held a grand parade. They traveled across the entire kingdom, giving gifts and celebrating.
Nearing the end of their parade, they came to a great forest. The oldest brother said, “We should go for a hunt!” The second brother took up arms in a bow and arrow. Mahasattva agreed to go with them, but refused to take any weapons.
The three brothers departed the parade and entered the woods. Wandering the woods for many hours, they gradually became lost.
Mahasattva was calm; he took delight in the beauty of nature! His two brothers, however, became frightened that they could not find their way home.
After a while, they began to hear noises of an animal. Walking further, they came upon a cave, and inside was a starving tigress with three cubs. She could barely lift her head from the ground. Her cubs were whining for milk, but she had none left.
The three sons, who were filled with compassion for the tigress, considered what to do. They soon resolved to find food for the tigress so that her and her cubs could survive.
Mahasattva’s brothers decided to find meat for the tigress. They stormed off with bows in hand.
Mahasattva stayed with the tigress and her cubs, observing her. Long after his brothers had left earshot, he realized that they might not come back in time, and the tigers might all starve. “Well, tigers can only eat meat,” he thought to himself. “I’m made of meat. Why should I live while others are starving?” Immediately resolved, he walked directly up to the tigress to be consumed. He lied down right in front of her.
But the tigress was so weak she could barely lift her head to sniff him. Seeing this, Mahasattva understood that gifting his body and life to the tigress wouldn’t be easy.
Filled with resolve, stood up and climbed up a tree hanging over the them. Leaning over, he saw the tigress below. He cut his hand open on a bush and let the blood drip down to her.
The tigress immediately responded by lapping up the blood, and she felt stronger. Encouraged by this, Mahasattva leapt off the cliff to be eaten by the tigress. His brothers returned several hours later, empty handed. When they saw the tigress with the bones of his brothers, they understood what happened. They ran from the forest in grief, and returned to the kingdom.
Upon hearing the news, the king decided to erect a great Stupa to honor the compassion of his son Mahasattva.
To this day, the Namobuddha monastery and stupa is a sacred place of learning and prayer for buddhists who wish to follow like the buddha in learning the way of loving-kindness and compassion.
References:
● Fig. 1: Photo taken by Benjamin Goldstein
● Fig. 2: “happy young Nepali king orange robes walking through village with villagers ,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 3: “happy young nepali king in cozy village. Giving food to a villager.”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 4: “grand parade. medieval asian cozy village happy people. three great princes in a chariot,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 5: “three happy young kings in orange robes at the edge of a forest with bows and arrows,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 6: “large green forest, happy young nepali king orange robe walking cartoon,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 7: “starving tiger lying down in a cave with three cubs,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 8: “two young nepali monks with bow and arrows in the forest in animated style,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 9: “young nepali king in orange robes high in a tree. He is looking down and his hands are together,”Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 10: “ancient nepali stupa,” structure reference as Fig. 13, Adobe Firefly, April 2024. https://firefly.adobe.com/
● Fig. 11: NamoBuddha Stupa, May 2017, Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NamoBuddha_Stupa.jpg
Namobuddha Monastery, Kathmandu valley, Nepal