The Buddha and Dhanantakumara

About 2500 years ago today, there lived a great man who conquered the world. Not with swords and meaningless conflict and violence but by simply spreading wisdom and the principles of peace, commonly known as the 'Middle Path'. I am talking about the Shakyamuni—Gautama Buddha, the enlightened one. He taught the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path as part of his first teaching—the Dhammacakkapavattana Suta (धर्मचक्रप्रवर्तनसूत्र in Sanskrit or ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོའི་མདོ in Tibetan) at the holy Deer Park in Sarnath to his first few disciples.

Ten years after the first preaching, at a time when the Buddha was in Shravasti, his most frequented spot for a monsoon retreat, there came passing by a huge caravan of goods belonging to the richest businessman in Taxila, Dhanantakumara who was on his way to Pataliputra to sell his goods to the great Bimbisara's kingdom. He had heard about the Buddha and seen thousands flock to Shravasti to meet Him, tell Him their problems and have His solutions. So he decided to pay the great teacher a visit too. He had no dearth of wealth and could have almost anything that he desired to possess but he was not happy as he had no definite cause in life. He believed that all his wealth could give him monetary happiness but in the long run, there was no cause for him to live his life and be happy with it, a concept that the Japanese call 'Ikigai'. With this problem, he went to the Buddha. When he caught sight of the Buddha under a great Aswattha (Ananda-Bodhi) tree in the compound of his abode, the Jetavana Vihara. It was here that he had later performed the 'miracles of Shravasti.' One sight of the great teacher's ever-smiling face and peaceful eyes made Dhanantakumara think that He who was before him was no ordinary ascetic—He was the greatest, most wise, most knowledgeable and most enlightened man on earth. He was telling his disciples about the benefits of peace and they listened with utmost attention and devotion. The merchant approached the teacher and sat down amongst the masses, a thing that he had never done before. After finishing his preaching and resolving the doubts of some of the people, Dhanantakumara requested him to resolve his questions regarding his cause of life. The Buddha smiled at him and beckoned him nearer. He obliged and the Buddha said, 'O Merchant! Look back into your life and think what all you have achieved.' The merchant reflected back and began to relate all that he had done. He had struggled a lot with his business, having to travel far distances before he could be successful in establishing a trade network that stretched from Magadha to present-day Iran. 'Now think of your travels, have you ever thought about other creatures that you might have met?' Now, Dhanantakumara remembered something that he had long since regretted. A sick man and very poor had once come to him for help in present-day Gujarat. The merchant had water and some food but he thought that giving it to the man would be problematic for himself so he refused giving any help. The poor man's face full of despair and pain came flashing back to him as he sat before the Buddha and he burst into tears, falling to the great teacher's feet and begging for forgiveness. The Buddha asked him not to repent about the past but to go to that little town in western India (Gujarat) where the man had met him seek him out and then return to him. 

The merchant obliged and made a long tiring journey. He reached the place and went to the spot where he had found the man. It turned out that he was still there, only he was no longer poor and owned a large house. It was this large house which he shared with many more needy people and he used to take care of everybody as if they had been his own family. He was even hospitable to various animals. Upon seeing all this, the merchant fell at the man's feet and begged for forgiveness. The man forgave him and told him that what he had not got from Dhanantakumara, he had given to others when he got the chance. The merchant gave half of his wealth to this man, who accepted it after many protestations, and the other half he pledged to give to the Buddha who had shown him the real path. He went to Vaishali and found the great master there and told him about his journey and about his desire to give him all his remaining wealth and asked Him to admit him in the Sangha. Ananda incorporated him into the order and Buddha asked Dhanantakumar, now Bhikkhu Dhananta to ensure that his wealth is used for the betterment of the poor, the needy, the sufferers and the stray animals. He stayed on with the Buddha till his Mahaparinirvana and even after that continued helping others in need. He breathed his last on the banks of the river Ganga near present-day Uttarkashi. His story serves as an eye-opener for those looking for their cause in life. One might not have the same cause as him but he or she has been born for, they must complete that task on earth before going from here.