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In
the time of the Lord Buddha, there was a temple named Chetawan
Wihan Which was under the charge of Saributr, the right chief
disciple of the Buddha. One summer day, a young novice went to
pay respect to Saributr as usual, the chief monk noticed an abnormal
sign on the novice's face and knew immediately from his special
ability that the novice would die seven days later. Out of pity,
he told the poor novice about this and tried to console him. The
novice then asked for leave to go home to bid farewell to his
parents and relatives. He promised that he would come back to
Chetawan temple within seven days in order to die there.
Two events happened
on his way home. First, when he passed a water-hole and tried
to get some water to drink, he saw fish struggling in the mud.
He felt pity on them, so he took off his robe, caught all the
fish and put them in his robe. He walked to a nearby pond and
freed the fish there.
Later, when the novice
reached an old farm he saw three birds get stuck in snares. He
wanted to free them, but he couldn't because that would mean violating
the second precept of the Buddhist moral code (i.e. to abstain
from stealing). So the novice just stood still looking at the
birds and prayed for their safety. He concentrated in praying
for a long time until there was a gust blowing at the direction
where the birds were stuck. The snares shook severely until the
wires broke and the birds flew away.
When the novice arrived
home and told his relatives about his expected imminent death,
they were so sad that they decided to make merit for him. They
weighed the novice and prepared a quantity of rice equaling the
weight of the novice. They boiled the rice and presented it to
the monks. They took good care of him day and night. Surprisingly,
seven days passed and the novice was still alive and healthy,
so he went back to Chetawan Temple.
When Saributr saw the
novice, he was very surprised as his predictions had never failed
before. So he asked the novice to explain to him thoroughly what
he had done in the past seven days. After hearing the account,
Saributr understood that the novice's escape from death was due
to his meritorious acts done from his compassionate heart-freeing
fishes, helping birds to flee and presenting boiled rice to the
monks. All these merits added together were strong enough to prolong
his life. That is believed to be the origin of the Buddhist tradition
of freeing fish and birds that has been observed by Thais as well
as other Buddhists since the ancient times.
Information
from: "Thaiways" Vol. 18, No. 15, 2001
Pictures
copyright: Panrit Daoruang
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