While Gautama Buddha was staying in the 'Jetbon' (Jetforest), an aristocratic young man from 'Shravasti Nagar' (City name Shravasti) pretended to be a monk and approached the Buddhists. But he was a slug. He was uninterested in any topic or background concerning religion after his asceticism. He was also discouraged from assisting the monks.
He had no intention to advance spiritually by
appearing before the Buddha. He could never be seen debating religion with his
peers or monks to broaden his horizons. He was only visible where ten monks had
gathered and were gossiping. He used to visit that room and tell stories there.
Everyone thought his slacker attitude toward religion was unusual. Leaving home
to become a monk does not imply a life of leisure.
So the monks brought this up with the
Tathagata Buddha in the ‘Dharmasabha‘one day. ‘Dharmasabha’ is a meeting place
for religious matters. “In our society, such a monk comes from a noble family,”
all the monks said to Buddha. However, he is uninterested in religion! He used
to spend his days dining, drinking, and conversing with others.
The Buddha heard the monks saying, 'Monks, this monk was not born in this life, he was so lazy in his last life too. Buddha said that he regained consciousness by seeing 'Gajakumbh'. ‘Gajakumbh’ is a snail species. They have two trunks in their yard moves slowly.
When the Buddha saw the monk's confusion, he
said again, 'in ancient times, during the reign of King Brahmadatta of Varanasi
(Varanasi is a city in India), Bodhisattva was appointed as his Minister.' King
Brahmadatta was also a slacker this time. He used to fantasize about delicious
food prepared in a variety of ways. He used to gossip with the queen and other
nobles in the courtyard.
At the time, King Brahmadatta was not a
responsible king. As the king's chief minister, Baidhisattva despised the
king's indolence.
Baidhusattva used to petition the king for the people in various ways. He told him, "My lord, laziness must be avoided at all costs. This is a field where human life is relentlessly pursued. We must pursue virtue in this life by a variety of deeds. You are the people's patriarch. As a result, they gain virtue as a result of their defense and persecution. So please don't waste any time and wake up to your responsibilities.”
When the king heard this, he'd laugh and tell, "Baidhusattva, there's still plenty of time!" I'll finish all of this work when I'm old!” As a result, Baidhusattva is on the lookout for a chance to teach his king a lesson.
Many nobles were surrounded in the royal
garden that day, and the king was visiting the garden. Suddenly, he saw a
sluggish ‘Gajakumbh.' The king showed him an animal and asked Baidhusattva,
friend, what is this? Baidhusattva replied- ‘My lord, this is ‘Gajakumbh’. It
moves at a glacial rate. All day long, one or two fingers will pass!
Baidhusattva said to ‘Gajakumbh’, "Oh,
and moving it takes a long time. What would you do if a forest fire breaks
out?" For a long time, ‘Gajakumbh’ tried to swing. "Sir," he
said slowly, "in this forest, there is a crack in the tree known as a
multi-tree hole." I will try to stay in the crack or hole.” But, sir, it
is also true that most of our lives are lost in fires because we are unable to
move quickly.
Hearing these words from ‘Gajakumbh,' the King realized that living a slow life leads to failure and a plethora of problems. Anyone who completes the task on time will never fail in life. After that, the king stopped being lazy.
Hearing the tale from Buddha, the monk from
'Shravasti Nagar' remembered his responsibilities and left his life of
merriment.
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