Lady Malika,
The wife of General Bandula,
Offered an ornament known as the Mahalata Pasadana,
Which was exquisitely crafted and very heavy,
Made of precious gems and gold.
This magnificent and expensive ornament could only be worn by those who possess great merit and spiritual perfections.
Only three noble ladies were able to wear it,
Lady Visaka,
Lady Malika herself,
Daughter of a wealthy merchant from the city of Varanasi.
When Lady Mallika saw the procession of the Buddha's body being carried by the Mala kings to be cremated,
She was deeply moved with faith and devotion.
As a result,
She offered the Mahalatapasadana ornament to the Lord Buddha.
Lady Mallika was one with strong faith and had noble virtues having attained the first level of enlightenment known as Sotapanna,
Stream-enterer.
Lady Malika was the daughter of one of the Mala kings of Kushinara.
As she grew older,
She married a general named Bandula,
Who was the son of another Mala king.
The couple later moved from Kushinara to the city of Sawati to seek the patronage of King Pasenadi of Kosala.
Her husband was highly skilled in warfare and was eventually appointed as the commander-in-chief of the army.
Initially,
Lady Mallika was not a follower of the Buddha.
But after hearing the Dhamma from the Blessed One,
She developed profound faith and became a devoted follower of the Buddha's dispensation.
Before that,
Although she had been married for a long time,
She and her husband had no children.
According to tradition at the time,
A woman without children was considered unfortunate and inauspicious.
General Bandula intended to send Lady Mallika back to the city of Kushinara and she agreed to follow his wishes.
However,
Before returning,
She went to pay her respects and farewell to the Buddha.
The blessed one asked her why she was returning and what the reason was for the general sending her away.
She then explained that it was because she could not bear children for him.
She was infertile.
Com.
The Buddha then told her that if that was the reason,
She did not need to go.
Hearing this,
She was overjoyed and went to inform General Bandhula.
Not long after,
Lady Malika conceived and gave birth to 16 pairs of twin boys,
A total of 32 children.
How that was possible is hard for us to imagine.
But in those times,
There were things beyond the comprehension of people today.
Yet they happened.
Just as if we were to tell people from that time,
That perhaps 2,
500 to 3,
000 years in the future,
That one day people would travel in cars,
On high-speed trains,
Or fly in airplanes.
That cars could speed on the roads,
And all people would be able to soar through the skies in a big machine.
They would find it hard to believe.
If we said that people would have mobile phones with video calls where you could see each other,
You could send instant messages,
Or there would be submarines sending people to the moon,
Or giant aircrafts transporting many people around the world,
People back then would also find it hard to believe.
Likewise,
We might wonder how someone could give birth to 32 children.
How could they even fit in the womb?
But such was the case with Lady Malika.
Now as Lady Malika's sons grew up,
Imagine 32 of them,
There were also a large number of attendants and followers involved in each gathering.
General Bandula's household became quite large,
And General Bandula himself was known to be honest and righteous.
One day a dispute arose in which another official had rendered an unjust judgment.
The aggrieved party came to seek justice from General Bandula,
Who ruled fairly and correctly.
This decision was well received and admired by the public.
However,
This created a problem.
The former official was at risk of being removed from his position and replaced by General Bandula.
As a result,
He grew angry and vengeful.
Out of spite,
He began to slander General Bandula,
Spreading rumours that General Bandula and his many sons and followers plotting to overthrow the king and take the throne for themselves.
King Pasenadi of Khosla,
Hearing these accusations repeatedly,
Eventually became suspicious and paranoid.
In the end,
He devised a plan to eliminate General Bandula and his 32 sons.
He fabricated a story about bandits raiding the borderlands and ordered General Bandula and his sons to go and suppress them.
Arriving,
They found no enemies at all.
They were told the bandits had already fled.
As they made their way back,
They were ambushed and assassinated.
All of them killed.
Coincidentally,
On that very same day,
Lady Mallika had invited 500 monks to her home for alms offering.
Then an incident occurred during the offering.
One of Lady Malika's attendants stumbled and dropped a food tray causing it to fall and shatter in front of Venerable Sariputta who was presiding over the meal offering.
Upon seeing this,
Venerable Sariputta gently reminded Lady Malika that all things are subject to breakage and decay that this was natural and encouraged her not to feel distressed over it.
Lady Malika replied that she had just received news that her husband and all 32 of her sons had been killed,
And yet she did not sorrow over it.
So how could she be upset over a tray breaking in front of her?
She also held no anger or resentment towards King Pasenadi and she advised her 32 daughters-in-law not to harbour hatred or seek vengeance against the king either.
The death of their husbands,
She said,
Was not truly caused by the king himself,
But by the slander and incitement of others who had led the king to see things wrongly.
But General Bandula and his sons had done no wrong.
This was simply the unfolding of karma that they had done in the past.
Therefore she urged them not to bear any grudge against the king.
The king who was suspicious had spies investigate whether Lady Malika harbored any anger or ill will.
But when he learned that she bore no anger towards him,
He came in person to apologize,
Admitting his wrongdoing and seeking a way to make amends.
He offered her any request that he would fulfill.
Lady Malika requested only that she and her 32 daughters-in-law be allowed to return to her homeland of Kushinara,
And King Pasenadi granted her this request.
Now,
As a way to make amends for his wrongdoing,
King Pasenadi appointed a soldier named Diga Karayana,
Who was a nephew of General Bandula,
To take up the role of commander-in-chief,
Succeeding General Bandula in that very position.
So let us reflect.
What lesson can we draw from this story?
As human beings,
We all have things we love.
When material possessions break,
Perhaps a treasured item,
An expensive dish,
Or a useful household tool,
We naturally feel sorrow.
Things we're attached to can break,
Be lost,
Or stolen,
And we grieve over them.
Or if we own property,
Land,
Or a house,
And it's deceitfully taken from us,
How would we cope?
It's only natural to feel pain and loss.
Even more so if our very means of livelihood,
Perhaps the last tool or resource we have,
Is broken.
Or if our vehicle,
Essential for making a living,
If we don't have it anymore,
It becomes difficult for us to earn a living.
So we're anxious,
Worried and fearful.
The fear of disasters,
Being scared of thieves coming to steal our belongings,
This can even make us lose sleep,
Constantly haunted by the thought that someone might come to steal or destroy what we depend on.
Now let us consider how was Lady Mallika able to compose her mind in the face of such loss.
For most of us,
Even the loss of a child,
A parent or a loved one brings deep sorrow.
Some grieve so intensely that they cannot recover emotionally.
Some even lose their sanity or fall into depression.
Yet how was Lady Mallika,
Who lost all 32 of her sons and a husband,
How was she able to remain composed?
She was truly an extraordinary woman.
She accepted the loss of the lives of her husband and 32 sons by firmly holding to the principle of karma,
That it was the result of past actions.
This shows that she must have had deep understanding and insight to the law of karma.
While the texts don't specify,
It's possible she could recollect past lives or understand what karma caused the events.
Her mind must have been very well trained in meditation,
Likely reaching high levels of concentration to be so stable and unwavering,
Possibly even emerging from jhana,
Deep meditative absorptions.
Her mind was steeled and firm.
Able to see things as they truly are.
As emptiness.
As merely natural elements coming together and breaking apart.
Being void of any self,
Person or being.
That's not an easy realization.
To cease and restrain grief and sorrow when faced with seeing the uncertainty of life experiencing such intense personal loss that takes great spiritual strength.
Ordinary people are disturbed by fluctuations in wealth or social status in experiences of gain and loss,
Praise and blame,
Happiness and suffering.
But here she lost what was most precious,
The people she loved most.
And yet she didn't fall into anger or resentment.
She let go.
This shows she must have possessed an exceptionally high level of meditative concentration.
Not only that,
She was able to teach and guide her followers not to become angry or vengeful.
And they listened to her with respect.
That is truly remarkable.
Therefore the virtue we should take as an example is being a true and faithful disciple of the Buddha.
When her husband wanted to send her back to her hometown because she could not bear children.
The very first thing she thought of was the Buddha.
She made it a point to go and pay her respects to the Blessed One before anything else.
This is a good example.
We must remain firmly grounded in the Triple Gem.
Whatever we do,
We should think of the Buddha first.
When we do this,
The chance of making mistakes will be greatly reduced or even eliminated.
That is what it means to be steadfast in the Buddha.
Lady Mallika had a profound understanding of the world and of life.
She saw clearly the nature of worldly conditions that everything is subject to change according to the laws of nature.
She understood that all things arise,
Persist for a while,
And then cease.
She had a mind that was able to let go.
Not overly delighted,
Overly happy,
Nor overwhelmed by sorrow.
Her training was excellent.
Her mind was well developed.
She is truly worthy of praise.
What she did,
But she could do it.
And we can take her as a role model,
To develop such a deep understanding of life,
To cultivate such patience and a high level of forbearance,
As though nothing had happened.
She endured her sorrow.
She calmly fulfilled her duties,
Offering alms to the monks as usual,
Without sorrow or breaking down.
She did her duty to offer the food and carried it out with a heart firmly rooted in goodness and merit.
This is no ordinary person.
She was extraordinary,
Or even transcending the world.
She still had great kindness and compassion even though her husband and children were all killed.
She did not harbour bitterness,
Grief or regret.
She held no grudge or hatred.
And that,
Above all,
Is incredibly difficult.
Because people do get angry.
Even when people do wrong,
They get angry at another.
But here she had done nothing wrong and yet still bore no anger or resentment.
This suggests that she must have attained deep meditative absorption had strong concentration and was a noble enlightened disciple,
Perhaps of a higher level with deep meditative stability that made her mind to be stable and be completely unshaken.
She was also a devoted wife.
Even when her husband chose to send her away,
She did not blame him.
She didn't blame him as to why he no longer wanted her.
Instead,
She accepted it as her own shortcoming.
Embodying the ideal of a virtuous wife according to the noble standards of women in the ancient Indian subcontinent at that time.
So these are Dhamma lessons to teach our own mind as an inspiration for future generations to contemplate the steadfastness and unwavering faith in the triple gem having the wisdom that guards the mind from hatred and vengeance and the mindfulness and wisdom and obedience to one's husband.
And Lady Mallika was also one with faith,
Who consistently practiced generosity and merit-making.
And thus she accumulated great merit.
This story took place during the time when the Mala kings were preparing to cremate the body of the Buddha.
Lady Mallika happened to be in that very town at that time.
So it is part of the events surrounding the cremation of the Blessed One's sacred body.
Let us take this to heart and reflect deeply upon it.
May you grow in blessings.
