1. One day, King Buddhadasa, decked in all his royal jewels, toured
the city. On the way, he noticed a big commotion at one spot.
There was a man, shouting out and striking the ground with a big
stick. He began to scold and insult the king. The ministers who
accompanied the king, got very angry over this and wanted to arrest
the man.
2.
This kind king prevented the ministers from doing so. "This
man is not in his proper senses and he does not know what he is
doing. We are in our right senses", said the king, smiling.
All were surprised over the king's patience. This man went on
scolding the king. He went towards the king, with the stick in
his hand. All who were gathered there, managed to stop him and
push him aside. The man fell down. He got up and walked towards
the king once more.
3.
King Buddhadasa, then called one of his ministers to a side. This
minister was also a calm and quiet person. The king instructed
him thus. "You go close to this man and talk to him as if
you are a friend. Try to be intimate and friendly". The minister
did as he was told. At first, the sick man frowned at the minister.
Regardless of his behaviour, the minister got close to him. He
spoke to the man very kindly. The mad man then thought that this
was really a friend of his. He told him all about his sickness.
4.
The man was suffering from a severe skin eruption. When he is
in pain, he loses control of himself and behaves like a mad man.
The minister came back to the king and reported matters. The king
began to contemplate. He asked the minister to take this sick
man to his house. The king promised to see to all the needs of
this sick man. The minister did accordingly and the king went
back to the palace.
5.
The king provided all that the man needed. He provided the medicines
too and got the minister to administer the medicine, under his
directions. As days passed by, the patient recovered. He regained
his normal senses. When the minister told him, how he had behaved
earlier, the man felt ashamed of himself. He went to meet the
king. He fell at the feet of the king and begged his pardon.
6.
It is said, that on the day of the demise of King Buddhadasa,
this man too died of sheer grief. During his period of rule, King
Buddhadasa attended to the repair and reconstruction of old temples.
He improved the conditions of the 'Pirivenas', with the intention
of improving education. Image houses and dining halls were erected
for various temples. He also saw to the maintenance of tanks and
canals. He got a learned monk, named Maha Dharma Kathika, to translate
the Sutta Pitaka to Sinhala.
7.
The king is supposed to have had a number of sons, who were all
very handsome. These sons were named after the 80 chief disciples
of the Buddha. This kind and benevolent king died in 365 AD. His
eldest son, who was equally kind and pious succeeded him.
8.
He was crowned as Upatissa 11. He led a very religious life and
ruled the country, according to Buddhist principles. Among the
ten good qualities come generosity, discipline, kindness, non-violence,
abstaining from anger and hatred and being firm when necessary.
In the past, most of the good kings respected these principles
and ruled the country accordingly.
