The Fish King’s Conduct (CP30)

The Conduct Leading to Buddhahood

The Chapter With Yudhañjaya

The Perfection of Truth (4th)

The Fish King’s Conduct

“Then again when I was

a fish king in a great lake,

in the heat of the sun

the water in the lake evaporated.

Then crows and vultures,

herons, hawks, and falcons,

perched near the fish

and devoured them day and night.

There I had the following thought,

being harassed with my relatives:

‘By what means

can I free my relatives from this suffering?’

Considering the value of the Dhamma,

I saw the truth as a support.

Standing in the truth,

I freed my relatives from that holocaust.

Recollecting the true Dhamma,

considered the ultimate goal,

I made a declaration of truth

that would last eternally in the world.

‘So long as I can recall myself,

since I became aware,

I do not recall deliberately

harming even a single living creature.

By this declaration of truth,

may Pajjuna rain down!

Thunder forth, Pajjuna!¹

Disperse the trove of the crow!

Subject the crow to sorrow,²

and free the fish from sorrow!’

As this excellent truth was declared,

Pajjuna thundered forth.

In an instant the rain poured down,

soaking the uplands and valleys.

Having made such supreme effort

for this excellent truth,

I made the great cloud pour down,

relying on the force of the power of truth.

There is no one to equal my truthfulness:

this is my perfection of truth.”