“Even by a rain of gold pieces will wishes not be satisfied. The wise
man, he who knows that wishes bring but little enjoyment and much
sorrow, takes no delight even in divine enjoyments. The hearer of the
perfected Buddha rejoices when desire fails. Even if a mountain of gold
were like unto Himavant, yet it would not suffice for the wealth of a
single individual; that the discerning one knows full well. He who
observes sorrows, starting from this base, how can he take pleasure in
enjoyments? He who is steady, who has learnt to recognise the thorn in
the treasures of the world, will learn the essence of things to his own
correction.”
King Māndhātar ordered irresistible sacrifices to be offered, and he
said in ślokas:—
“If one knows that the future lasts long but life is only brief, then
ought one to acquire merits. If one does not acquire merits, then one
has sorrow. Therefore must he who is acquiring merits offer sacrificial
gifts, as is fitting. In this world and in the future will he, if he
offer up gifts, obtain happiness.”
The inhabitants of the town and country heard that King Māndhātar had
fallen ill and was nigh unto death. Having learnt this, many hundreds
of thousands of men assembled in order to see King Māndhātar. The king
spoke to the multitudes upon the evil of lust and the ills of
house-life, and then condemned desire. Thereupon many hundreds of
thousands of men renounced house-life, retired from the world to the
Rishis, and lived in the forest, fulfilling the four duties of
Brahmans, and abandoning all striving after enjoyment. Persevering in
this, they became participators in the world of Brahma.
While King Māndhātar was in his boyhood, while he was crown prince,
while he exercised supreme power in Jambudvīpa, while he lived in the
dvīpas of Pūrvavideha, Aparagodānīya, and Uttarakuru, and on the seven
golden mountains, and while he dwelt in the region of the thirty-three
gods to which he went, eighty-four Śakra-evanescences passed away. The
measure of life of Śakra, the prince of the five great kings, is as
follows:—One hundred years of men represent one day of the thirty-three
gods. If thirty such days are reckoned as one month, and twelve months
as one year, then the measure of life of the thirty-three gods is a
hundred divine years. According to human reckoning, that amounts to
3,600,000. [72]