PACIFIC WORLD - The Institute of Buddhist Studies

98Pacific WorldPOWER AND IDENTITYThe representations of the morally-constructed universe and individualprogression through its cosmic time frame were joined by a thirdidentity-related theme: the intertwining of merit and power. To examinethe importance of this theme during the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-centuryperiod, I will return briefly to my consideration of the Vessantarjåtak,and then move to a reading of portions of a vernacular poem on theenlightenment of the Buddha, composed at the close of the century byUkñå Suttantapr∆jå Ind, which exemplifies this theme.Returning then to the Vessantar-jåtak, the prince’s sojourn in the foresthad come about after his angry subjects had banished him for giving awayhis auspicious rain-making elephant to a neighboring drought-strickenkingdom. After the gift of the children is given, Vessantar continues to livein the forest with his wife Madd∆. Meanwhile, his children are discoveredand redeemed by their grandfather, King Sañjay, who with the childrenand a large retinue of followers travels to the forest to find Vessantar andMadd∆. When Vessantar is reunited with his parents and children, accompaniedby the roar of the earth and a rain shower from the deva-s, hissubjects become aware of his virtue and implore him to come back and takehis rightful place as their king:When the royal family was reunited, a loud thundering soundarose, all the mountains made a noise, the entire earth trembled. Atthat time, the very moment when Prince Vessantar was reunitedwith his family, rain was compelled to fall in a shower. The reunionof the grandchildren, daughter-in-law, the prince, and the kingand queen at that point in time would make your skin crawl andyour hair stand up. All of the townspeople who had come togetherinto the forest arranged their hands together [in a gesture ofrespect] toward Prince Vessantar, weeping, their faces awe-struck,and implored the royal Vessantara and Madd∆. The entire populaceof the kingdom spoke all together, saying “Bra© Açg, our Lordand Lady. Please, both of you, rule over our kingdom.” 48Here again, the earth quakes and the mountains roar (causing everyone’sskin to crawl) as a testimony to the store of merit required to reunite theroyal family. Realizing their past mistake—their inability to recognizeVessantar’s merit—the same townspeople who caused him to be exiled beghim to become their king. The recognizable superiority of his power isclearly linked to his asceticism, purity, generosity, and merit.Vessantar, it is clear, is not only filled with merit (signified by theroaring and quaking of the natural phenomenon) but is also indifferent to