77Darikapa

The Guru Darikapa was once the King of Pataliputra, known as Indrapala then. One afternoon, the king passed by the market on his return from hunting and all the people bowed down before him. Among the crowd, the kind recognized the siddha Luipa. The king admired Luipa as a fine handsome man so much so that the king wanted to offer him a good life in the kingdom. The king intended to treat Luipa by fulfilling all his desires. The king even went to the extent of suggesting that Luipa was to be given the kingdom and even marriage to the king’s daughter if he wishes so.

However, Luipa was not tempted by the material goods and rebuked the king’s offer. The king felt a sudden revulsion for his hedonistic life upon reflection of Luipa’s act. The king then decided to renounce his possession of material goods, status and power and to turn to the Dharma. The king’s minister crowned the king’s son to the throne to settle the kingdom’s affairs and with the king, both of them journeyed to Luipa’s residence.

Upon arrival at Luipa’s residence, the king and the minister were granted the initiation of the mandala of Samvara. However, the king and minister had nothing in return to Luipa for the initiation hence both of them were made slaves to serve their Guru, Luipa. They accompanied their Guru to Orissa and settled at the land for a while, begging for food. Later on, they arrived at Jantipur, a densely populated city.

In Jantipur lies a great temple that housed seven hundred dancing girls performing worships. Luipa seek the mistress of the temple, Darima and asked if she was willing to buy a male slave. Darima inspected the king’s appearance and took a liking. She offered one hundred tolas of gold to buy him as a slave. The trade came with imposed conditions that granted the king a space to sleep alone and to be freed once he had paid his debts. Luipa received Darima’s payment and departed with the minister.

At the temple, the king served Darima conscientiously for twelve years. He became respected as the master of servants. One day, a king, Kunci came to the temple with a fortune to spend on worldly pleasures. One night, as Kunci took a stroll outside the temple for a rest from the pleasures in the temple, he spotted the slave-king sitting upon a throne, served by fifteen girls. He then realized the concealed, true status of the slave-king and swiftly informed Darima.

Darima was immediately filled with shame of her treatment of her slave and showed proper respect of prostration to the slave-king. She begged for his forgiveness and in return she promised to venerate the slave-king for twelve years. The slave-king turned down the request but Darima, Kunci and the girls in the temple became his disciples instead.

The slave-king became known then as the famous Guru Darikapada and he attained the Dakini’s Paradise.

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