78Putalipa

ali was a man of low caste in Bengal. One day, a yogin begged for alms, and he brought the yogin food and drinks, and taking faith in him as his guru. He was initiated into Hevajra and given instructions. The yogin also gave him a thanka of Hevajra and asked him to practice and use the thangka as he beg for alms from city to city.

Putali practiced for 12 years and attained siddhi, though he did not have complete realization. One day, Putali went to the king’s palace. The king saw him painting and a challenge came up. The yogin said to demonstrate his god will be the god of gods, he will paint the king’s god above and place the Buddhist deity below, but soon the Buddhist god will be on top. In reply to that, the king said he will become a Buddhist if that occurs. So, it happened and when they looked at the painting, the king’s god had left its place and the other one was there instead. Astonished, the king took the yogin as guru and entered the Dharma. For 500 years Putali worked for the benefit of living beings. Finally, with 600 followers, he went to the realm of the Dakas.

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