82Lakshminkara

In the Dakini realm of Oddiyana, King Indrabhuti ruled Sambhola, and to cement the friendship with his neighboring kingdom, Lankapuri which was ruled by King Jalendra; Indrabhuti betrothed his sister Laksminkara at age 7 to the son of Jalendra. Laksminkara was an extraordinary being, blessed with the qualities of the elect. Time passed and at age 16, she was escorted to the Kingdom of Lankapuri. After her sheltered upbringing, she was terrified of entering the mundane world, when all she wished to do was continue with her practice.

Due to the delay of her departure, the royal party arrived later than expected and was denied entry to the palace because according to them, it was an inauspicious day. So the princess and her retinue had to wait until the following day. She grew uneasy of her new environment and fell into depression. And when she languished outside the palace observing the life of the city around her, her depression deepened. It was quite clear that the people of the city had never heard the message of the Buddha.

When she finally entered the palace, she locked herself in her chamber and refused to see anyone for 10 days. Determined that her only escape from this life was to pretend to be insane, she tore the clothes from her body and smeared oil on her body until she looked like a wild woman. But all the while in her heart she was concentrating on her sadhanas. The prince despaired when he saw her, and all the royal physicians sent to attend her could not cure the princess. She continued the act, until one day, she was able to escape from the palace and made her way to a cremation ground where she lived as a yogini for 7 years. A sweeper of the king’s latrines served her faithfully during this time, and when she gained realizations she gave him initiation. He quickly attained Buddhahood without anyone knowing of this achievement except his preceptress.

One day, King Jalendra got separated from his hunting party, and while he circled aimlessly in the forest, he saw Laksminkara, seated upon a jeweled throne, her body glowing with golden radiance. Faith blossomed in the king’s heart, and he remained there all night watching the event in the magical cave.

The next day, the hunting party found King Jalendra and they went back to the city, but the king could not keep himself from returning to the cave time after time. Finally, he entered the cave and prostrated himself before the yogini. Initially, she was quite doubtful of his intentions, but the king spoke so movingly of his belief in her as a Buddha, and he begged so humbly for instructions. She then told him he could not be her disciple as his guru should be one of his own sweepers. He was told to observe closely to find out who his guru should be.

The King did as Laksminkara advised, and not long after that he discovered the indentity of the sweeper-guru and invited him to his throne room, where he seated his guru on the throne and prostrated himself before his guru, and requested instruction. The sweeper-yogin gave him initiation by the transfer of the guru’s grace and then taught the king the creative and fulfillment stages of the sadhanas of Vajra Varahi.

For many years thereafter, Laksminkara and the sweeper performed many miracles before they both ascended into the Paradise of the Dakinis.

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