The Great Dreams

This story was told by the Master while at Jetavana
about sixteen wonderful dreams. For in the last watch
of one night (so tradition says) the King of Kosala, who
had been asleep all the night, dreamed sixteen great
dreams, and woke up in great fright and alarm as to what
they might portend for him. So strong was the fear of
death upon him that he could not stir, but lay there
huddled up on his bed. Now 7 , when the night grew light,
his brahmins and chaplains came to him and with due
obeisance asked whether his majesty had slept well.

" How could I sleep well, my directors ? " answered the
king. "For just at daybreak I dreamed sixteen wonderful
dreams, and I have been in terror ever since ! Tell me, my
directors, what it all means."

"We shall be able to judge, on hearing them."

Then the king told them his dreams, and asked what
those visions would entail upon him.

The brahmins fell a-wringing their hands ! " Why wring
your hands, brahmins ? " asked the king. " Because, sire,
these are evil dreams." " What will come of them ? " said
the king. " One of three calamities, harm to your king-
dom, to your life, or to your riches." " Is there a remedy,
or is there not ? ' " Undoubtedly these dreams in them-
selves are so threatening as to be without remedy; but
none the less we will find a remedy for them. Otherwise,
what boots our much study and learning ? ' " What then
do you propose to do to avert the evil ? " " Wherever four
roads meet, we would offer sacrifice, sire." " My directors,"
cried the king in his terror, "my life is in your hands;
make haste and work my safety." " Large sums of money,
and large supplies of food of every kind will be ours,"
thought the exultant brahmins ; and, bidding the king
have no fear, they departed from the palace. Outside
the town they dug a sacrificial pit and collected a host of
fourfooted creatures, perfect and without blemish, and
a multitude of birds. But still they discovered something
lacking, and back they kept coming to the king to ask for
this that and the other. Now their doings were watched
by Queen Mallika, who came to the king and asked what
made these brahmins keep coming to him.

" I envy you," said the king ; " a snake in your ear, and
you not to know of it!" "What does your majesty
mean ? " "I have dreamed, oh such unlucky dreams !
The brahmins tell me they point to one of three calamities ;
and they are anxious to offer sacrifices to avert the evil.
And this is what brings them here so often." "But has
your majesty consulted the Chief Brahmin both of this
world and of the world of gods ? " " Who, pray, may he
be, my dear ? " asked the king. " Know you not that
chiefest personage of all the world, the all-knoAving and
pure, the spotless master-brahmin ? Surely, he, the Lord
Buddha, will understand your dreams. Go, ask him." " And
so I will, my queen," said the king. And away he went to
the monastery, saluted the Master, and sat down. " What,
pray, brings your majesty here so early in the morning?"
asked the Master in his sweet tones. " Sir," said the king,
"just before daybreak I dreamed sixteen wonderful
dreams, which so terrified me that I told them to the
brahmins. They told me that my dreams boded evil, and
that to avert the threatened calamity they must offer
sacrifice wherever four roads met. And so they are busy
w r ith then* preparations, and many living creatures have
the fear of death before their eyes. But I pray you, who
are the chiefest personage in the world of men and gods,
you into whose ken comes all possible knowledge of things
past and present and to be, I pray you tell me what will
come of my dreams, Lord."

" True it is, sire, that there is none other save me, who
can tell what your dreams signify or what will come of
them. I will tell you. Only first of all relate to me your
dreams as they appeared to you."

" I will, sir," said the king, and at once began this list,
following the order of the dreams' appearance :

Bulls first, and trees, and cows, and calves,

Horse, dish, she-jackal, waterpot,

A pond, raw rice, and sandal-wood,

And gourds that sank, and stones that swam,

"With frogs that gobbled up black snakes,

A crow with gold-plumed retinue,

And wolves in panic-fear of goats !

" How was it, sir, that I had the following one of my
dreams? Methought, four black bulls, like collyrium in
hue, came from the four cardinal directions to the royal
courtyard with avowed intent to fight ; and people flocked
together to see the bull-fight, till a great crowd had
gathered. But the bulls only made a show of fighting,
roared and bellowed, and finally went off without fighting
at all. This was my first dream. What will come
of it ? "

" Sire, that dream shall have no issue in your days or
in mine. But hereafter, when kings shall be niggardly and
unrighteous, and when folk shall be unrighteous, in days
when the world is perverted, when good is waning and evil
waxing apace, in those days of the world's backsliding
there shall fall no rain from the heavens, the feet of the
storm shall be lamed, the crops shall wither, and famine
shall be on the land. Then shall the clouds gather as if
for rain from the four quarters of the heavens ; there shall
be haste first to carry indoors the rice and crops that the
women have spread in the sun to dry, for fear the harvest
should get wet ; and then with spade and basket in hand
the men shall go forth to bank up the dykes. As though
in sign of coming rain, the thunder shall bellow, the
lightning shall flash from the clouds, but even as the
bulls in your dream, that fought not, so the clouds shall
flee away without raining. This is what shall come of this
dream. But no harm shall come therefrom to you ; for it
was with regard to the future that you dreamed this
dream. What the brahmins told you, was said only to get
themselves a livelihood." And when the Master had thus
told the fulfilment of this dream, he said, " Tell me your
second dream, sire."

" Sir," said the king, " my second dream was after this
manner: Methought little tiny trees and shrubs burst
through the soil, and wiien they had grown scarce a span
or two high, they flowered and bore fruit ! This was my
second dream ; what shall come of it ? "

"Sire," said the Master, "this dream shall have its
fulfilment in days when the world has fallen into decay
and when men are shortlived. In times to come the
passions shall be strong ; quite young girls shall go to live
with men, it shall be with them after the manner of women,
and they shall conceive and bear children. The flowers
typify their issues, and the fruit their offspring. But you,
sire, have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your third
dream, O great king."

" Methought, sir, I saw cows sucking the milk of calves
which they had borne that selfsame day. This was my
third dream. What shall come of it ? "

" This dream too shall have its fulfilment only in days
to come, when respect shall cease to be paid to age. For
in the future men, shewing no reverence for parents or
parents-in-law, shall themselves administer the family
estate, and, if such be their good pleasure, shall bestow
food and clothing on the old folks, but shall withhold their
gifts, if it be not their pleasure to give. Then shall the old
folks, destitute and dependent, exist by favour of their own
children, like big cows suckled by calves a day old. But
you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fourth
dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw men unyoking a team of
draught-oxen, sturdy and strong, and setting young steers
to draw the load ; and the steers, proving unequal to the
task laid on them, refused and stood stock-still, so that
wains moved not on their way. This was my fourth dream.
What shall come of it ? "

"Here again the dream shall not have its fulfilment
until the future, in the days of unrighteous kings. For in
days to come, unrighteous and niggardly kings shall shew
no honour to wise lords skilled in precedent, fertile in
expedient, and able to get through business; nor shall
appoint to the courts of law and justice aged councillors
of wisdom and of learning in the law. Nay, they shall
honour the very young and foolish, and appoint such to
preside in the courts. And these latter, ignorant alike of
state-craft and of practical knowledge, shall not be able to
bear the burthen of their honours or to govern, but because
of their incompetence shall throw off the yoke of office.
Whereon the aged and wise lords, albeit right able to cope
with all difficulties, shall keep in mind how they were
passed over, and shall decline to aid, saying : ' It is no
business of ours; we are outsiders; let the boys of the
inner circle see to it.' Hence they shall stand aloof, and
ruin shall assail those kings on every hand. It shall be
even as when the yoke was laid on the young steers, who
were not strong enough for the burthen, and not upon the
team of sturdy and strong draught-oxen, who alone were
able to do the work. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear
therefrom. Tell me your fifth dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw a horse with a mouth on either
side, to which fodder was given on both sides, and it ate
with both its mouths. This was my fifth dream. What
shall come of it?"

" This dream too shall have its fulfilment only in the
future, in the days of unrighteous and foolish kings, who
shall appoint unrighteous and covetous men to be judges.
These base ones, fools, despising the good, shall take bribes
from both sides as they sit in the seat of judgment, and
shall be filled with this twofold corruption, evea as the
horse that ate fodder with two mouths at once. Howbeit,
you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your sixth
dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw people holding out a well-
scoured golden bowl worth a hundred thousand pieces, and
begging an old jackal to stale therein. And I saw the beast
do so. This was my sixth dream. What shall come of it ? "

"This dream too shall only have its fulfilment in the
future. For in the days to come, unrighteous kings,
though sprung of a race of kings, mistrusting the scions
of their old nobility, shall not honour them, but exalt in
their stead the low-born; whereby the nobles shall be
brought low and the low-born raised to lordship. Then
shall the great families be brought by very need to seek
to live by dependence on the upstarts, and shall offer them
their daughters in marriage. And the union of the noble
maidens with the low-born shall be like unto the staling of
the old jackal in the golden bowl. Howbeit, you have
nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your seventh dream."

"A man was weaving rope, sir, and as he wove, he threw
it down at his feet. Under his bench lay a hungry she-
jackal, which kept eating the rope as he wove, but without
the man knowing it. This is what I saw. This was my
seventh dream. What shall come of it?" 1

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future. For in days to come, women shall lust after men
and strong drink and finery and gadding abroad and after
the joys of this world. In their wickedness and profligacy
these women shall drink strong drink with their para-
mours; they shall flaunt in garlands and perfumes and
unguents ; and heedless of even the most pressing of their
household duties, they shall keep watching for their
paramours, even at crevices high up in the outer wall ;
aye, they shall pound up the very seed-corn that should
be sown on the morrow so as to provide good cheer ; in
all these ways shall they plunder the store won by the
hard work of their husbands in field and byre, devouring
the poor men's substance even as the hungry jackal under
the bench ate up the rope of the rope-maker as he wove it.
Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me
your eighth dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw at a palace gate a big pitcher
which was full to the brim and stood amid a number
of empty ones. And from the four cardinal points, and
from the four intermediate points as well, there kept
coming a constant stream of people of all the four castes,
carrying water in pipkins and pouring it into the full
pitcher. And the water overflowed and ran away. But
none the less they still kept on pouring more and more
water into the overflowing vessel, without a single man
giving so much as a glance at the empty pitchers. This
was my eighth dream. What shall come of it ? "

" This dream too shall not have its fulfilment until the
future. For in days to come the world shall decay; the
kingdom shall grow weak, its kings shall grow poor and
niggardly ; the foremost among them shall have no more
than 100,000 pieces of money in his treasury. Then shall
these kings in their need set the whole of the country-folk
to work for them; for the kings' sake shall the toiling
folk, leaving their own work, sow grain and pulse, and keep
watch and reap and thresh and garner ; for the kings' sake
shall they plant sugar-canes, make and drive sugar-mills,
and boil down the molasses ; for the kings' sake shall they
lay out flower-gardens and orchards, and gather in the
fruits. And as they gather in all the divers kinds of
produce they shall fill the royal garners to overflowing, not
giving so much as a glance at their own empty barns at
home. Thus it shall be like filling up the full pitcher,
heedless of the quite-empty ones. Howbeit, you have
nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your ninth dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw a deep pool with shelving banks
all round and overgrown with the five kinds of lotuses.
From every side two-footed creatures and four-footed
creatures flocked thither to drink of its waters. The
depths in the middle were muddy, but the water was clear
and sparkling at the margin where the various creatures
went down into the pool. This was my ninth dream.
What shall come of it ? "

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future. For in days to come kings shall grow unrighteous ;
they shall rule after their own will and pleasure, and shall
not execute judgment according to righteousness. These
kings shall hunger after riches and wax fat on bribes;
they shall not shew mercy, love and compassion toward
their people, but be fierce and cruel, amassing wealth by
crushing their subjects like sugar-canes in a mill and by
taxing them even to the uttermost farthing. Unable to
pay the oppressive tax, the people shall fly from village
and town and the like, and take refuge upon the borders
of the realm ; the heart of the land shall be a Avilderness,
while the borders shall teem with people, even as the
water was muddy in the middle of the pool and clear at
the margin. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom.
Tell me your tenth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw rice boiling in a pot without
getting done. By not getting done, I mean that it looked
as though it were sharply marked off' and kept apart, so
that the cooking went on in three distinct stages. For part
was sodden, part hard and raw, and part just cooked to a
nicety. This was my tenth dream. What shall come of it ? "

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future. For in days to come kings shall grow unrighteous ;
the people surrounding the kings shall grow unrighteous
too, as also shall brahmins and householders, townsmen,
and country-folk; yes, all people alike shall grow un-
righteous, not excepting even sages and brahmins. Next,
their very tutelary deities the spirits to whom they offer
sacrifice, the spirits of the trees, and the spirits of the air
shall become unrighteous also. The very winds that
blow over the realms of these unrighteous kings shall
grow cruel and lawless ; they shall shake the mansions of
the skies and thereby kindle the anger of the spirits that
dwell there, so that they will not suffer rain to fall or, if
it does rain, it shall not fall on all the kingdom at once,
nor shall the kindly shower fall on all tilled or sown lands
alike to help them in their need. And, as in the kingdom
at large, so in each several district and village and over
each separate pool or lake, the rain shall not fall at one
and the same time on its whole expanse ; if it rain on the
upper part, it shall not rain upon the lower; here the
crops shall be spoiled by a heavy downpour, there wither
for very drought, and here again thrive apace with kindly
showers to water them. So the crops sown within the
confines of a single kingdom like the rice in the one pot
-shall have no uniform character. Howbeit, you have
nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me vour eleventh dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw sour butter-milk bartered for
precious sandal-wood, worth 100,000 pieces of money.
This was my eleventh dream. What shall come of it?"

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future in the days when my doctrine is waning. For in
days to come many greedy and shameless Brethren shall
arise, who for their belly's sake shall preach the very
words in which I inveighed against greed ! Because they
have deserted by reason of their belly and have taken
their stand on the side of the heretics, they shall fail
to make their preaching lead up to Nirvana. Nay, their
only thought, as they preach, shall be by fine words and
sweet voices to induce men to give them costly raiment
and the like, and to be minded to give such gifts. Others
again seated in the highways, at the street-corners, at the
doors of kings' palaces, and so forth, shall stoop to preach
for money, yea for mere coined kahapanas, half-kahapanas,
padas, or masakas ! And as they thus barter away for
food or raiment or for kahapanas and half-kahapanas my
doctrine the worth whereof is Nirvana, they shall be even
as those who bartered away for sour butter-milk precious
sandal-wood worth 100,000 pieces. Howbeit, you have
nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your twelfth dream."

" Methought, sir, I saw empty pumpkins sinking in the
water. What shall come of it ? "

" This dream also shall not have its fulfilment till the
future, in the days of unrighteous kings, when the world is
perverted. For in those days shall kings shew favour not
to the scions of the nobilitv, but to the low-born onlv; and
these latter shall become great lords, whilst the nobles
sink into poverty. Alike in the royal presence, in the
palace gates, in the council chamber, and in the courts of
justice, the words of the low-born alone (whom the empty
pumpkins typify) shall be stablished, as though they had
sunk down till they rested on the bottom. So too in the
assemblies of the Brotherhood, in the greater and lesser
conclaves, and in enquiries regarding bowls, robes, lodging,
and the like, the counsel only of the wicked and the vile
shall be considered to have saving power, not that of the
modest Brethren. Thus everywhere it shall be as when
the empty pumpkins sank. Howbeit, you have nothing to
fear therefrom. Tell me your thirteenth dream."

Hereupon the king said, "Methought, sir, I saw huge
blocks of solid rock, as big as houses, floating like ships
upon the waters. What shall come of it ? "

"This dream also shall not have its fulfilment before
such times as those of which I have spoken. For in those
days unrighteous kings shall shew honour to the low-born,
who shall become great lords, whilst the nobles sink into
poverty. Not to the nobles, but to the upstarts alone
shall respect be paid. In the royal presence, in the
council chamber, or in the courts of justice, the words of
the nobles learned in the law (and it is they whom the
solid rocks typify) shall drift idly by, and not sink deep
into the hearts of men ; when they speak, the upstarts
shall merely laugh them to scorn, saying, 'What is this
these fellows are saying?' So too in the assemblies of
the Brethren, as afore said, men shall not deem worthy of
respect the excellent among the Brethren ; the words of
such shall not sink deep, but drift idly by, even as when
the rocks floated upon the waters. Howbeit, you have
nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me your fourteenth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw tiny frogs, no bigger than
minute flowerets, swiftly pursuing huge black snakes,
chopping them up like so many lotus-stalks and gobbling
them up. What shall come of this ? "

" This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till those
days to come such as those of which I have spoken, when
the world is decaying. For then shall men's passions be
so strong, and their lusts so hot, that they shall be the
thralls of the very youngest of their wives for the time
being, at whose sole disposal shall be slaves and hired
servants, oxen, buffaloes and all cattle, gold and silver, and
everything that is in the house. Should the poor husband
ask where the money (say) or a robe is, at once he shall
be told that it is where it is, that he should mind his own
business, and not be so inquisitive as to what is, or is not,
in her house. And therewithal in divers ways the wives
with abuse and goading taunts shall establish their
dominion over their husbands, as over slaves and bond-
servants. Thus shall it be like as when the tiny frogs, no
bigger than minute flowerets, gobbled up the big black
snakes. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom.
Tell me your fifteenth dream."

"Methought, sir, I saw a village crow, hi which dwelt
the whole of the Ten Vices, escorted by a retinue of those
birds w r hich, because of their golden sheen, are called
Royal Golden Mallards. What shall come of it ? "

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future, till the reign of weakling kings. In days to come
kings shall arise who shall know nothing about elephants
or other arts, and shall be cowards in the field. Fearing
to be deposed and cast from their royal estate, they shall
raise to power not their peers but their footmen, bath-
attendants, barbers, and such like. Thus, shut out from
royal favour and unable to support themselves, the nobles
shall be reduced to dancing attendance on the upstarts, -
as when the crow had Royal Golden Swans for a retinue.
Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. Tell me
your sixteenth dream."

" Heretofore, sir, it always used to be panthers that
preyed on goats; but methought I saw goats chasing
panthers and devouring them munch, munch, munch !-
whilst at bare sight of the goats afar oft', terror-stricken
wolves fled quaking with fear and hid themselves in their
fastnesses in the thicket. Such w T as my dream. What
shall come of it ? "

"This dream too shall not have its fulfilment till the
future, till the reign of unrighteous kings. In those days
the low-born shall be raised to lordship and be made royal
favourites, whilst the nobles shall sink into obscurity and
distress. Gaining influence in the courts of law because
of their favour with the king, these upstarts shall claim
perforce the ancestral estates, the raiment, and all the
property of the old nobility. And when these latter
plead their rights before the courts, then shall the king's
minions have them cudgelled and bastinadoed and taken
by the throat and cast out with words of scorn, such as :
' Know your place, fools ! What ? do you dispute with us ?
The king shall know of your insolence, and we will have
your hands and feet chopped off and other correctives
applied ! ' Hereupon the terrified nobles shall affirm that
their own belongings really belong to the overbearing
upstarts, and will tell the favourites to accept them. And
they shall hie them home and there cower in an agony of
fear. Likewise, evil Brethren shall harry at pleasure good
and worthy Brethren, till these latter, finding none to help
them, shall flee to the jungle. And this oppression of the
nobles and of the good Brethren by the low-born and by
the evil Brethren, shall be like the scaring of wolves by
goats. Howbeit, you have nothing to fear therefrom. For
this dream too has reference to future times only. It was
not truth, it was not love for you, that prompted the
brahmins to prophesy as they did. No, it was greed of
gain, and the insight that is bred of covetousness, that
shaped all their self-seeking utterances."

Thus did the Master expound the import of these
sixteen great dreams, adding, "You, sire, are not the
first to have these dreams ; they were dreamed by kings
of bygone days also ; and, then as now, the brahmins found
in them a pretext for sacrifices ; whereupon, at the instance
of the wise and good, the Bodhisatta was consulted,
and the dreams were expounded by them of old time in
just the same manner as they have now been expounded."