Volume One, Chapter Twenty-Four: Mara's Teasing

Chapter Twenty-Four: Mara's Taunting

Lord Indra had not expected that the visitors would be none other than Lord Yama, the master of the third heaven in the Realm of Desire, and Mara, the master of the sixth and highest heaven of the Realm of Desire—also the overlord of all six heavens in that realm.

As for Lord Yama, he was largely indifferent, seldom involving himself in the competitions and disputes among the heavens and myriad worlds. His domain, the Heaven of Yama, was also called the Heaven of Disputation's End, and those who dwelled there tended to look upon all things with detachment.

Mara, however, was quite different—a figure renowned across all heavens and worlds. His fame was not simply due to his mastery of the Realm of Desire, nor to his unmatched supernatural powers among its six heavens, though those alone would be impressive. Rather, his greatest pride and most widely circulated tales were his legendary words—the lotus blossoming from his lips, and his claim to have killed the Buddha.

In days gone by, a Pratyekabuddha attained enlightenment after arduous cultivation and preached in the Heaven of Supreme Freedom. Mara attended to him meticulously, and this solitary ascetic Buddha was so moved that he appointed Mara as the master of the Realm of Desire. Upon his ascension, Mara said, "Buddha, you always claim to have attained Buddhahood, yet you have not truly found the path among the Four Noble Truths. Let me tell you, that path lies in the direction of the Pure Land. However, the Pure Land is exceedingly distant—ten trillion Buddha realms to the west. With your current abilities, I doubt you could reach it in this lifetime. Only one option remains: enter Nirvana. If you do so, you will instantly attain the path. What do you think?"

And so the Pratyekabuddha entered Nirvana. Afterward, Mara laughed, "When the era of the decline of the Dharma arrives, I will lead my disciples, clad in your robes and masquerading as you, to destroy your teachings."

Thus, Mara became known as an outsider to all heavens—a King of Demons, hated and feared in equal measure.

These two, so far apart in temperament and belief, had unexpectedly arrived together in the Hall of Virtuous Law, ostensibly merely to observe, to listen.

Even knowing full well that their intentions were dubious, Lord Indra dared not show the slightest disrespect. He hurriedly called to his attendant, "Vishvakarma, remove the seats for the two lords." The lesser heavenly kings, the ten elders of the Judicial Committee, and the three magistrates of the court all stood and offered their greetings.

Vishvakarma, the royal artisan of the Heaven of Swords, specialized in crafting ingenious devices for the heavenly lords (though, in truth, he served Indra exclusively). He replied at once and produced, from a treasure space, two chairs identical to Indra's own. Remarkably, these chairs adjusted themselves automatically to the height and size of their occupants: Lord Yama stood five yojanas tall, five times the height of Indra; Mara, even more impressively, stood sixteen yojanas tall, and the chairs adapted to fit them perfectly.

Mara swept his chair aside, distancing it from Indra and the lesser kings. He laughed, "Ah, Lord Yama and I are only here to observe; we won't sit with the jury, haha—"

Indra smiled and invited them to do as they pleased, all the while inwardly scoffing: Everyone knows how you became a lord, so keep pretending!

After the two uninvited guests were seated, Indra nodded to the chief magistrate, Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao, "Continue."

Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao cleared his throat and announced the second rule of court procedure:

"Second, personnel from the heavens stationed at the Sumeru Mountain guesthouse may observe the proceedings, but without permission, they may not take notes, nor may they record or film the trial using heavenly shadow crystals. Unauthorized recording will be considered an unfriendly act toward the Heaven of Swords, and those involved will be expelled; residents of the Heaven of Swords, without permission, may not record or disseminate the proceedings, and violators will be arrested and sentenced to hard labor for one to one hundred years."

Qin Lei muttered indignantly below, "So they're covering things up, blatantly trying to hide the truth, hmph!"

The puppy waved its tiny paw beside him, "Fascists! Fascists! Brother Rogue, am I right to say this?"

Tu Zhe, unconcerned, raised an eyebrow, "In my previous life, we called that media censorship. You two don't know any better, so don't talk nonsense, haha..."

The puppy protested, "Then should I apply for permission to record? With their approval!"

Tsk—had there ever been such a clever puppy to act so naively? Did it really think permission would be granted? Forget it. Tu Zhe didn't even bother explaining.

At that moment, Mara, smiling, raised his hand, "Your honor, I have a request to make of the court."

Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao nearly wet himself at the words of the master of the Realm of Desire, quickly bowing, "Please, Lord, speak..."

Mara said, "Well, you see, trials like this, open to the heavens, are rare in the six heavens of the Realm of Desire, aren't they! Therefore, I believe that recording and documenting this trial would be a landmark event in the history of heavenly law, providing a valuable model for future generations to study and learn from. So, I request the court to permit personnel at the Sumeru Mountain guesthouse to document or record the proceedings. What do you say?" He then turned to Lord Yama, "What about you, Lord Yama?"

Lord Yama simply nodded, "I second the motion!"

Damn, these two are nothing but troublemakers. Cold sweat broke out on Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao's brow.

This is not just a matter of inconvenience, but deliberate sabotage. "What do you say?" Is that even up to me? Yet, since he'd already accepted favors from the Eight Heavenly Sons, and Indra was the authority here, he couldn't afford to offend the lords, but neither would he stoop to pandering.

Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao turned to Indra, only to see Indra sitting with eyes closed, expressionless.

What did that mean?

Was he to decide for himself?

Was it a sign that administrative authority would not interfere with the law?

He then looked to the two chief magistrates beside him, who stared at each other in silence.

Tsk, he'd never seen them look so awkward. He decided to consult the elders of the Judicial Committee.

The great elder spoke harshly, "To silence the people is worse than blocking a river!"

Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao wiped sweat from his brow—understood.

He then turned to Mara, "Upon joint deliberation by the court and the Judicial Committee, it has been decided to grant the lord's request and permit those present to document and record the proceedings."

Mara chuckled, "I can see that, as judges and committee members, you value public opinion and uphold democratic principles. This is worthy of emulation by all the heavens, haha..."

Is there no limit to shamelessness? Can you be even more shameless, Lord? Zhunchi Yuanbei Gao was nearly driven to tears.

He dared not look at the Eight Heavenly Sons' murderous gaze from afar. Sorry, he thought, I did my best...