7. Bodhisattva Prince Siddhattha Thi Tai.VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH. 7. THAI THI TAI When the Great Being was 16 years old, King Suddhodana built three castles: *One for the cold season named Ramma 9 stories high *One for the hot season named Suramma 7 stories high *One for the rainy season named Subha tall 5 floors Although all three castles have the same number of floors, they are all the same height. The king thought, "The crown prince has come of age. Let me pass the throne to the Crown Prince so that my kingdom can be expanded." According to the custom at that time, Prince Siddhattha had to establish a family (considered as an adult) before he could worship the King. King Suddhodana said to Prince Siddhattha: "My son, you should establish a family, send a message to the Shakyamuni royal families, and then I will give you the throne." But the Prince's message of "recruiting a bride" was not met by the famous Sakyamuni family, who said: "This prince has a very beautiful body, but he does not know what profession. Inability to take care of his wife and children. We do not give the daughter to the Crown Prince." Hearing this response, King Suddhodana went to Prince Siddhattha and said: "Hey, Prince, the Sakyamuni royal families don't give you their daughters in marriage. "Father, why is that?" Because I don't have a career. – What do I have to do to prove my kamma? “My dear child, you must demonstrate the art of archery, for the Sakyamuni are mighty warriors. – What should I do? - You should be able to stretch the bowstring with the weight of 1,000 people carrying it. "Father, that's all right. The Great Being sat cross-legged, using his toes to tie the bowstring to the body of the bow; then the left hand holds the bow, the right hand pulls the bowstring to let go, the vibration of the bow string resounds like thunder. The whole city of Kapilavatthu was startled by the sound of the bowstring, and they asked each other, "What sound is that? Is the thunder god angry?" Those who knew the story said, "Not thunder, not angry gods. This is the sound of the bowstring with the weight of 1,000 people carrying, Crown Prince Aṅgirasa straightened the bowstring and let it go, the bowstring sounded like thunder." Hearing this, the Sakyamuni royals were satisfied and excited, but then they discussed with each other, "Even though the prince has such strength, is the art of archery skilled? Or does he just have power?”. Hearing this, King Suddhodana went to Prince Siddhattha and said: "My son, although you can pull the bow of a thousand men, the royals are not satisfied. "Father, why is that?" – The Royals say “you have only strength”, but archery is not skilled? “Father, in that case, gather the royals, and I will demonstrate the art of archery. When the Sakyamuni royals were fully assembled, through King Suddhodana, Prince Siddhattha performed the art of archery at their request as: – Shoots an arrow through the iron plate 8 knuckles thick. – Shoots an arrow through a 4-finger thick Asana wooden board. – Shoot an arrow through a 12 finger thick fig tree (vidatthi). - Shoot through wagons full of sand. – Shoot arrows through a cart full of sand and a cart full of straw. – Shoot an arrow into the water to a depth of one usabha” (one usabha is about 64 m). – Shoot arrows into the ground 8 usabha deep. – Shot on horsehair placed 1 yojana away (it is said that the Great Being's eyes can see ponytail hairs placed 1 yojana away, whether day or night. This is due to meritorious karma (quoted from Mahāpadānasuttanta). ) The Sakyamuni royals were satisfied. On the day of selecting the future Chief Empress through a beauty contest, the Shakyamuni girls put on beautiful makeup to go to the festival. And the first beauty, Princess Yasodharā, made Prince Siddhattha's heart flutter. She herself "the national beauty Nandā" also admitted that: "Yuvatīnañca sabbāsaṃ kaḷyāṇīti ca vissutā, Tasmimpi nagare ramme ṭhapetvā ca Yasodharā" (And also in that lovely city of Kapilavatthu I was known as a "beauty" among all the maidens except Yasodkhira" the II (Apadāna) Chronicles of her Nandā). Through the above verse, it seems that Nandā is the runner-up of the two kingdoms Shakyamuni and Koliya. The scriptures have recorded that King Thien Giac did not agree to give his daughter Princess Yasodharā to Prince Siddhattha, the king opened a talent contest between the princes of the royal family, the winner would receive Princess Yasodharā. In this talent contest, all the talented people gathered, regardless of wealth and class. At that time there were famous talents such as: Prince Ānanda, Nanda, Devadatta, Anuruddha ... The scriptures record that the competition consisted of three subjects: fencing, archery and wrestling and had 500 young people participating. The Mahāvastu records: Archery, tree cutting and horse racing. The first competition was archery: Prince Nanda carried the target 6 yovo (equivalent to 434 m); Prince Anuruddha set the stele 6 yovo away, Prince Devadatta set the stele 8 yovo away; The prince put the beer 10 yovo away. The three princes all hit their target, when Prince Siddhattha shot the bow, the bows could not bear his pulling force, they all broke in two and he used the bow "carried by a thousand people", shot arrows. pierced the target and dug deep into the ground, only the hilt of the arrow sticking out; No one can pull the arrow up, only he can do it, that place becomes a well, named "well of arrows" (kupasara). The second subject is "slashing trees", martial artists competed to cut trees in the forest, Prince Nanda cut off the largest tree with a sword stroke. When Prince Siddhattha took part in the competition, there was no tree in the forest larger than the tree of Prince Nanda, which had just been cut, and nearby there were two trees, each as big as Prince Nanda's tree, and the Prince came near and drew his sword and slashed. cut both trees at the same time, but the action was so fast that the tree "did not fall down". The crowd shouted "The Crown Prince has lost", hearing that Princess Yasodharā fainted; A gust of wind shook the tree and two old trees fell together, the crowd shouted again "The crown prince has won" and Princess Yasodharā awoke with joy. During the horse race, Prince Siddhattha rode the Treasure Horse Kaṇḍaka far ahead of the princes. Prince Devadatta was not convinced that "if I had the Treasure Horse Kaṇḍaka, I would have won just like Prince Siddhattha". Prince Siddhattha replied that "if anyone can ride this Kaṇḍaka Horse, that person will win". But no one could ride the Kaṇḍaka Treasure Horse, it became ferocious when someone mounted it on its back, the horse mounted and knocked all the riders on its back, only Prince Anuruddha was able to sit on it alone. little, but the horse refused to walk. The crowd shouted that "The Crown Prince has won absolutely". The wedding ceremony was solemnly held by the two kingdoms of Sākya and Koliya. Then King Suddhodana made the body of Prince Siddhattha and Yasodharā became the Queen of King Siddhattha. Despite being crowned king, King Suddhodana was still afraid that the new king would see "the suffering of old age, illness, and death" and then give up the throne to go home, so King Suddhodana still took control and the new king still lived in three castles until he left home when he was 29 years old.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).BUDDHIST DHARMA WHEEL GOLDEN MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THE WOMEN OF THE SAKYA CLAN CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.7/9/2021.