The Bodhisatta was once a king’s advisor. One day the king saw a beautiful woman selling jujube fruit outside the palace, and he fell in love at first sight. She was unmarried, so he made her his chief queen. Sometime later, while the king sat eating jujubes from a golden dish, she pretended to have never seen one and asked what fruit he was eating. The king was furious at her haughty display. He told her they were going to divorce, and she would go back to working for her family’s fruit business. The Bodhisatta told the king not to be angry because this was normal behavior for women suddenly raised from low rank to high. So the king forgave her, and she never acted like that again.
In the Lifetime of the Buddha
The king and his jujube-selling queen were earlier births of King Pasenadi, a righteous ruler and devoted supporter of the Buddha, and Queen Mallika, his exceptionally wise chief queen. One time the king was so angry with Queen Mallika that he completely ignored her. The Buddha resolved to make peace between them, so he went to collect alms at the palace. When the king served rice and cakes, the Buddha covered his bowl. He asked why the queen was absent, and the king explained that she had become intoxicated with pride and he didn’t want to be around her. The Buddha said the king, by making her a queen, was the cause of her inflated ego, so it was wrong of him to discard her like this. The king accepted this wisdom, and from then on the couple lived together in happiness.
Later, when the Buddha heard some of his disciples discussing how he had reconciled the king and queen, he told them this story so they knew that he had also done the same thing to the same people in the past.
