(Snail Watching Journey to the West Issue 6664)
Text/Walking with a Snail
I wonder if you have noticed that Dapeng is the uncle of Tathagata. He didn't even listen to the Buddha's words. However, when he was a demon in Shituoling, he respected Manjusri 's green-haired lion as his boss, and he was willing to be the third in command. Why is this?
First of all, Dapeng is not a humble person. When Tathagata organized a group to collect him, he actually stabbed the Buddha and wanted to occupy the Buddha's Dayei Temple. When Buddha finally trapped him with a piece of rotten meat, he shouted arrogantly: If you starve me, you are guilty! The Tathagata had to humbly promise: You will taste the offerings from the four continents first.
Secondly, Dapeng is no weaker than the Green-haired Lion. The green-haired lion cannot beat Sun Wukong , but Dapeng is the nemesis of monkey somersault cloud and seventy-two transformations: two wings are more than one hundred and eight thousand miles away, and the monkey cannot change if he catches Sun Wukong.
His status is no lower than that of the Green-haired Lion and the White Elephant, his strength is no weaker than theirs, and his character is so strong. Why is Dapeng willing to be the third child and succumb to the Green-haired Lion and the White Elephant? Snail has analyzed it in previous issues, and this issue will talk about some deep-seated reasons.
Tathagata once told Sun Wukong that when the world first opened, the two most powerful demon clans in the three realms were Phoenix and Qilin. Phoenix is the head of birds, and Qilin is the king of beasts. The phoenix has a roc and a peacock, while the unicorn has a lion and a white elephant. Therefore, they are considered heroes of the same generation. Later, the Lingshan represented by Tathagata rose up and defeated the two demon clans and became rogue bandits. They were in the same boat. Dapeng looked down upon Tathagata, but he had to respect the two elder brothers.
Green Hair Lion is not in vain. Once, Manjusri Bodhisattva took him to the Peach Festival . Because he was not allowed to enter the venue, he swallowed a hundred thousand heavenly soldiers in anger, which frightened the four heavenly kings and quickly closed the Nantian Gate. It can also be seen from this that the blue-haired lion is also a desperado and has the potential to be a big brother.
What's more important is that as Tathagata's uncle, Dapeng knows that it is not a glorious thing to have grass fall on the lion camel ridge. Moreover, these two mounts were secretly sent by Tathagata to monitor him. So why not let these two fools and bold men be the eldest brothers? Since they can eat human flesh and are not the main criminals, why bother fighting for this risky reputation?
If you don’t believe it, look at the Lion and Camel Kingdom. Dapeng ate the kings, ministers and people of the country by himself, recruited a group of monsters as his subordinates, and became the king alone. Let the two eldest brothers bear the blame and let you reap the benefits. Why not?
It can be seen that Dapeng is not a brainless person, in fact he is very smart!
So, with Tathagata as his backer and two elder brothers supporting him, why does he still worship King of Hell as his elder brother? Please see the breakdown next time.
