According to the Sutra of Miscellaneous Treasures (Za Bao Zang Jing), one of the Buddha's previous lives was as a Six-Tusked White Elephant.
Long ago, there was a large herd of elephants living peacefully in the mountains and forests. Their leader was a magnificent Six-Tusked White Elephant. Under his guidance, more than five hundred elephants lived together in harmony.
Among the herd were two female elephants who were his companions. One was named Xian, and the other was named Shanxian.
One day, the Six-Tusked White Elephant discovered a large pond filled with beautiful lotus flowers. Knowing that Xian especially loved lotuses, he picked the largest flower with his trunk and intended to give it to her.
At that moment, Shanxian arrived and saw the flower.
"What a beautiful lotus!" she said. "Please give it to me."
Before the elephant king could respond, she took the flower and placed it beside her ear.
When Xian saw this, she became deeply upset. She thought, "He gave such a beautiful flower to Shanxian instead of me. He must love her more than he loves me."
The more she thought about it, the more hurt and angry she became.
Eventually, she climbed a nearby mountain. At the top stood a stupa. Standing before it, she prayed silently:
"In my next life, I wish to be reborn as a human. I will take revenge for the humiliation I have suffered today. I will capture the Six-Tusked White Elephant and have all of his tusks removed."
After making this vow, she threw herself from the mountain and died.
Not long afterward, she was reborn as a princess, the daughter of King Videha. She grew into a beautiful young woman and later married King Brahmadatta of a neighboring kingdom.
The king greatly loved and cherished his queen.
However, the queen had not forgotten the resentment she carried from her previous life.
One day, she pretended to be seriously ill and remained in bed, groaning in pain.
When King Brahmadatta came to visit her, she said:
"My king, I wish to have a bed made of ivory. If I can sleep on such a bed, I will recover. If not, I fear I will die."
The king laughed and replied:
"Our kingdom is wealthy. An ivory bed is easy to obtain."
But the queen shook her head.
"An ordinary ivory bed will not do. In the forest there is a great elephant herd led by a Six-Tusked White Elephant. Only ivory from that elephant can cure my illness."
Hearing her request, the king announced throughout the kingdom:
"Whoever brings me the tusks of the Six-Tusked White Elephant shall receive one hundred pieces of gold."
A hunter accepted the challenge.
He carried a bow and poisoned arrows into the forest. To avoid suspicion, he disguised himself as a Buddhist practitioner by wearing robes.
One day, while the elephant herd was feeding, Shanxian spotted the stranger and warned her husband.
"There is a human over there."
The elephant king asked:
"What kind of clothing is he wearing?"
"He is wearing robes," she replied.
The Six-Tusked White Elephant said:
"Those who wear robes are spiritual practitioners. They do not harm others."
Trusting this belief, the herd continued feeding peacefully.
The hunter took advantage of the situation. He drew his hidden bow and fired an arrow at the elephant king.
The arrow missed.
The Six-Tusked White Elephant immediately led the herd away.
As the hunter pursued them, he tripped over a fallen tree. The elephants rushed toward him, and many were ready to trample him.
But the elephant king stopped them.
"Do not harm this man."
Shanxian asked:
"Didn't you say that someone wearing robes would never harm us?"
The elephant king replied:
"The fault does not lie with the robes. The fault lies in the greed, anger, and ignorance within the human heart."
He then asked the hunter:
"Why do you wish to kill me?"
The hunter answered honestly:
"King Brahmadatta desires your six tusks. Whoever brings them to the palace will receive one hundred pieces of gold."
Upon hearing this, the Six-Tusked White Elephant calmly walked to a large tree. Using the roots of the tree and his great strength, he broke off all six of his own tusks.
He lifted them with his trunk and placed them before the hunter.
"Take them," he said.
"I hope that one day, just as these tusks have been removed, the greed, anger, and ignorance within all beings may also be removed."
The hunter brought the six tusks back to the king and explained exactly how he had obtained them.
When the queen heard the story, she was overcome with regret and shame.
"Why did I seek to harm such a noble being?" she cried.
From that day forward, she devoted herself to spiritual practice, accumulated merit, and vowed to pursue the path of liberation.
According to the scripture, she eventually became a nun and attained the state of Arhat (a liberated being in Buddhism).
At the end of the story, the Buddha revealed the identities of those involved:
- The Six-Tusked White Elephant was one of the Buddha's previous lives.
- The hunter was Devadatta, the Buddha's future rival.
- Xian, the queen who later repented, became the nun who came to confess her wrongdoing.
- Shanxian became Yashodhara, the Buddha's wife in his final lifetime.
The story of the Six-Tusked White Elephant teaches compassion, forgiveness, self-sacrifice, and the overcoming of greed, anger, and ignorance—the three poisons that cause suffering in Buddhism.
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