Why Could King Ajātaśatru Eliminate His Hellish Karma and Be Reborn in the Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī)?

King Ajātaśatru, obstructed by the karmic obstruction of having killed his father, received the Buddha's teaching face to face, yet he only attained a rootless faith; he did not eliminate the fundamental self-view and realize the first fruit—he was merely one bound for the first fruit (stream-entry candidate). Being bound for the first fruit can already eliminate the karma leading to the three evil destinies and is close to preliminary liberation, which is why he was able to be reborn in the land of bliss. Generally speaking, when the Buddha personally teaches the Dharma face to face and takes someone under his care, as long as their karmic obstructions are not very heavy, they will realize a fruit—any of the fruits from the first to the fourth can be attained. Yet King Ajātaśatru did not realize a fruit; after all, the karma of killing one's father is not light. But this rootless faith was already quite good—attaining the direction of the first fruit was enough to eliminate his hell karma.

In a future life, when King Ajātaśatru encounters his father again, he may not escape having to repay the karmic debt by being killed once. However, if King Ajātaśatru had karmic grievances with his father in a past life, and in this life Ajātaśatru was avenging a past-life grievance and settling that karmic grudge, then the karmic debt is settled and need not be repaid again. In fact, the reason Ajātaśatru killed his father was indeed because he had karmic grievances with his father in a past life; in this life he came to retaliate for that grievance. Therefore the karma of killing his father was not so heavy, and it was dissolved upon hearing the Buddha teach the Dharma. Moreover, his father had realized a fruit; after death and ascending to heaven, he continuously followed King Ajātaśatru, repented of his own past-life transgressions, and constantly encouraged and blessed Ajātaśatru. Thus King Ajātaśatru felt shame and remorse in his heart, and when he encountered the Buddha's teaching, the hell karma of killing his father was eliminated.

The Buddha's power of taking beings under his care for dissolving karma is immense and unmatched by anyone. King Ajātaśatru, whose karma was being dissolved, had a mind of repentance and shame; his karmic obstructions were not extremely heavy, and there were prior causes as well. Therefore the outcome was that Ajātaśatru did not have to fall into hell but was reborn in the land of bliss. If it had not been the Buddha who taught Ajātaśatru the Dharma—if it had been some other bodhisattva, or an arhat, or an ordinary person—Ajātaśatru would not necessarily have attained the rootless faith, thereby eliminating his hell karma and being reborn in the land of bliss.

Dissolving karma is accomplished through wisdom; wisdom of different degrees dissolves karma of different degrees, and when karma is exhausted, one becomes a Buddha. Dissolving the karma of the six realms of saṃsāra is the realm of practice of fourth-fruit arhats and pratyekabuddhas. Ordinary beings also dissolve karma, but only karma at a shallow level. There are many kinds and levels of karma, and according to one's individual level of practice, one dissolves karma of different levels and kinds. Only by severing the various afflictions is karma truly dissolved; when karma is dissolved, it is no longer created. If afflictions are not severed, although some karma may be dissolved, given the opportunity later it may be created again. Some people do not seek to understand principle but only seek to dissolve karma, everywhere begging Buddhas and bodhisattvas to dissolve karma for them; after it is dissolved, they create it again—such dissolution of karma is of no avail. Only when principle is understood and the mind is changed will karma be dissolved and no longer manifest. And changing one's mind is one's own affair; others cannot help with it.