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

Because of the obstruction of his karmic obstruction from killing his father, when the Buddha taught the Dharma to King Ajātaśatru face to face, he only attained a rootless faith; he did not eliminate the fundamental self-view and realize the first fruit, but was merely a first-fruit aspirant (one bound for stream-entry). Being a first-fruit aspirant 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 (Sukhāvatī). Generally speaking, when the Buddha personally teaches the Dharma face to face and accepts and guides someone, 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 first-fruit aspiration was enough to dissolve 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 in a previous life King Ajātaśatru had karmic grievances with his father, and in this life King Ajātaśatru was avenging the enmity of that previous life and settling that karmic grievance, then the karmic debt is settled and need not be repaid again. In fact, the reason King 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, so the karma of killing his father was not that heavy, and it 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 transgressions, and constantly encouraged and blessed King Ajātaśatru. Therefore 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 acceptance and guidance, which can bring about the dissolving of karmic obstructions, is immense and unmatched by anyone. King Ajātaśatru, whose karmic obstructions were dissolved, had a mind of repentance and shame, his karmic obstructions were not extremely heavy, and there were prior causes as well—so the outcome was that King 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 King Ajātaśatru the Dharma—if it had been some other bodhisattva, or an arhat, or an ordinary person—King Ajātaśatru might not necessarily have attained the rootless faith, thereby dissolving his hell karma and being reborn in the land of bliss.

Dissolving karmic obstructions 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 cutting off the various afflictions is karma truly dissolved—when karma is dissolved, it is no longer created. If afflictions are not cut off, 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, going everywhere begging Buddhas and bodhisattvas to dissolve it for them; after it is dissolved, they create it again—such dissolving 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.