Day 17 covers all of Chapter 12, Devadatta, and opens Chapter 13, Encouragement for Keeping this Sutra.

Today’s reading in Chapter 12 includes Sakyamuni’s description of his previous life as a king:

I remember that I became a kjng in a kalpa of the past.
Although I was a king,
I did not indulge in the pleasures of the five desires
Because l was seeking the Great Dharma.

The bottom line of this tale is, of course, that the king seeks a teacher and finds a seer who was a previous life of Devadatta.

But what stood out for me today was this explanation of why he, a king, sought the Dharma:

I sought the Great Dharma strenuously
Because I wished to save all living beings.
I did not wish to benefit myself
Or to have the pleasures of the five desires.

Such selfless compassion.