(SPOILERS!) Is Bodhisattva Lingji the true bad guy here?

Sorry if anyone else brought up the topic before. I've finished Chapter 2 and looking back at the story, isn't Bodhisattva Lingji (or rather, Buddhism as he represents) the true bad guy here? Although the King of Sahali>!'s lust for power had led him to eradicate Buddhism from the Kingdom!<, Bodhisattva Lingji >!summoned a giant-ass beetle to pray on the PEOPLE of the Kingdom.!< If Bodhisattvas are such powerful beings as the game and the original book suggests, then shouldn't Lingji have >!punished the king instead of punishing the Kingdom's people, who being subjects of an ancient feudal kingdom, would have no sway whatsoever on the king's actions?!< And after the Yellow Wind Sage>!saved the Kingdom, the people began to revere rats. Lingji, fearing for the sway that Buddhism held in the Kingdom, cursed the entire population to become rats.!<How does that make him any different from the King? Isn't both a stellar example of jealousy and lust for influence? I thought Buddhists are supposed to be benevolent and forgiving, not vindictive and petty.