བསད་ནམས་ཀྱ་སྟབས་ཀྱ་རྟགས་པ་བརྗད་པ 2.3

2.3

They dispatched scouts in all directions.

“Meanwhile, motivated by the previous virtuous roots that would enable him to become king at that time, Prince Puṇyabala, together with his close friends, had journeyed to a pleasure garden on the outskirts of the city. Upon their arrival, several auspicious omens appeared: A rain shower fell from the sky onto his head. Brightly colored birds circled clockwise. Young boys and girls proclaimed words of victory, standing there with high spirits and happy thoughts. The prince was so overjoyed that all the hairs on his body stood on end. The ground became free from any rocks, gravel, and pebbles. His body also became very light. He heard joyous and pleasing sounds.

“Prince Puṇyabala was an expert in prognostication, and he thought, ‘These omens that appear to me now indicate without doubt that I will be enthroned as a great king!’ Then he entered the groves at the perimeter of the pleasure garden. Experiencing joy among the groves of the pleasure garden, he went to sleep under an aśoka tree that was heavy with blossoming flowers. His friends wandered around in the pleasure garden, utterly enthralled with its flowers and fruits. While they enjoyed the pleasure garden, the power of Prince Puṇyabala’s merit inspired the nāgas to cause an incredibly magnificent, fragrant-smelling, beautifully colored, joy-giving, thousand-petaled, divine lotus to blossom from the ground. This great lotus gradually and slowly lifted Prince Puṇyabala as he lay there; but due to a magical blessing, he did not awake. After the time of the midday meal, the shadows of the other trees extended toward³³ the east and descended toward the east. But even as the other shadows descended toward the east, the shadow of the aśoka tree did not leave Prince Puṇyabala’s body.

“All the flowers and fruit trees in the park