དཔལ་གྱ་སྡའ་རྟགས་པ་བརྗད་པ 37

37

‘Amazing! How powerful is King Śrīsena’s merit! Amazing! It is wondrous!’

“After thoroughly pleasing the bodhisattva, Śakra, lord of the gods, along with hundreds of thousands of other gods, returned to his abode. The sage and his retinue of five hundred also returned home, after openly praising the bodhisattva.

“After these events, the much-venerated bodhisattva ruled as a Dharma king for a long time. He satiated Jambudvīpa’s poor, blind, hungry, and destitute by granting them wealth, and he led everyone along the path of the ten virtuous actions. He thoroughly satisfied all six classes of gods in the desire realm. At another time, he caused them, along with hundreds of thousands of others, to be reborn in Tuṣita heaven.”

After telling this tale, the Blessed One said, “Monks, do not have any doubts or confusion that King Śrīsena was someone other than me. At that time, I was the king and I gave away my body. Monks, the one who was King Śrīsena’s wife back then, Queen Jayaprabhā, is none other than Yaśodharā. The supreme one among the ministers, Mahāmati, is none other than the monk Śāriputra. Śakra, lord of the gods, is none other than King Bimbisāra. Those who were the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three at that time are none other than the eighty thousand gods who realized the truth simultaneously with King Bimbisāra. The masses of people in the city of Ariṣṭa are none other than