ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 15.5

15.5

that the gods’ residences fill up—the appearance of a tathāgata, or the appearance of a universal monarch. Has then a universal monarch now appeared in the world, or has a tathāgata appeared?’ But when he looked, he saw that it was not so. Again he wondered, ‘Well then, because of whom have the gods’ residences become full?’

“Then he looked, realized that it was because of King Candraprabha, and thought, ‘What—is he to become like Śakra, or perhaps Brahmā?’ When he looked, he saw that King Candraprabha was practicing to attain unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment. So Śakra, King of the Gods, said, ‘I will go for a time and see for myself whether he is of firm resolve. If this being’s resolve is firm, I shall worship him. If his resolve is not firm, I shall steady him.’

With this in mind, he transformed his appearance into that of a brahmin and said, ‘Deva, I am famished. Please, give me something to sustain me.’

“ ‘If I cut off someone else and give to him,’ the king thought, ‘I’ll be taking one life to protect another, so I will eat just one morsel of food, and give the other to him!’ The king handed the morsel to the brahmin, but just as he thought, ‘Now I will eat the other,’ the brahmin said, ‘Deva, I can’t survive on just one morsel.’ Right away the king thought, ‘If I don’t give the second morsel to this brahmin, he will starve. He might even die. Since I am committed to the welfare of beings, I’m capable of protecting the life of another even at the cost of my own.’

So he prayed for unexcelled, total, and complete enlightenment, saying, ‘By this root of virtue, may I become a protector for the world’s blind who are without a guide, without any guide at all, without anyone to show them the way—an arhat,