ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 20.13

20.13

and send them to the god realms!” Having marveled so, they engaged in especially reverent service toward the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.

“Lord,” the monks requested the Blessed Buddha, “tell us why Śākya Iṣudhara was terrified of dying and then the Blessed One rescued him from his fear of death and established him in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa.”

“Not only now,” the Blessed One explained, “but in times past as well, and in the same way, he was terrified of dying and then protected his precepts for seven days, because of which he took rebirth in a god realm. Listen well!

“Monks, in times past, in this fortunate eon, when people lived as long as twenty thousand years, and the totally and completely awakened buddha possessed of insight and perfect conduct, the sugata, the knower of the world, the tamer of persons, the charioteer, the unsurpassed one, the teacher of humans and gods, the blessed buddha known as Kāśyapa was in the world, a certain poor merchant lived in the city of Vārāṇasī.

“One day he found faith in the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Kāśyapa. The merchant wished so deeply to give gifts and make merit, and he thought, ‘With what little I have here, I shall not be able to give gifts and make merit. So, I will complete a voyage on a great seafaring vessel. If I’m able to complete even a single voyage on a great seafaring vessel, my parents’ descendants will be prosperous for seven generations.’ With this thought he loaded up his wares and set sail upon the great ocean, and after completing his voyage across the great ocean on that great seafaring vessel, he began to give gifts and make merit.

“He also had a short lifespan. So that he might become disillusioned with saṃsāra,