ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 21.18

21.18

He died with joy in his mind at the thought of the Blessed One and took rebirth as a god. Having taken birth as a god, he approached the Blessed One, the Blessed One taught the Dharma to him, and he saw the truths. After he saw the truths, he went back to where he belongs.

Then the Blessed One spoke about the bird’s carcass to Venerable Śāriputra among the assembly of monks. “Śāriputra,” he said, “what action did this bird take that ripened into its birth as a bird?”

As soon as he heard this, Venerable Śāriputra began to reflect, and though he went deep into equipoise and reached the far limits of concentration, he could not see an end to the bird’s sufferings as he died from one life as a bird and transmigrated, only to take birth as a bird again.

Venerable Śāriputra rose from his meditation, drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, bowed toward the Blessed One with palms pressed together, and responded to the Blessed One, “Lord, I have not been able to apprehend the bird’s origins. I saw him dying from one life as a bird and transmigrating, only to take birth as a bird again. Lord, your wisdom and vision are unimpeded—your wisdom and vision are infinite. Lord, Blessed One, I implore you, please explain the action this bird took that ripened into his taking birth only as a bird.”

“Monks,” the Blessed One explained, “such are the actions that this bird committed and accumulated:

“Monks, in times gone by, when the one who transcended the levels of the listeners and solitary buddhas, 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 Arthadarśin was in the world, this bird went forth in his doctrine