ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 21.19

21.19

and served as steward.

“In this capacity he would solicit food and drink from patrons and donors. As he was appealing to a householder, a group of monks prevented him. He became irate and shouted, ‘You’re like animals—you don’t even think! You don’t act the way that monks should act!’

“In time he came to regret this, confessed his mistake, and then practiced pure conduct all his life. At the time of his death, he prayed, ‘May I not meet with the results of the wrongful act of speaking harshly to such pure beings. May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this.’

“O monks, what do you think? The one who served as steward then is none other than this bird. The act of speaking harshly to the monks ripened into his birth as an animal. Monks, from the time of the doctrine of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Arthadarśin until my own, he has died, transmigrated, and taken rebirth only as an animal. Now he has died with joy in his mind at the thought of me, transmigrated, and taken rebirth as a god. After being reborn as a god, he came before me and I taught him the Dharma. He heard the Dharma from me, saw the truths, and then went back to where he belongs.

“At that time he served as steward in accord with the Dharma, and at the time of his death he prayed, ‘May I please and not displease a teacher even more exalted than this.’

“So it is, monks, now that I myself have become the very equal of the totally and completely awakened Buddha Arthadarśin—equal in strength, equal in deeds, and equal in skillful means—that he has pleased me, not displeased me,