ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 21.8

21.8

that ripened into his birth into a family of great means, prosperity, and wealth, and that as soon as he was born, the smell of excrement arose from all over his body, he desired excrement, and he lived in excrement? What action did he take that ripened such that he pleased the Blessed One, did not displease him, went forth in the doctrine of the Blessed One, cast away all afflictive emotions, and manifested arhatship?”

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

“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, there lived in Vārāṇasī a certain householder, prosperous and wealthy, a person of vast and magnificent means, endowed with the wealth of Vaiśravaṇa—with wealth to rival Vaiśravaṇa’s.

“In admiration for the Buddha, in admiration for the Dharma, and in admiration for the Saṅgha, he went for refuge and took the fundamental precepts. Manifesting the resultant state of non-return, he thought, ‘Seeing as I do not have a son or daughter, after I die all I have will become property of the king. I will show my respect to the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha.’ He built a monastery complete in every respect, provided the monks with everything they needed, and appointed a monk to act as steward.

“Then one day the steward had something to do out in the countryside, and after making a request of the householder, he departed. After he had gone,