ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 28.19

28.19

‘Why would he come here?’ he wondered, and looking out, he thought, ‘He wants to kill me!’ Knowing this to be the case, he rose up into the sky and sat there to instill faith in the king. King Brahmadatta saw that the sage Tongue of Fire had risen up into the sky and was just sitting there, and at the sight of him his fury disappeared, and he became uncertain as to whether or not the man had done as he had heard.

“ ‘Well then,’ he thought, and he said in verse:

“ ‘I heard, brahmin Tongue of Fire,
You indulged your desires. Tell me—
Were these words true? Or is this
Something you did not do?’

“He answered in verse:

“ ‘Great King, all that you have heard
Others say of me is true.
I staggered down an awful path,
Drunk on a swig of lust.’

“At that, King Brahmadatta began to feel doubt. He approached the sage Son of Fire and asked him, ‘Sage, tell me, why would I hear such things?’

“ ‘Great King,’ the sage replied, ‘it may indeed be true in exactly the way you heard, for the afflictive emotions are overpowering.’

“ ‘But how can it be that he indulged his desires in this way and yet is still possessed of these miraculous powers?’ the king asked.

“ ‘Great King,’ the sage replied, ‘when he indulged his desires his miraculous powers dwindled. I brought him away from that place and gave him instructions, teaching him a method of contemplation. Later he began to perform miracles again.’

“Hearing this the king felt a surge of joy toward him. He bowed down at the sage’s feet, asked his forgiveness, and departed.

“O monks, what do you think? I am the one who was that sage then and lived the life of a bodhisattva. The one who was my younger brother then is none other than Citra Mounted on an Elephant.