ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 31.16

31.16

enjoyed themselves and coupled, one day his wife conceived. After nine or ten months had passed, she gave birth to a child who was well proportioned, pleasing to the eye, and beautiful. At the elaborate feast celebrating his birth, they named him according to their clan.

They reared him on milk, yogurt, butter, ghee, and milk solids. As he grew up, he studied letters, tallying, and arithmetic; the study of seals, lending, deposits, and commerce; and the examination of cloth, jewels, gems, incense, medicine, elephants, horses, and arms and armor. He became skilled in writing, skilled at reading, learned, decisive, and industrious, a master of the eight types of examination.

One day his father had him join a social club. The members of this social club would argue among themselves about different views and theories, and when they agreed with what someone said they would commend him. The householder’s son was naturally astute. When he questioned everyone’s philosophical systems, some would answer him. But when they answered, he didn’t accept their various views and considered them untenable and incorrect.

One day a lay vow holder spoke correctly in praise of the Buddha, and as soon as the householder’s son heard this, he said, “I’ve never heard the term buddha before. Who is this one you call Buddha?”

Then the lay vow holder praised the Buddha in a way that particularly appealed to the householder’s son, causing him to feel a strong desire to see the Blessed One. He left everything behind and went to see the Blessed One, and when he arrived he touched his head to the Blessed One’s feet and sat before him to listen to the Dharma. The Blessed One taught him the Dharma