ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 32.10

32.10

“As monks they were nothing but quarrelsome, and lacking discernment they called many other monks low class. Others among them called them animals. Those who called them animals took rebirth as animals. Those who called them low class were born as persons of low class. After that they practiced pure conduct all their lives, their faculties ripened, and now they have been liberated.”

The Partridge

Once, as the Blessed One was traveling through the countryside with a saṅgha of 1,250 monks, as well as with five hundred merchants and five hundred beggars, they cleared a path in the forest. After the Blessed One had passed through the forest, a great fire began to blaze there, terrifying many. They shouted, “We’re as good as burned! There’s no way we’ll survive!”

The Blessed One saw that many had become terrified, and he approached the travelers and spoke in verse, saying:

“May the strength of all the buddhas,
May the strength possessed by the arhats,
May the light of the Buddha-Jewel
Make this pathway free from fire.

“May the strength of all the buddhas,
May the strength possessed by the arhats,
May the light of the Dharma-Jewel
Make this pathway free from fire.

“May the strength of all the buddhas,
May the strength possessed by the arhats,
May the light of the Saṅgha-Jewel
Make this pathway free from fire.”

No sooner had the Blessed One spoken these words than the fire subsided.