ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 37.16

37.16

how good it is. What a magnificent austerity you undertook!’

“Śakra, King of the Gods, thought, ‘This bodhisattva took on extraordinary hardship. I can restore his body, but first I must finish measuring his commitment.’

So he asked the Bodhisattva, ‘My friend, are you not even a little unhappy to cut away your own²³⁸ flesh and to sever your sinews and veins?’

“ ‘Oh, I’m not the least bit unhappy to cut away my flesh or to sever my sinews and veins,’ the Bodhisattva replied. ‘I am compelled to undergo this suffering by compassion for beings born as hell beings, animals, or anguished spirits.’

“Śakra, King of the Gods, in nonhuman guise scoffed at him, ‘Who could believe your words, my friend?’

“ ‘With an invocation of the truth, I shall bring you to believe them,’ the Bodhisattva replied.

“ ‘If your invocation is true, may your body be as it was before,’ said Śakra. And just as he said this, the Bodhisattva stated, ‘If it is true that I’m not the least bit unhappy to cut away my flesh and to sever my sinews and veins, and that I am compelled to undergo this suffering by compassion for beings born as hell beings, animals, or anguished spirits, then by these words of truth may my body be restored.’ As soon as the Bodhisattva said this, his body was restored.

“Śakra, King of the Gods, rejoiced at this sight.