ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ 37.17

37.17

His guise disappeared, and he returned to his natural body. He bowed down at the feet of the Bodhisattva and told him, ‘It was not with ill intent that I made such trouble for you. I made such trouble for you to spur you on. With such joyous effort as you possess, you are certain to fully, completely awaken into total and complete enlightenment. When you do, please remember me.’ Then Śakra, King of the Gods, asked forgiveness of the bodhisattva, and disappeared on the spot.

“O monks, what do you think? I am the one who was King Śibi then, and lived the life of a bodhisattva. At that time I was a teacher of pithy teachings, and there I wished to hear a pithy teaching. Having become the Tathāgata, now as well, and in the same way, how would I not be a teacher of pithy teachings, and not wish to hear a pithy teaching myself? Why? Because, monks, it was I who first taught this Dharma.”

The Second Story of King Śibi

The opening rationale and prior cause are the same as above.

“Śakra, King of the Gods asked the Bodhisattva, ‘What good is it if you’re my disciple? I have told you to harm yourself in a certain way. If you dare do it, afterward I shall tell the verse to you.’

“ ‘Tell me the verse first, my friend,” the Bodhisattva urged him. ‘Then I shall harm myself in all the ways in which you have told me. But give me the verse in its entirety, my friend.’

“At this, Śakra, King of the Gods, told the entire verse to the Bodhisattva. Then the Bodhisattva drew down the right shoulder of his upper garment, and bowed toward Śakra, King of the Gods, in nonhuman guise, with palms pressed together.