འཕགས་པ་དཔལ་སྦས་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་མད intro.4

intro.4

The third of these vignettes is particularly noteworthy for recounting the tale of Śākyamuni’s previous incarnation as Suvarṇāvabhāsa, a peacock king who similarly escaped a plot to poison him. Stories of Suvarṇāvabhāsa appear throughout the Buddhist literature, and though they can differ substantially, they generally share the feature of Suvarṇāvabhāsa’s escape from some kind of snare or attempt on his life through the recitation of a series of verses, a dhāraṇī, or a mantra.¹ The version of the story found in The Śrīgupta Sūtra is unique, but it too includes a series of verses that can be recited over food to neutralize any poisons it may contain. In this sūtra, once the Buddha has finished the story of his life as Suvarṇāvabhāsa and his escape from death by poisoning, he gives Śrīgupta a liturgy to recite over the food he has poisoned, thus rendering it safe for the Buddha and his monks to eat. It is possible that this series of verses may have been intended to be extracted for use in a more general apotropaic fashion to avert poisoning.