འཕགས་པ་ཟ་མ་ཏག་བཀད་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 3.2

3.2

and went to sit under a large magnolia tree. Seated, we talked among ourselves, asking each other what we should do, but we agreed that there was nothing we could do, and we became silent.

“The rākṣasīs came to us and said, ‘You who are not masters of a house, become masters. You who have no refuge, obtain a refuge. You who have no home, obtain a home. These will be your homes supplied with food. These will be your homes supplied with drink. These will be your gardens for you to enjoy. These will be your bathing pools for you to enjoy.’

“After the rākṣasīs had spoken to us thus, each one took a merchant home to be the master of her house. The senior rākṣasī¹⁸¹ took me home to be the master of her house. She satisfied me with food that had perfect, divine flavors. Having satisfied me with food, she frolicked with me, and in this way I was perfectly satisfied with human pleasures. Two or three weeks¹⁸² passed in that manner.

“One night as I was lying in bed, I was astonished to see that the lamp was laughing. I had never seen or heard before of a burning, laughing lamp.¹⁸³ I asked it, ‘Why are you laughing?’

“It answered, ‘This is one of the rākṣasīs who live on Siṃhala Island. She is going to kill you.’

“I asked it, ‘How do you know she is a rākṣasī?’

“It answered, ‘If you don’t believe me, take the road south¹⁸⁴ and follow it. You will come to a high fortress¹⁸⁵ without windows or doorways. Many hundreds of merchants have been thrown in there. Some are alive. Some are dead. If you don’t believe me, follow that road. Follow that road and observe. Then you will believe me.’

“So I¹⁸⁶ made the rākṣasī enter the sleep named Ignorance’s Net, and I went out at night, armed with a sword¹⁸⁷ that glowed like moonlight.