འཕགས་པ་ཟ་མ་ཏག་བཀད་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 3.4

3.4

That’s why my body has become cold.’ And so she went back to sleep.

“At sunrise I got up and said to all the merchants, ‘Come with me. We are going outside the town.’

“Then we all left the town. When we were outside the town and had sat down,¹⁹¹ I asked them, ‘How affectionate are your wives toward you?’

“Some said, ‘She is very loving toward me.’

“Some said, ‘She takes care of me with food that has perfect, divine flavors.’

“Some said, ‘She provides me with all kinds of clothes.’

“Some said, ‘She gives me diadems, earrings, and necklaces.’

“Some said, ‘I don’t have to do any physical work.’

“Some said, ‘She cares for me with sandalwood, musk, and camphor.’

“After the merchants told me these things, I said to them, ‘It is not right for us to be attached to rākṣasīs in this way.’

“They were disturbed by my words, and asked, ‘Great head merchant, is it true that they are the rākṣasīs who live on Siṃhala Island?’

“I answered, ‘It is true, indeed it is true. By the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, they are not humans. They are rākṣasīs.’

“The merchants asked me, ‘What can we do? Do you have a plan for us?’

“I told them, ‘On Siṃhala Island there is Bālāha, the king of horses, who has compassion for the desolate and destitute. He eats the herb called sarvaśetāna, rolls back and forth on the golden sand, shakes his body, and then asks three times, “Who is going to cross over to the far shore? Who is going to cross over to the far shore? Who is going to cross over to the far shore?”¹⁹² We should go to him.’

“The merchants asked me, ‘On what day should we go?’

“I answered, ‘We should definitely leave in three days’ time. Each person should prepare provisions for the journey.’