大方便佛報恩經 3.22

3.22

"The ministers then pounded this medicine and offered it to the great king. The king took it at once, and his illness was cured. Having recovered, he asked the ministers: 'Where did you obtain this marvelous medicine that relieved my suffering and saved my life?' The ministers addressed the king: 'This medicine was provided solely by Prince Kṣānti; it was not within the power of your ministers to provide.' Hearing these words, the king's heart was startled and his hair stood on end. In a faint voice he asked the ministers: 'Where is Prince Kṣānti now?' The ministers replied: 'The prince is now outside; his body is mutilated, and his life is not far from ending.' Hearing these words, the king wailed aloud: 'How dreadful! How dreadful!' He threw himself to the ground, dust and dirt soiling his body: 'Someone like me is truly heartless! How could I take this medicine made from my son?' He went to his son's quarters, but his life had already ended. The king, the queen, the ministers, and the citizens—an immeasurable great assembly—surrounded him before and behind. Distraught with grief, his mother threw herself upon the corpse: 'Because of the misdeeds of my past lives, I have now caused my son's body to undergo this suffering. Why is my own body not ground into dust like powder, rather than causing my son to lose his life?' Then the father king and the minor kings piled up ox-head sandalwood to make a pyre, cremated all the prince's bones, and further erected a stupa made of the seven treasures to make offerings to them."