太子瑞應本起經 1.37

1.37

"King Bimbisāra rejoiced and said: 'Excellent! The Bodhisattva's aspiration is wondrous, rare in the world. When you surely attain the Buddha Way, I pray that you cross me over first.' The Prince silently departed. As he was about to cross the Nairañjanā River, a deva halted the current, causing the riverbed to dry up temporarily. The Prince crossed the river, traveled several tens of li, and saw three brāhmaṇas, each with their disciples, dwelling separately beside a stream. Approaching them, he inquired about their path. They proclaimed: 'We serve Brahmā, revere the sun and moon, perform fire sacrifices daily, and hold water alone to be purifying.' The Bodhisattva replied: 'This is merely the path of birth and death! Water is not perpetually full; fire is not long hot; the sun rises and then moves; the moon waxes and then wanes. The Way lies in pure emptiness—how could water make a person's mind pure?' Pained by this, he departed. As he walked, he gave rise to loving-kindness, comprehensively contemplating sentient beings in their senility and obstinate foolishness, unable to escape sickness and the pain of death and mourning; wishing to liberate them, he unified his mind and gave rise to compassion. Pitying all who suffer from the afflictions of hunger, thirst, cold, heat, gain, loss, sin, fault, and adversity, wishing to bring them security and peace, he unified his mind and gave rise to sympathetic joy. Contemplating all the worlds as having the afflictions of anxiety, suffering, terror, and misfortune, wishing to bring them tranquility, he unified his mind and gave rise to equanimity. Desiring to cross over the living beings of the five destinies and eight difficulties who are ignorant, covered in darkness, and do not see the right path, he resolved to accomplish their rescue and enable them to attain the unconditioned. Unifying his mind, he did not rejoice when encountering good nor grieve when meeting evil; abandoning the eight worldly conditions—gain and decline, disgrace and honor, praise and blame, suffering and pleasure—he was not swayed by them."