太子瑞應本起經 2.9

2.9

"When the Buddha first attained the Path, he knew that having eaten little, his body was empty and light. He slowly arose and entered the water to bathe. When finished, as he wished to ascend the bank, a deity bent down a tree branch so that he could grasp it and climb out, and he returned beneath the tree. Five hundred green sparrows flew over, circled the Buddha three times, and departed. There was also the daughter of an elder who, when newly married, had made a vow that if she gave birth to a son, she would prepare gruel of a hundred flavors to sacrifice to the spirit of the mountain tree. Later, having given birth to a boy, she joyfully prepared the gruel and put it in a golden bowl. When the woman poured out the gruel, neither the pot nor the ladle was soiled. The woman revered it all the more, and together with several women went into the mountains. Seeing a fine tree from afar, she sent her maidservant ahead to sweep and clean it. When the maidservant arrived, she saw the Buddha, and not knowing what spirit he was, returned and reported to the woman, saying, 'There is a spirit sitting beneath the tree.' The woman had the maidservant carry the gruel of a hundred flavors upon her head and step forward, kneeling to offer the food together with the golden bowl. The Buddha said, 'Since you are capable of such good intention, you will surely receive merit in this present life and see the truth.' The women bowed from afar and withdrew. When the Buddha finished eating the gruel, he recalled that when the previous three Buddhas first attained the Path, they were all offered food of a hundred flavors together with golden bowls like this vessel, and these were now all at the abode of the nāga Mucilinda. The Buddha then threw the bowl into the water; it naturally flowed upstream for seven li and settled atop the previous three bowls, the four vessels stacking together and fitting one another as if one. The nāga king rejoiced, knowing that there was once again a Buddha.