傳法正宗記 3.4

3.4

The Mahāsattva Aśvaghoṣa was a native of Vārāṇasī. His family name is unknown. He was also named Puṇyapunya, which was given to him because in past lives he possessed extraordinary merits. Early on, he visited the Venerable Puṇyayaśas; since their dialogue was in accord, he came to admire his path, and thereupon followed him to leave home and receive the precepts. Yaśas subsequently said to him: 'Because in a past life you had an attachment, you fell from the Brahmā Heaven and were born in the country of Vaiśālī. Now, in that country there were three classes of people: the superior had radiant bodies, and their clothing and food appeared spontaneously, obtained according to their thoughts; the middling had bodies without radiance, obtaining clothing and food only by seeking them; the inferior were naked like horses. Pitying this latter class, you once used your spiritual power to divide your body and become silkworms, so that those people were able to use [the silk] for clothing. By virtue of this merit, you have now been reborn here in the Central Region. When you were departing that country, the multitude of horse-like people, moved by love for your virtue, all cried out in sorrow together. You also comforted them with a verse, saying: