經律異相 33.83

33.83

行作沙門入山修道。畢人之壽即生第二天上。為天帝釋太子。於後領理天下亦如大王。復見白髮行作沙門。經為父子。上為天帝。下為聖王。中為太子。各三十六反。數千萬歲終而復始。行此三事自致得佛。爾時父者今我身是也。太子者舍利弗是也。孫王者阿難是也。更相從生展轉為王以化天下。時國王太子并諸人民。皆大歡喜。受佛五戒為優婆塞。得須陀洹道（出法句譬喻經第五卷）。

[The king] became a śramaṇa, entered the mountains, and cultivated the Path. When his human lifespan ended, he was immediately reborn in the second heaven as the crown prince of Śakra, King of the Gods. Later he governed the world below just like the great king, and upon seeing white hair again, he became a śramaṇa. They were father and son through successive rebirths: above, he became the heavenly lord; below, he became a sage king; in the middle, he became a crown prince—each for thirty-six turns. For several tens of millions of years they ended and began again; by practicing these three things, he attained Buddhahood of himself. The father of that time is now myself; the crown prince is Śāriputra; the grandson king is Ānanda. Being reborn in succession, they turned about and served as kings to transform the world. At that time the king, his crown prince, and all the people were overjoyed, received the Buddha's five precepts as upāsakas, and attained the path of a srotāpanna. (Extracted from Fascicle 5 of the *Dharmapada-avadāna Sūtra*)