經律異相 13.37

13.37

Aniruddha, Mahākāśyapa, Maudgalyāyana, and Piṇḍola conferred together: "At present, in Rājagṛha, there are people who do not have faith and delight in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha. We should work together to cause them to have faith and delight." Having conferred thus, they surveyed far and near, and saw only the elder Bhadrika and his sister who did not have faith in the Three Jewels. The three śrāvakas above said they could convert Bhadrika.
At that time, that elder had built seven sets of gates and had three troupes of entertainers. Whenever he wished to eat, all seven gates were closed, and at each meal one troupe of entertainers performed. At the time of his meal, Aniruddha went before him to beg. The elder asked, "From where did you enter?"
He replied, "I entered through the gates."
He immediately questioned the gatekeepers; the gates were locked as before, and no one had been seen entering. The elder then took a piece of hemp cake and put it into his bowl. Having obtained it, he immediately departed.
At a later meal, Kāśyapa went again to beg in the same manner, and obtained a piece of fish put into his bowl. The [elder's] sister asked him, "Did you think the monks could not obtain [food] and thus came to beg?"
He replied, "Yes."
The sister said, "The monk who came before is named Aniruddha, a son of the Śākya clan. He abandoned palaces for the three seasons and the pleasures of the five desires to leave home and study the Way. The monk who came later is Pippalāyana, the son of a great brāhmaṇa clan. He abandoned nine hundred and ninety fields, houses, plows, and oxen to leave home and study the Way. It was only out of compassion for you that they came to beg for food!"
When the elder heard this, he felt reverence and submission within. Thereupon, Maudgalyāyana flew through the air, preached the Dharma, and instructed, benefited, and gladdened him. Immediately on his seat, [Bhadrika] became distant from dust and free of defilement, attained the purity of the Dharma-eye, saw the Dharma, and attained the fruit. He then received the refuges and precepts.
The three śrāvakas above said to Piṇḍola, "We have now converted Bhadrika and caused him to have faith in the Dharma. You should now go and convert his sister in turn."
Then, in the morning, Piṇḍola took his bowl and went to her house. At that time, the elder's sister was making cakes with her own hands. Suddenly seeing him come to beg, she said to him, "I will not give to you. Why do you gaze single-mindedly into your bowl—what do you want?"
Piṇḍola then emitted smoke from his body. She spoke to him again, "Even if smoke comes out of your whole body, I still will not give to you."
Piṇḍola's whole body then blazed with fire. She spoke to him again, "Even if your whole body blazes with fire, I still will not give to you."
Piṇḍola then flew up into empty space. She spoke to him again, "Even if you fly into empty space, I still will not give to you."
Piṇḍola then hung upside down in empty space. She spoke to him again, "Even if you hang upside down in empty space, I still will not give to you."
Piṇḍola thought: "The Bhagavat does not allow us to force people to give alms." He then left on his own.
Not far from Rājagṛha, there was a great boulder. Piṇḍola sat upon it, and along with the boulder flew into Rājagṛha. The people in the city, seeing this, were all terrified; fearing the boulder would fall to the ground, everyone ran in panic. Reaching the sky above the elder's sister, it stopped and did not depart. Seeing this, she was greatly terrified, and said, "Please grant me my life! Return the boulder to where it was before, and I will give you food."
Piṇḍola then took the boulder, returned it to its original place, and went before her to stand. The elder's sister thought, "I cannot give him a large cake; I will make a smaller one to give him." She made a small ball, but it always turned into a large one instead. After three attempts, each grew larger than the last. She then thought, "Whatever I try to make small turns into something large. I might as well simply give him one cake." She immediately took one cake and handed it to him. The cakes all stuck together, all the way to the cake vessel; when she took hold of the vessel with her hand, her hand stuck to it as well. She said to Piṇḍola, "If you need cakes, I will give them all to you. I give them whole and do not begrudge them. Why do you need me, causing my hand to stick?"
He replied, "I do not need the cakes, nor do I need the vessel, nor do I need you. The four of us conferred and agreed to deliver you and the second person. Your brother has already been converted, and I was assigned to deliver you. That is the reason it is so."
She asked, "Now what do you wish me to do?"
He replied, "Sister, you may carry these cakes and follow me to make an offering to the Buddha and the one thousand two hundred and fifty monks." All were completely sated, yet the cakes were still not exhausted.
She brought what remained to report to the Buddha: "With these few cakes of mine, I made an offering to the Buddha and the Saṅgha, and all were completely sated, yet they are still not exhausted. Where should I now place them?"
The Buddha said, "You may place them on ground where no grass grows, or into water that has no living creatures."
The woman then took them and placed them in water free of living creatures. The water boiled with a sound like throwing hot iron into a little water. She became terrified and returned to the Buddha's presence. The Buddha preached the Dharma for her, and she attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. She then received the refuges and precepts, no different from [other] disciples. The elders and others reported this to the Buddha. The Buddha then rebuked the monks: "From now on, I do not permit you to display divine powers again." (Extracted from the thirtieth fascicle of the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya).