經律異相 18.42

18.42

There was a cow-elephant named Madā who carried relics of the Buddha to the country of Kaśmīra. By virtue of this wholesome root, when she died she was reborn among human beings, went forth, and attained the fruit of an arhat. It was by eating a bushel of rice that she entered parinirvāṇa. She addressed the nuns, saying, 'Assemble together, all of you; I shall personally declare the superior Dharma that I have attained.' The nuns did not believe her words. She again spoke to the nuns, saying, 'Do not give rise to disbelief. In a past life I was a cow-elephant; discarding that elephant body, I at once obtained this body. I was able to eat one bushel and five pecks of cooked rice, but I only ate one bushel,' and so on at length. Such as this, though it was eating copiously, was easily satisfying. It was once heard that King Prasenajit ate two bushels of cooked rice; it was due to the cause and conditions of his merit. Due to a single root of non-glutinous rice and a single stalk of sugar cane that grew taller day by day, and through eating that much food, his body was exceedingly fat and large. With this huge body he went to where the Buddha was. The Buddha asked, 'Great King, is your fat and large body not weary?' At that time Prasenajit felt ashamed in his heart and related everything to the Buddha. The Bhagavat spoke a verse: