經律異相 23.4

23.4

When the Bhagavat was in the city of Rājagṛha, the bhikṣuṇī Bhadrā left the bhikṣu park, sat upright under a tree, focused her mindfulness, recalled her own past lives, and smiled. Seeing this, the other bhikṣuṇīs asked her [about it]. The bhikṣuṇī Bhadrā said: “I remember my past lives. Ninety-one kalpas ago, the Tathāgata Vipaśyin appeared in the world. There was a young man named Brahmadeva who possessed immense wealth, abundant goods, and boundless riches. Holding a jeweled parasol, the youth came out of his house. A guild elder’s wife, peerlessly upright and beautiful, also passed by there, and a great multitude of people were all gazing at her. The youth then thought to himself: ‘Now I hold a jeweled parasol fashioned from manifold gems and walk along this road, yet no one looks at me; they [all look at] this elder’s wife. I must now devise an expedient means to make the people look at me.’ Thereupon the youth, holding the jeweled parasol in hand, departed that territory, went to the Tathāgata Vipaśyin, and stood behind the Tathāgata holding up the jeweled parasol for seven days and seven nights. He made this vow, saying: ‘By the merit of my making offerings to the Bhagavat, may I be reborn as a woman of peerless beauty, so that anyone who sees me will be entranced and fall prostrate to the ground!’ When the youth died, he was born in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven as a heavenly maiden, supreme in five respects. What are the five? Celestial lifespan, celestial appearance, celestial joy, celestial supernatural powers, and superior celestial merit. When the devas saw this woman, they all cherished hopes of being united with her, and the devas of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven fought with one another. When the heavenly maiden’s lifespan ended, she was reborn in the human realm as the daughter of the brāhmaṇa Yajñadatta, upright and exquisite. Transmigrating between human and celestial realms, she was always beautiful, encountered many Buddhas, served and made offerings to them all, and sought to remain a woman. Later, she was born in the human realm into a lowly brāhmaṇa family as a maidservant to the youth Candraprahāsa, and her name was Kīrā. The wife of the youth Candraprahāsa was named Manoharā, peerlessly beautiful. At that time, the lady [Manoharā] said to that maidservant: ‘Go outside the house. If you see a śramaṇa or a brāhmaṇa, lead them here; I wish to give alms.’ The maidservant went out of the house. A pratyekabuddha was on the door threshold begging for food. The maidservant Kīrā said to him: ‘Come inside; [she] wishes to give you alms.’ When the lady saw that his body was not handsome, she said to Kīrā: ‘Send the śramaṇa away; I will not give to him.’ The maid said: ‘May my lady open her heart and not despise the śramaṇa’s appearance! The merit of making an offering [to him] is immeasurable.’ The lady answered: ‘Hurry and drive this śramaṇa out! I cannot bear to give to him.’ The maid replied: ‘If my lady will not give to this śramaṇa, please do not grudge the portion of food that I am to receive today.’ The lady immediately gave roasted barley flour to the maidservant. The maidservant Kīrā then placed her portion of roasted barley flour into the pratyekabuddha’s bowl. Having eaten, he ascended into the sky. When the maidservant saw this, overcome with joy, she made a vow: ‘By this merit, may I not fall into evil destinies, and throughout the distant future may I constantly encounter this holy one, who will teach me the Dharma and cause me to attain liberation quickly!’ At that time King Brahmadatta of the city of Vārāṇasī saw that pratyekabuddha rising into the air, and said to his ministers: ‘Where did he receive alms?’ At that time the elder Candraprahāsa had gathered five hundred merchants in a great lecture hall. Seeing from afar the pratyekabuddha holding his bowl and ascending into the sky, some merchants said: ‘This holy one must have received food at my home.’ At that time the lady Manoharā saw [this] and said to the maidservant Kīrā: ‘Transfer the merit you attained to me; this was my almsgiving. I will now give you more food in return.’ The maid said: ‘I will not give it.’ [The lady] spoke again: ‘I will now give you a two-fold share of food.’ She replied: ‘I have no need of it either.’ The lady said again: ‘I will give you three-fold, five-fold, ten-fold, twenty-fold, even a hundred-fold, a thousand-fold shares.’ The maidservant Kīrā said: ‘I will not give it to you.’ The lady retorted: ‘If you do not give it to me, I will cut off your ears, nose, and hands.’ The maidservant Kīrā said: ‘I will not give it to you.’ The elder’s wife then beat the maidservant with a stick. After she had finished beating her, the elder Candraprahāsa returned, saw the maidservant Kīrā with a broken head and torn clothes, weeping and shedding tears, and asked her what had happened from beginning to end. She reported the matter in full. The youth Candraprahāsa then demoted that lady to be a maidservant, made the maidservant Kīrā his principal wife, surrounded her with five hundred palace women, and adorned her body with hundreds of thousands of precious gems. When King Brahmadatta heard that the maidservant of Candraprahāsa had fed that pratyekabuddha, King Brahmadatta sent hundreds of thousands of ounces of precious treasures as a gift to the elder Candraprahāsa’s wife, and furthermore granted fields and estates to the elder Candraprahāsa. King Brahmadatta at that time was what is now Kapilavāstu. The elder Candraprahāsa was Mahākāśyapa. The maidservant Kīrā was my very self. Now I have met the Buddha and attained arhatship.” (Drawn from the Bhadrā Bhikṣuṇī Sūtra)