經律異相 24.17

24.17

The king lit the thousand lamps to make an offering to the great master. Their light illuminated the worlds of the ten directions far and wide. From within the light of the lamps, sounds also came forth speaking this half-gāthā. Those who heard the Dharma all resolved upon the mind of awakening. The light shone upward to the palace of Trāyastriṃśa, eclipsing the light of the devas. The king of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven then thought: "For what cause and condition is there this brilliance?" With the divine eye, he viewed the world and saw the wheel-turning king perfuming his mind with great compassion, gouging his body for a thousand lamps for the sake of sentient beings, and making offerings to the great master in order to deliver sentient beings. "I must go to encourage, admonish, and assist him." He then descended to the world, transformed into an ordinary man, went to the king's place, and asked the great king: "You gouged your body for a thousand lamps and practiced this austerity in order to seek half a gāthā; what is your aim?" [The king] replied: "Good son, for the sake of sentient beings, I wish to cause them to resolve upon the mind of awakening." At that time, the transformed man reverted to his form as Śakra and said: "In making such an offering, do you wish to seek to become a heavenly king, Māra king, or Brahmā king?" [The king] said: "I do not seek these. I seek only bodhi for the sake of sentient beings: to bring peace to the unpeaceful, understanding to the uncomprehending, deliverance to the undelivered, and attainment of the path to those who have not yet attained it." Śakra, the king of the gods, said: "Great King, are you not being foolish now? Those who seek bodhi can only succeed after enduring hardships and toil for a long time. How can you hope to seek the unexcelled path?" [The king] replied to Śakra, the king of the gods: "Even if a wheel of glowing iron were to spin upon my crown, I would never, on account of such suffering, retrogress from the mind directed toward the unexcelled path." [Śakra said:] "Although you have spoken these words, I do not believe them." The wheel-turning king then made a vow before Śakra, the king of the gods: "If I am not truly seeking samyaksaṃbodhi and am deceiving Śakra, the king of the gods, may my thousand wounds never heal. If this is not so, may the blood become milk and the thousand wounds heal completely." As he uttered these words, the wounds immediately healed as before. Śakra, the king of the gods, said: "Excellent, O Great King! This is truly great compassion. Practicing such austerities, you will before long attain unexcelled bodhi. When you attain bodhi, you must deliver me first." Śakra Devānām Indra then emitted a great light that illuminated the king's body, and together with hundreds of thousands of devas, he resolved upon the mind of awakening. The five hundred princes, seeing their father the king's bodily wounds heal completely, rejoiced boundlessly and resolved upon the mind of awakening. The twenty thousand consorts and hundreds of thousands of court ladies did likewise. (Extracted from the third fascicle of the Sūtra on the Skillful Means of the Buddha's Repayment of Kindness)