經律異相 30.6

30.6

In the past, the queen of the king of Vārāṇasī became pregnant. When this queen realized she was pregnant, she informed the king, and the king immediately provided for her and nurtured her, ensuring everything was harmonious and comfortable. When her months were complete, she gave birth to a lump of flesh, as red as a hibiscus flower. [She thought:] “Other consorts give birth to handsome children, yet I have given birth to a lump of flesh without hands or feet! I feel ashamed. If the king sees it, he will surely detest and despise me.” She placed it in a vessel, hammered gold into a foil, and inscribed upon it with cinnabar: “This was born of the queen of the king of Vārāṇasī.” She covered the mouth of the vessel, sealed it with the royal seal, placed the golden foil inscription on the outside of the vessel, and had it cast into the river. After the attendants discarded it, spirits and deities guarded it so that there were no winds or waves. At that time, a practitioner of the Path lived by the riverbank, depending on cowherds. Washing himself in the early morning, he saw this vessel from afar. He picked it up, saw the characters written on the golden foil, and also saw that it was sealed with the royal seal. He then opened the vessel to look, and saw only a lump of flesh. He thought to himself: “If this were dead flesh, it should have rotted and stunk long ago. There must be an extraordinary sign here.” He brought it back to his dwelling and carefully placed it in a safe spot. After half a month passed, it transformed into two pieces. After that, another half month passed, and each of the two pieces grew five swellings. Half a month later, one piece became a boy and one piece became a girl. The boy's complexion was like yellow gold, and the girl's complexion was like white silver. When the practitioner saw them, he felt love and esteem for them as if they were his own children. Milk spontaneously flowed from both of his thumbs; with one finger he nursed the boy, and with the other finger he nursed the girl. When the milk entered the children's stomachs, it was like clean water in a maṇi jewel, completely clear and transparent inside and out. The practitioner named the children the Licchavis (which in the Liang language means “thin skin”, or also “same skin”). The practitioner raised these two children with extreme hardship. In the morning, he would enter the village to beg for food for himself and the two children, returning only late in the day. At that time, the cowherds saw that the practitioner underwent such hardship for these two children, and said to him: “Venerable One, one who has left home ought only to practice the Path. Why should two children hinder and cause you to abandon your practice of the Path? You may hand them over to us, and we will nurture and raise them.” The practitioner said: “Excellent!” These cowherds each returned home. The next day, together with their companions, they leveled and swept the road, erected banners and streamers, scattered multicolored flowers, and beat drums as they came to the practitioner's place to welcome the two children. They said to the practitioner: “Now it is time for these two children to depart.” The practitioner entrusted them, saying: “These two children have great blessings and virtue beyond measure. You must care for them well, and you should sustain them with the five kinds of dairy: milk, curd, raw butter, clarified butter, and ghee. When these two children grow up, they should marry each other. Find a fine, wide, and level place to establish their dwelling; you may install the boy as king and the girl as queen.” The cowherds accepted his instructions and departed. When the two children reached the age of sixteen, [the cowherds took] a wide, level place one hundred yojanas in breadth and length, built a mansion in the center, married the girl to the boy, and established them as husband and wife. Later, each birth produced two children, one boy and one girl. In this manner, she gave birth sixteen times. Seeing that the royal children were gradually multiplying, the cowherds opened more residences and built gardens and grounds, making thirty-two mansions in all. In this way, the area was expanded three times, and therefore it was named Vaiśālī. (Extracted from the tenth fascicle of the Samantapāsādikā.)