經律異相 31.5

31.5

The king, the queen, the consorts, the palace ladies, the ministers, and the officials and commoners ran up the mountain. The elder Fulan came forward to inform the king: "Yesterday, the crown prince threw himself down beneath the cliff to feed the tigress with his flesh. Now only his bones remain, strewn upon the ground." Together they went to the site of the corpse. The king, the queen, the consorts, the palace ladies, the ministers, the officials, and the commoners raised their voices in sorrowful wailing that shook the mountain valleys. The king and the queen fell upon their son's corpse, their hearts broken, swooning and insensible to others. The consort came forward, supported his head, smoothed the crown prince's hair, and said: "I would rather my own body be smashed like fine dust than have my husband suddenly end up like this!" Then the ministers addressed the king: "The crown prince gave of himself in generosity and vowed to deliver living beings; he was not snatched away by the ghost of impermanent death. Before [his corpse] rots and stinks, it is fitting to prepare offerings." They then collected the bones and took them out of the mouth of the mountain valley. On a level piece of ground, they heaped up sandalwood firewood, fragrant ghee, and oil, and used them to cremate (jhāpeti) him. They collected the relics and erected a stūpa of seven treasures. The crown prince of that time was my own person. The father king was my present father, Śuddhodana. The queen was my mother, Māyā. The consort was the present Gopī. The one who performed the cremation was Ānanda. The great master of the divine ṛṣis on the mountain was Maitreya. (From the Sūtra on the Bodhisattva Sacrificing His Body to Feed the Starving Tigress)