經律異相 33.83

33.83

[The king] became a śramaṇa, entered the mountains, and cultivated the Path. When his human lifespan ended, he was immediately reborn in the second heaven as the crown prince of Śakra, King of the Gods. Later he governed the world below just like the great king, and upon seeing white hair again, he became a śramaṇa. They were father and son through successive rebirths: above, he became the heavenly lord; below, he became a sage king; in the middle, he became a crown prince—each for thirty-six turns. For several tens of millions of years they ended and began again; by practicing these three things, he attained Buddhahood of himself. The father of that time is now myself; the crown prince is Śāriputra; the grandson king is Ānanda. Being reborn in succession, they turned about and served as kings to transform the world. At that time the king, his crown prince, and all the people were overjoyed, received the Buddha's five precepts as upāsakas, and attained the path of a srotāpanna. (Extracted from Fascicle 5 of the *Dharmapada-avadāna Sūtra*)