經律異相 38.8

38.8

In the kingdom of Śrāvastī, Elder Sudatta had a late-born youngest daughter named Sumanā. Her face and features were most exquisite, and her father cherished her with love. He took her to the Buddha's abode. When the daughter saw the Buddha, her heart leapt with redoubled joy, and she made a wish to obtain fine incense to plaster the chamber where the Buddha dwelt. The girl had a bimbaratha in her hand. The Buddha asked her for it, and she offered it to him. On it he wrote the name of an incense and gave it back to her. The girl returned to the city with her father to seek and buy it. According to what the Buddha needed, she brought it to the Jetavana, grinding and pounding it herself day after day. At that time, the king of Takṣaśilā sent one of his sons on an embassy to Śrāvastī to sightsee widely. He also came to the monastery, saw the girl Sumanā, and thereupon took her as his wife. Later she became pregnant and gave birth to ten eggs. When the eggs hatched, there were ten boys. Their features were handsome, and their bravery and strength were extraordinary. However, they were fond of hunting. Their mother instructed them: "Do not do so." The sons addressed their mother: "Hunting is the greatest joy. When you forbid us, Mother, it seems as though you hate us." The mother told them again: "It is because I love you all that I restrain you. If I hated you, I would never speak these words. The sin of taking life leads to falling into hell; for countless kalpas, by what means could you attain liberation?" The sons asked their mother: "Did this come from your own heart, or did you hear it from another?" The mother answered them: "I heard it from the Buddha." The sons again asked their mother: "Who is this Buddha? Please tell us fully." The mother said to her sons: "He was the prince of King Śuddhodana in the kingdom of Kapilavastu. Revulsed by old age, sickness, and death, he left home to train in the Path and attained the unexcelled fruition. His giant body is sixteen cubits tall; he possesses the three knowledges and six supernormal knowledges, and his far-reaching perception has nothing outside it." The sons implored their mother, begging to go see the Buddha. The mother immediately permitted them. They went to the Jetavana to behold the Tathāgata. The Buddha preached the Dharma for them, and all ten attained the purity of the Dharma-eye at the same time. They thereupon requested to leave home. The Buddha permitted them to join the Path. Their hair and beards fell out naturally, and Dharma robes were on their bodies. Striving diligently in the great enterprise, they all attained arhatship and brought an end to the bounds of suffering. In the past, ninety-one kalpas ago, there was the Buddha Vipaśyin. After his parinirvāṇa, his relics were distributed and countless stūpas were erected. At that time, one stūpa decayed and collapsed, and an old woman repaired it. Ten young men happened to pass by and saw her; with joyful hearts, they assisted her until the work was completed, and made a vow to be mother and sons. From that time onward, for ninety-one kalpas, in heavens and among humans, they were always reborn together, receiving blessings and joy. The old woman of that time was none other than this lady Sumanā, and the ten young men of that time were none other than these ten arhats. (Extracted from the thirteenth fascicle of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish.)