經律異相 48.8

48.8

There was a garuḍa king named Zhengyin (Right Sound). Among all winged creatures, he enjoyed bliss and mastery. In Jambudvīpa, he ate one nāga king and five hundred small nāgas each day. In the other three continents, he also ate them, the daily number being as above, cycling round and round. After eight thousand years, the portents of death appeared: the nāgas spewed venom so that he could not feed; pressed by hunger, he was terrified and could find no peace. He went to the Mount of Adamantine; from the Mount of Adamantine he plummeted directly down to the edge of the great waters, and reaching the edge of the wind-wheel, he was blown by the wind back to the Mount of Adamantine. Seven times in this manner he plunged, and then he died. Because of his venom, fire broke out simultaneously on the ten jewelled mountains. Nāga King Nanda, fearing the burning of these mountains, immediately sent down heavy rain with drops as large as chariot wheels. The bird's flesh melted completely, leaving only its heart. The heart also plummeted directly down seven times as before, and rested on the Mount of Adamantine. Nāga King Nanda took it as a radiant pearl; a wheel-turning sage king obtained it as a wish-fulfilling pearl. If a person is mindful of the Buddha, their mind is likewise (taken from the Guan Fo sanmei jing, Fascicle 1).