經律異相 8.50

8.50

Formerly, when the World-Honoured One was wandering in Rājagṛha, the king constantly employed several dozen men to gather fine flowers. One day, the high and low, nobles and palace women all went outside the city to gather flowers. As they were about to return to the city, they saw from afar the World-Honoured One's marks, characteristics, and majestic radiance, towering and boundless, like the moon among stars or like the sun newly rising to illumine everything under heaven, surrounded front and rear by disciples and bodhisattvas. They went straight to the Buddha's place, kowtowed, and made obeisance.
They thought to themselves: "Human life is difficult to preserve, an era with a Buddha is difficult to encounter, and the teachings of the scriptures are difficult to meet with. Now we have met the Great Sage, just as a sick man finds a physician. We are poor and lowly, and moreover bound by the distress of government service and forced labor, never free to follow our own wishes. The king is stern and demanding; as those in charge of gathering flowers, we must always present them early. If we miss the proper time, we may be executed. Yet the noble assembly is difficult to encounter, appearing only once in hundreds of millions of lifetimes. Better to abandon our bodies and lives, offer the flowers to the Buddha, and scatter them over the noble assembly, thereby receiving the scriptural precepts and listening to and examining the profound Dharma and inexhaustible wisdom. Through countless kalpas, the times we have been harmed by others cannot be calculated, yet we have never spared our lives for the sake of the Dharma. Now, by making offerings to the World-Honoured One and performing the karma of the Three Jewels, even if we are executed, we will not fall into painful suffering but will surely be born in a place of peace."
They turned and took refuge, single-mindedly bowing again in homage.
The Buddha, knowing their thoughts, gave rise to the mind of the Great Path and felt deep pity for them. He extensively expounded for them the Dharma of great bliss—the boundless six perfections, the four immeasurables, the four debts of gratitude, the three liberations, and the bodhisattva [path]. The flower gatherers all gave rise to the thought of the Path; their minds understood the Buddha's wisdom and attained the non-retrogression of the unarisen. The Buddha then bestowed the prediction upon them that in the future they would become Buddhas, all titled Sublime Flower (Supuṣpa), fully endowed with the ten titles. The bystanders who heard this were all delighted, embraced and received the Great Dharma, and made offerings to the Three Jewels.
Then the flower gatherers returned to their homes and bade farewell to their parents, wives, and children: "Our lives are now at an end; we will be killed by the king." The parents were astonished and asked what offense they had committed. The sons answered fully: "The king is extremely stern and demanding. We have missed the appointed time, and moreover we have no flowers. We will certainly lose our lives; this is why we have come to bid farewell." Hearing this, the parents were filled with sorrow and grief: "What can be done?" They opened the baskets to look, and they were filled with fine flowers, with variegated garlands and fragrances wafting far in all four directions. The parents told them: "You may present these to the king." The sons each replied: "The people have seen it and will surely report it to the king. Moreover, we have missed the time; we fear we cannot be safe."
At that time, the king was exceedingly furious. Seeing that they had not come on time and had scattered the flowers, he dispatched soldiers to arrest them. Receiving the king's order, they tied their hands behind their backs and brought them into the palace, their crime warranting public execution. The men were not afraid, and the color of their faces did not change. The king marveled and questioned them: "Your crime is immense, your lives are at an end, and having been brought bound you are to be executed. Why are you not fearful, and why does your facial color remain unchanged?" They replied to the king: "Human life has death; things formed have decay. For countless kalpas, we have frequently spared not our bodies and lives for unrighteous matters. This morning, while gathering flowers, we encountered the World-Honoured One, offered the flowers to him, kowtowed, and took refuge. Knowing that we had violated your edict and deserved death, we would rather die with virtue than survive without virtue. When we returned to look at the flower baskets, they were still filled as before. This is entirely due to being sheltered by the benevolence of the Tathāgata." The king questioned the Buddha about it, and the Buddha indicated that it was so. The king said: