法苑珠林 17.43

17.43

涅槃經云。佛言。我念過去作婆羅門。在雪山中修菩薩行。時世無佛亦無經法。時天帝釋觀見菩薩獨在山中修諸苦行。即下試之。自變其身作羅剎像。甚可怖畏。住菩薩前口說半偈。

The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra states: The Buddha said, “I recall that in the past, I was a brahmin cultivating the bodhisattva practice in the Snow Mountains. At that time, there was no Buddha in the world, nor were there scriptures or the Dharma. At that time, Śakra, Lord of the Devas, observed the bodhisattva practicing austerities alone in the mountains, and descended to test him. He transformed his own body into the likeness of a rākṣasa, extremely terrifying, stood before the bodhisattva, and uttered half a verse: