法苑珠林 33.9

33.9

復有一比丘。名曰須陀耶。即白世尊曰。我念宿命生維耶離國。為小民家子。時世無佛。眾僧教化。我時持酪入市欲賣。值眾僧大會講法。過而立聽。聞法歡喜。即舉瓶酪布施眾僧。僧得祝願益懷欣躍。緣此福德命終生天上。下生世間常處尊貴。九十一劫末後餘愆。下生世間母妊數月。得病命終。埋母塚中。月滿乃生。塚中七年飲死母乳用自濟活。微福值佛逮得應真。

There was another bhikṣu named Sudāya, who addressed the World-Honoured One, saying: "I recall my former lives: I was born in the kingdom of Vaiśālī as the son of a commoner's household. At that time there was no Buddha in the world, but the Saṃgha was converting [beings]. I was carrying curd into the marketplace intending to sell it, when I happened upon a great gathering where the Saṃgha was expounding the Dharma. Passing by, I stood and listened, and hearing the Dharma, I was filled with joy. At once I raised the jar of curd and gave it in dāna to the Saṃgha. When the Saṃgha made the invocation for blessings, my heart leaped with even greater joy. Through this meritorious blessing, upon the end of that life I was born in heaven; descending to be born in the world, I was constantly in noble and revered stations. At the end of ninety-one kalpas, through a lingering fault, I descended to be born into the world: when my mother had been pregnant for several months, she fell ill and died, and was buried in a tomb. When the months were full, I was born. For seven years in the tomb, I drank the dead mother's milk to sustain my life. Through this slight remaining blessing, I have encountered the Buddha and attained arhatship."