法苑珠林 65.43

65.43

又彌勒所問本願經云。佛言。阿難。我本求道時勤苦無數。過去世時有王太子。號曰寶華。端正姝好。從園觀出道見一人。身患病癩。見問病人。以何等藥療卿病。病者答曰。得王身髓血等以塗我身。其病乃愈。太子聞已。即自破身骨髓血等以與病者。至心施與意無悔恨。其王太子者。即我身是。四大海水尚可斗量。我身骨髓血等不可稱數。求正覺故。

Furthermore, the Maitreya-paripṛcchā-pūrvapraṇidhāna-sūtra says: The Buddha said, 'Ānanda, when I originally sought the Path, my diligent austerities were boundless. In a past life there was a royal prince named Jewel Flower, who was handsome and graceful. Going out from the garden to look around, he saw a man on the road whose body was afflicted with leprosy. Seeing him, he asked the sick person, "What kind of medicine will cure your disease?" The sick person answered, saying, "If I obtain a king's marrow and blood to smear upon my body, then the disease will be cured." Having heard this, the prince immediately opened his own body, taking the bone marrow and blood to give to the sick person. He gave them with utmost sincerity, with no regret in his mind. That royal prince was my very self. The water of the four great oceans might still be measured by the peck, but the bone marrow and blood of my body cannot be calculated, all for the sake of seeking saṃbodhi.'