法苑珠林 91.35

91.35

宋京師道林寺。有沙門僧伽達多僧伽羅多等。並博通經論。偏以禪思為業。以元嘉之初。來游宋境。達多常在山中坐禪。日時將迫。念欲受齋。乃有群鳥銜果飛來授之。達多思惟。昔獼猴奉蜜。佛亦受而食之。今飛鳥授食。何為不可。於是受進食之（右此一驗見梁高僧傳）。

At Daolin Temple in the capital during the Song, there were the śramaṇas Saṅghadatta, Saṅghalāta, and others, who were all widely versed in the sūtras and treatises, and particularly took dhyāna meditation as their practice. In the beginning of the Yuanjia era, they came to travel in the Song territory. Datta often sat in dhyāna in the mountains. As the time [for the noon meal] drew near, he thought of wishing to take his meal, whereupon a flock of birds came flying with fruit in their beaks to offer him. Datta reflected, "Formerly, when a monkey offered honey, the Buddha also accepted and ate it. Now that flying birds offer food, why should it not be permissible?" Thereupon, he accepted it and ate it. (This one proof appears in the *Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks*.)