法苑珠林 11.60

11.60

According to the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya: After the Buddha attained the Way, he experienced the bliss of liberation for seven days. There were five hundred wagons carrying rock sugar to engage in trade abroad, and their route passed beneath the tree. The two brothers who were the wagon masters, Trapuṣa and Bhallika, first offered honey and parched flour. The Four Kings offered bowls, and after the Buddha received them, he expounded the three refuges for them. For another seven days, the nāga king Mucalinda offered non-human food. After another seven days, Senā offered food, and the four sisters received the three refuges. After another seven days, the Brahmā king came to request the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. Furthermore, the Lalitavistara states: At that time, the Brahmā king, together with sixty-eight thousand Brahmā kings and their retinue, came to the Buddha's presence, prostrated at his feet, and requested the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. After the Buddha accepted the request, he said: 'In my past lives in Vārāṇasī, I made offerings to sixty billion Buddhas; I ought to turn the wheel of the Dharma here.' Because he gazed at the tree for seven days to repay its kindness, he had not yet preached the Dharma.