法苑珠林 28.11

28.11

As the *Zabaozang jing* states: The Buddha addressed the monks: "Long ago in the past, countless ages ago, in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī there was a mountain named Mountain of the Ṛṣis. There was a Brahmacārin living on that mountain who regularly urinated and defecated on a rock. Later, some semen fell onto the place where he had urinated, and a doe came and licked it, whereupon she became pregnant. When the months and days were fulfilled, she came to the ṛṣi's place and gave birth to a girl. She was wonderfully handsome and exquisite, except that her feet resembled those of a deer. The Brahmacārin took her in and raised her to adulthood. The Brahmacārin worshipped fire and kept the fire burning constantly. This girl was tending the fire overnight, and through a brief moment of carelessness she let the fire go out. The girl was terrified, fearing the Brahmacārin's anger. There was another Brahmacārin living away from this dwelling. The girl went there to beg for fire. That Brahmacārin saw her footprints, and in every footprint there was a lotus flower. He made a pact with the girl, saying, 'Circle my house seven times, and then I will give you fire. When you leave, also circle it seven times; do not tread on your original tracks, but return by a different path.' She complied with his words, took the fire, and departed. At that time, King Brahmadatta went out on a hunting trip. He saw that around that Brahmacārin's house were fourteen concentric rows of lotus flowers, and he also saw two paths with two lines of flowers. Marveling at the cause of this, he asked the Brahmacārin, 'There are no pools of water at all; how are there these exquisite flowers?' The Brahmacārin answered him in full. The king followed the tracks of the flowers to the Brahmacārin's place and asked to see the girl. Seeing her beauty, he was exceedingly delighted. He thereupon asked the Brahmacārin for this girl. The Brahmacārin gave her to the king, and the king immediately installed her as his secondary queen. Later, she became pregnant. A physiognomist foretold, 'She shall give birth to a thousand sons.' The chief queen heard this and grew jealous. She gradually devised a scheme: through kindness and favor she won over and instructed the deer-girl's attendants, giving them many treasures. When the months and days were fulfilled, she gave birth to a thousand-petaled lotus flower. When she was about to give birth, the chief queen blindfolded her eyes with cloth, not permitting her to look for herself. She took a foul, rotten horse lung to receive [the birth] underneath, while she took the thousand-petaled lotus flower, placed it into a basket, and threw it into the river. She then untied her blindfold and said to her, 'Look at what you have born: you see only a piece of foul, rotten horse lung.' The king sent someone to ask what had been born, and she answered the king, 'Only a foul lung was born.' The chief queen said to the king, 'Your Majesty has gladly been deluded: what was born of this beast and raised by a ṛṣi has brought forth this inauspicious, foul and filthy thing.' The king immediately demoted her from her rank as queen and would no longer see her. At that time, the King of Ujjayinī, leading his retinue, queens, and court ladies, was amusing himself downstream. He saw a canopy of yellow clouds coming from upstream following the flow of the water. The king thought, 'Beneath this cloud canopy there must be a divine object.' He sent someone to go and look. Under the yellow clouds they saw a basket. They immediately retrieved it, opened it, and looked inside: it was a thousand-petaled lotus flower, and on every petal was a little boy. He took them in and raised them; as they gradually grew up, each possessed great strength. The King of Ujjayinī was accustomed to paying annual tribute to King Brahmadatta. He assembled the tributary goods and sent an envoy, preparing to depart. The sons asked, 'What are you going to do?' The king answered, 'I wish to pay tribute to that King Brahmadatta.' The sons each said, 'If there were even one son, one would still expect him to be able to subjugate the world and make them come pay tribute; how much more so with a thousand sons—why should we offer tribute to another?' The thousand sons immediately led the military hosts to subjugate the various kingdoms, and next came to the kingdom of Brahmadatta. When the king heard that the army was arriving, he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom: 'Who can repel such an enemy?' There was no one who could repel them. The secondary queen came to accept the recruitment, saying, 'I can repel them.' She was asked, 'How can you repel them?' The queen answered, 'Only build me a platform a hundred fathoms high. When I sit upon it, I will surely be able to repel them.' When the platform was completed, the queen sat upon it. At that time, the thousand sons wished to raise their bows to shoot, but naturally their hands could not be raised. The queen said to them, 'Beware, do not raise your hands against your parents! I am your mother.' The thousand sons asked, 'What is the proof?' The mother answered the sons, 'If I press my breasts, one breast will issue five hundred streams, each entering your mouths; then I am your mother. If this should not happen, I am not your mother.' Thereupon, pressing her breasts with both hands, five hundred streams from each breast entered into the mouths of the thousand sons, while none of the rest of the host received any. The thousand sons submitted and repented before their parents. The sons thereupon brought harmony between the two kingdoms, so that there was no longer any enmity. They encouraged one another, giving five hundred sons to the birth parents and five hundred sons to the adoptive parents. At that time, the two kings divided Jambudvīpa, each keeping five hundred sons." The Buddha said, "If you wish to know who the thousand sons at that time were, they are the thousand Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa. The jealous queen who blindfolded the other's eyes at that time is the blind naga Mucilinda. The father at that time was King Śuddhodana. The mother at that time was Queen Māyā." The monks said to the Buddha, "What was the karmic cause for this woman being born from a deer's womb and flowers sprouting beneath her feet, and what was the cause for her becoming a royal queen?" The Buddha said: "In a past life, this woman was born into a poor and lowly family. Mother and daughter were weeding grain in the fields when they saw a pratyekabuddha holding an alms bowl and begging for food. The mother said to the daughter, 'I wish to fetch my portion of food from home and give it to this fine gentleman.' The daughter said, 'Take my portion as well and give them together.' The mother immediately returned home, fetched the portions of food for both mother and daughter, and brought them to give to the pratyekabuddha. The daughter gathered grass and plucked flowers to spread a grass seat for him and scattered the flowers upon it, waiting for the pratyekabuddha to sit down. The daughter wondered at her mother's delay, went up to a high place, and gazed in the distance for her mother. Having caught sight of her mother, she said to her, 'Why do you not hasten? Gallop like a deer!' When the mother arrived, out of resentment at the mother's delay, she at once uttered words of regret: 'Being born at my mother's side is not as good as being born at the side of a deer!' The mother then gave the two portions of food to the pratyekabuddha, and the remaining mother and daughter ate together. When the pratyekabuddha finished eating, he tossed his bowl into the air and manifested eighteen transformations. The mother was delighted and immediately made a vow: 'May I in the future constantly give birth to holy sons like this holy man today.' By virtue of this karmic cause, she later gave birth to five hundred sons, all of whom became pratyekabuddhas; one served as the adoptive mother and one as the birth mother. Because she told her mother to gallop like a deer, she was born from a deer's womb, with feet like deer hooves. Because she gathered flowers and scattered them for the pratyekabuddha, one hundred flowers sprouted in her footprints. Because she spread the grass, she constantly became a king's queen. Her mother in a later life became King Brahmadatta; the daughter in a later life became Lady Padmavatī. By virtue of this karmic cause, she later gave birth to the thousand sages of the Bhadrakalpa; by the power of her vow, she constantly gave birth to sages and worthies." Having heard this, the monks rejoiced and put it into practice. Furthermore, as the *Fenbie gongde jing* states: Formerly, there was an elder named Sudatta. In his household was an unmarried daughter. At home she faced the fire, and the warm air entered her body; thereupon she became pregnant. Her parents were startled and bewildered, and questioned her about the circumstances. The daughter answered truthfully that she did not know the cause. The parents questioned her again, subjecting her to beatings with rods. The daughter did not alter her words. Thereupon the matter was reported to the king. The king also interrogated and reproached her, but the girl did not change her account. He threatened her with death. The girl thereupon cried out in grievance, saying, 'Can it be that under heaven there is an unprincipled king who would wrongfully put an innocent person to death? If I am not chaste, you may surely hold me under bond and test me; why must I be wronged like this?' The king thereupon investigated and took surety as the girl had said, without any discrepancy. He said to her parents, 'I wish to take her.' The mother replied, 'Take her as you please; what use is this doomed girl?' The king immediately took her into the palace, caring for and nourishing her according to the season. The months and days were fulfilled, and she gave birth to a boy, who was handsome and exquisite. As he grew up, he left the household and attained the Way. Clever and broadly learned, through diligent practice he before long attained the way of an arhat, and returned to deliver his parents. Furthermore, as the *Avadāna-sūtra* states: Formerly, a husband and wife had no children. They sacrificed to a heavenly deity to seek an heir. The deity granted it to them, and she thereupon became pregnant, giving birth to four objects: first, a sandalwood peck filled with rice; second, an ambrosia vase; third, a treasure pouch; and fourth, a seven-jointed divine staff. The man sighed, saying, 'I sought a son, yet instead brought forth these other things!' He then went to the deity's place to renew his request for his wish. The deity said to him, 'You wish to have a son, but what object can compare in benefit? Eat from this rice peck and its use is inexhaustible; consume from the sweet ambrosia vase and it never diminishes, while it cures a hundred diseases; use the pouch of rare treasures and it suffers no loss; with the seven-jointed divine staff you can defend against the violent. How could a son accomplish this?' The man was greatly pleased, returned home, and tested them; just as spoken, it was not false. He thereupon became immeasurably wealthy. When the king of the country heard of this, he dispatched many soldiers, intending to attack and seize them. The man brandished the staff, flew through the air, and struck the enemy, smashing the powerful troops so that they all retreated and scattered. The man was joyful, free from any further grief or worry.