法苑珠林 35.19

35.19

The Avadānaśataka also says: When the Buddha was in the world, in the country of Vārāṇasī there was a King Brahmadatta. His wife gave birth to a daughter whose body was draped in a kāṣāya. She was shapely and extraordinarily wonderful, rare in the world, and so they gave her the name Kāśisundarī. As the years grew and she grew bigger, the robe also grew bigger. By nature she was virtuous, kind, benevolent, and filial. Leading her attendants, she went out of the city to sport, gradually making her way into the Deer Park. Seeing the Buddha's marks and features, her heart was filled with joy. She stepped forward to pay homage at the Buddha's feet and withdrew to sit to one side. The Buddha expounded the Dharma for her; her heart opened and her mind understood, and she attained the fruit of srotāpanna. She then sought to go forth. The Buddha said to her, "Welcome!" Her hair fell away of itself and the kāṣāya was clad upon her body; she became a bhikṣuṇī. Diligently cultivating and practicing, she attained the fruit of an arhat, revered and looked up to by the devas and people of the world. At that time, the bhikṣus, seeing this matter, asked about its causes and conditions. The Buddha told the bhikṣus: "Long ago, in past immeasurable ages, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world, named Kanakamuni, leading bhikṣus as he wandered converting [beings]. At that time, a king's daughter, traveling, saw the Buddha; her heart was filled with joy. She stepped forward to pay homage at the Buddha's feet and invited the Buddha and the Saṃgha. For three months she received the invitation and made the fourfold offerings. Then, with wonderful robes, she gave one to each. By the karmic cause of these merits, among heavenly beings and humans she was honored, prosperous, and noble, and always had a kāṣāya born along with her body." The Buddha told the bhikṣus: "If you wish to know who that king's daughter was, she is none other than this Bhikṣuṇī Sundarī today." Having heard this, the bhikṣus rejoiced and upheld it.