法苑珠林 35.20

35.20

The Avadānaśataka also says: When the Buddha was in the world, King Prasenajit's queen gave birth to a boy. He was shapely and extraordinarily wonderful, rare in the world, and his body was draped in a kāṣāya. Having been born, he could already speak. He asked his royal father, "Is the Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, present today or not? Are the Venerable Kāśyapa, Śāriputra, and Mahāmaudgalyāyana—are they all present or not?" He asked all around whether they were present. The royal father replied, "They are all present." [The boy said,] "My only wish, Great King, is that you provide an offering for me, inviting the Buddha and the Saṃgha." Thereupon [the king] ordered an invitation to be made for him. After the Buddha entered the palace, he saw the prince and asked him, saying, "Do you yourself recall whether at the time of the Buddha Kāśyapa you were a tripiṭaka bhikṣu or not?" He replied, "I truly was." [The Buddha asked,] "Was staying in this womb peaceful and secure or not?" [He replied,] "Relying on the bequeathed grace of the Buddha, I was able to preserve my life and pass the days." At that time, the king's queen, seeing this prince and the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, conversing with each other, was beside herself with joy. She addressed the Buddha, saying, "What merit did this prince plant in the past, that as soon as he was born he could speak, and could even have this question-and-answer resonant [with the Buddha]? We only wish that the World-Honoured One would expound and explain it." At that time, the World-Honoured One immediately spoke a gāthā for the king: