法苑珠林 35.24

35.24

As the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says: Long ago, immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas in the past, in this Jambudvīpa there was a great king named Devī, who had overall command of eighty-four thousand small kingdoms. At that time, there was no Buddha in the world; there was a pratyekabuddha residing in the mountains and forests, blessing and liberating sentient beings, and birds and beasts also attached themselves to him. At that time, there was a lion named Dṛḍhapratijña, whose body was golden-colored, who ate fruits and grazed on grass, and did not harm the multitude of living beings. There was a hunter who shaved off his beard and hair, put on a kāṣāya, and, secretly carrying bow and arrows, went and saw the lion. In his heart he thought: 'I could kill it and take its skin to present to the king; this would be sufficient to escape poverty.' It happened that the lion was asleep; the hunter then shot and wounded it with a poisoned arrow. The lion was startled awake and immediately went to harm him, but seeing him wearing a kāṣāya, it thought to itself: 'A person wearing a kāṣāya will not remain long in the world and will certainly attain liberation. Why is this so? This kāṣāya is the sign of the sages of the three times. If I harm him, I would be giving rise to an evil mind toward all the worthy and holy ones of the three times.' Having so thought, it ceased harming him. The poisoned arrow penetrated its body, and its life was not long for this world. It then spoke a gāthā: