法苑珠林 43.40

43.40

Then King Aśoka called his attendant and said, “You now recall my kindness in nurturing you. Take this half-āmalaka fruit, deliver it to Kukkuṭārāma Monastery, and fulfill my intention. Pay homage at the feet of the Saṃgha of monks and say, ‘King Aśoka sends his regards to the great assembly. I am King Aśoka, who ruled this Jambudvīpa. Jambudvīpa was my possession. Now, utterly exhausted of wealth and jewels to give to the assembly of monks, I have no mastery over any possessions. Today, it is only over this half-āmalaka fruit that I have freedom. This is my final dānapāramitā. Out of pity for me, accept this gift, and let me obtain the merit of making offerings to the Saṃgha.’” Having received the king’s order, the messenger took the half-fruit to Kukkuṭārāma Monastery. Coming before the elder (sthavira), he cast himself down on the ground in veneration, knelt upright with palms joined, and reported the king’s instructions in full to the elder. The elder then addressed the great assembly: “Who, hearing these words, would not feel aversion to the world?” The elder then had all the monks of the assembly receive a share of the half-fruit to eat: he ordered it ground up and put into pomegranate soup, and when served, all the monks received a portion throughout. Then the king asked his courtiers again, “Who is the king of Jambudvīpa?” The ministers replied to the king, “Your Majesty is.” The king sat up from his bed, looked out in the four directions, joined his palms in reverence, and contemplated the virtues of the Buddhas. Thinking in his mind and speaking with his mouth, he said, “I now once again give this Jambudvīpa to the Three Jewels, to use as they wish.” The king wrote all these words down on paper, sealed it, and impressed it with his tooth-mark. When he had finished doing this, he passed away. At that time, after the crown prince, ministers, and commoners had buried the king, the ministers wished to enthrone the crown prince to succeed to the royal rank. Among them, a chief minister named Anuruddha spoke to the ministers, saying, “We must not enthrone the crown prince as king. While the great king was alive, he vowed to spend a hundred thousand koṭis of gold performing deeds of merit. He fell short of the hundred thousand only by four koṭis. For this reason, he has now renounced Jambudvīpa and given it to the Three Jewels so as to fulfill his vow. Now this great earth belongs to the Three Jewels; how could we install him as king?” When the ministers heard this, they immediately sent four koṭis of gold to the monastery. Thereupon they enthroned the son of Dharmavivardhana, named Saṃprati, as king.