法苑珠林 46.58

46.58

Furthermore, the Madhyamāgama says: At that time there was a non-Buddhist who was a close friend of Venerable Bakkula before he left the household life. He went to Venerable Bakkula's place and asked about its meaning, and Bakkula explained it to him: 'In the eighty years since I studied the path within this correct Dharma and Vinaya, I have never given rise to thoughts of desire. In the eighty years since I took up robes made of rags from the dust heap, I have also never given rise to thoughts of arrogance; nor have I ever remembered receiving robes from householders; nor have I ever cut cloth to make robes; nor have I ever asked another bhikṣu to make robes; nor have I ever used a needle to sew robes; nor have I ever held a bag with needle and thread, down to a single strand of thread. In the eighty years since I went begging for food, I have also never given rise to thoughts of arrogance; nor have I ever accepted an invitation from a householder; nor have I ever skipped houses when begging for food; nor have I ever begged food from great families, seeking to obtain pure, fine, extremely wonderful, and abundant food to chew and digest therein; nor have I ever looked upon the face of a woman; nor have I ever entered the room of a bhikṣuṇī; nor have I ever remembered exchanging greetings with a bhikṣuṇī, down to not speaking with one even along the road; nor have I ever kept a novice (śrāmaṇera); nor have I ever remembered expounding the Dharma for laypeople, down to a four-line verse; nor have I ever had an illness, down to a headache lasting the space of a finger-snap; nor have I ever remembered taking medicine, down to a single piece of harītakī. For eighty years as I sat cross-legged, I never leaned against a wall or leaned against a tree. Within three days and nights, I attained the realization of the three knowledges. I shall enter parinirvāṇa while sitting cross-legged.' These are called the unprecedented dharmas of Venerable Bakkula.