法苑珠林 52.8

52.8

As stated in the Sumati-grahapati Sūtra: When the Buddha was in the world, in the city of Śrāvastī there was the son of a great elder named Sumati. When this man died, his parents, clan members, and acquaintances all wept aloud together, mourning and beating their breasts, crying out grievances, screaming loudly, and fainting to the ground. Some called out to parents and siblings; some cried out to husbands and masters. Thus in diverse manners they wailed and wept. There were also those who seized dirt and threw it upon themselves, and those who took knives and cut their hair, like a person whose heart is pierced by a poisoned arrow, suffering immeasurable affliction. There were also those who covered themselves with garments and wept in sorrow, like trees in a great wind blowing and whipping about, their branches clashing against one another; or like fish out of water writhing upon the ground; or like a great felled tree crashing down in disarray. Such was the severe torment inflicted upon their bodies. At that time, the World-Honoured One, knowing this, purposefully asked Ānanda, “Why is that great assembly wailing and weeping in sorrow like this?” Ānanda fully reported it to the Buddha: “I only pray that the World-Honoured One, for the sake of delivering all beings, may go there. The Buddhas and World-Honoured Ones do not speak without being requested. I now beseech the Buddha on behalf of those people. May the World-Honoured One, out of great compassion, please go there.”