法苑珠林 56.49

56.49

At that time, hearing the verse, the old woman rejoiced. She thought of the foul rice water from the previous day; if she gave it, it could not be drunk. From afar, she addressed Kāśyapa, 'Will you take pity on me and accept it?' Kāśyapa replied, 'Excellent!' The woman crawled through the cave to retrieve it; being naked, she could not carry it out, but leaned and stooped over the fence to present it. Kāśyapa accepted it, and with his venerable mouth pronounced a blessing so that she would receive bliss and well-being. Kāśyapa thought: 'If I take it away to drink elsewhere, the woman will not believe me, thinking that I discarded it.' He then drank it before the woman, rinsed the bowl, and placed it back in his bag. Thereupon, the old woman gave rise to exceptionally true faith. Kāśyapa thought to himself: 'I should manifest supernatural powers so that this woman will certainly attain great peace.' He then broadly displayed supernatural transformations in the air. At that time, seeing this, the woman leaped with joy, knelt upright single-mindedly, and looked up at Kāśyapa from afar. Kāśyapa asked, 'What wish is now in your heart, mother?' She addressed Kāśyapa: 'I wish that by this slight merit I may be born in heaven.' Thereupon Kāśyapa suddenly disappeared. A few days later, the old woman's life ended, and she was reborn in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. Her majestic virtue was towering, shaking heaven and earth, and her light was extraordinary, like seven suns rising all at once, illuminating the heavenly palace. Śakra was startled and awestruck: 'Whose merit can move and surpass mine?' He then used the divine eye to observe that this was brought about by the merit of this heavenly maiden, and came to know where she had originally come from. At that time, the heavenly maiden thought to herself: 'This retribution of merit is due to having made offerings to Kāśyapa in my previous life. Even if I were to offer hundreds of thousands of various heavenly treasures to Kāśyapa, it still could not repay an instant of his grace.' She immediately led her maidservants, carrying heavenly incense and flowers, and suddenly descended, scattering them over Kāśyapa from the sky. Afterwards she came down, bowed with five limbs to the ground, stood to one side, folded her hands, and praised him: