法苑珠林 65.43

65.43

Furthermore, the Maitreya-paripṛcchā-pūrvapraṇidhāna-sūtra says: The Buddha said, 'Ānanda, when I originally sought the Path, my diligent austerities were boundless. In a past life there was a royal prince named Jewel Flower, who was handsome and graceful. Going out from the garden to look around, he saw a man on the road whose body was afflicted with leprosy. Seeing him, he asked the sick person, "What kind of medicine will cure your disease?" The sick person answered, saying, "If I obtain a king's marrow and blood to smear upon my body, then the disease will be cured." Having heard this, the prince immediately opened his own body, taking the bone marrow and blood to give to the sick person. He gave them with utmost sincerity, with no regret in his mind. That royal prince was my very self. The water of the four great oceans might still be measured by the peck, but the bone marrow and blood of my body cannot be calculated, all for the sake of seeking saṃbodhi.'