法苑珠林 65.57

65.57

Furthermore, the *Saṃyuktāgama* says: At that time, the World-Honoured One addressed the bhikṣus: 'In a past age there was a bird named Lava. It was seized by a hawk and soared into the sky. Calling out in the sky, it said: "Without realising it, I suddenly met with this disaster! Because I abandoned the territory of my parents and roamed elsewhere, I met with this disaster! How is it that today I am imprisoned by another, having no self-determination?" The hawk said to the lava: "Where would you have your own territory to have self-determination?" The lava replied: "Amidst the furrows of ploughed fields I have my own territory, sufficient to escape all disasters; that is the territory of my family and parents." The hawk, feeling arrogant towards the lava, said: "I will let you go back into the ploughed furrows—will you be able to escape?" Thereupon the lava escaped from the hawk's talons, returned beneath a large clod in the ploughed furrows, and settled safely in its resting place. Yet it stood on top of the clod and wished to fight with the hawk. The hawk was enraged: "That little bird dares to fight with me!" With intense anger, it dived down steeply to strike. Thereupon the lava went under the clod; the momentum of the hawk's flight caused its chest to crash into the hard clod, shattering its body and killing it instantly. At that time, the lava bird, crouching deep under the clod, looked up and spoke a verse:'