法苑珠林 76.19

76.19

Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Hundred Avadānas says: When the Buddha was in the world, there was an elder in the city of Rājagṛha whose wealth and treasures were immeasurable and beyond reckoning. His wife, having completed ten months [of pregnancy], was about to give birth to a child, but it was unwilling to come out. Soon she became pregnant again, and having completed ten months, she gave birth to another child. The one conceived earlier remained in her right flank. In this manner, she successively conceived nine children, each born upon the completion of ten months. Only that first child remained in the womb and was unwilling to come out. The mother suffered exceedingly; she prepared various medicines and broths to treat herself, but the ailment did not subside. She instructed her household: "The child in my womb is still alive and not dead. If I should die now, you must cut open my belly, take out the child, and nurture him." At that time, the mother could not escape the illness and thereupon died. Then the relatives loaded her corpse onto a cart and went to the cemetery. They invited the great physician Jīvaka to cut open her belly and inspect it. They obtained a young boy: his form was still small, his hair and beard were completely white, and he walked hunched over. Looking around in all four directions, he spoke to his relatives, saying: "You should know that because in a past life I abused and insulted the Saṃgha with harsh speech, I have dwelt in this digestive tract for sixty years, undergoing such suffering that it is difficult to endure." When the relatives heard this, they wailed and wept bitterly, unable to answer him. At that time, the World-Honoured One knew from afar that this child's roots of goodness had matured. Leading the great assembly, he proceeded to the place of the corpse. He addressed the small child, saying: "Are you an elder monk?" He replied, saying: "Truly, I am." A second and third time [the Buddha] asked likewise, and he still said that he was. At that time, seeing this small child replying to the Buddha, the great assembly each harboured doubts. Stepping forward, they addressed the Buddha, saying: "What karma did this old child create in the past that he has white hair in the womb, walks hunched over, and moreover engages in questions and answers with the Tathāgata?"