法苑珠林 9.124

9.124

At that time, after the deities spoke this verse, they scattered various heavenly flowers upon the prince and concealed their bodies in the sky, disappearing. Then King Śuddhodana learned that all the skills possessed by his prince surpassed all those of other people. Having seen it with his own eyes, he leaped for joy and ordered a white elephant to be adorned with necklaces, commanding the prince to ride it and enter the city through the city gate. At that time, Devadatta entered from outside the city, saw this white elephant, and asked the people, "Whose elephant is this? Where is it being taken?" The people replied, "It is to be led outside the city for Siddhārtha to ride and enter the city." Out of jealousy, Devadatta seized the elephant's trunk with his left hand and struck its forehead once with his right hand; it fell to the ground, rolled around three times, and immediately died. The white elephant lay on the ground blocking the city gate, so that people coming and going could not enter or exit; the road was blocked, and they could not pass. There was also a boy named Nanda, who came up behind; learning of the matter, he seized the elephant's tail with his right hand and dragged it away from the gate about seven paces. The prince asked again, "Who dragged it away from the gate?" The people said, "Nanda." The prince said, "Well done, Nanda! You have done a good deed." The prince considered, "Though the two of them were able to display their own strength, this elephant's body is exceedingly huge; later it will rot, and the stench will foul this city gate." Lifting the elephant with his left hand and supporting it with his right hand, he hurled it from the air outside the city, over seven walls and seven moats. Having been hurled past, it landed about one krośa away from the city, and where the elephant fell to the ground, it immediately formed a great pit. Down to the present day, people hand down the name of this place as the Elephant-Fall Pit; this is indeed that place. At that time, immeasurable hundreds of thousands of sentient beings raised their voices in unison, saying, "Rare and extraordinary! Never seen or heard before!" and spoke a verse: