法苑珠林 91.44

91.44

Furthermore, the Dharmapada-avadāna Sūtra states: The Buddha was staying in the vihāra of the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada's park, in the kingdom of Śrāvastī, expounding the Dharma for devas, humans, nāgas, and ghosts. In the eastern direction there was a kingdom called Uttarāpatha, where five hundred brāhmaṇas and others led one another intending to go to the bank of the Gaṅgā River, where there was a sacred pool with three shrines, to wash away defilements and go naked in quest of immortality according to the practice of the Nirgranthas. Their path led through a great marsh; they lost their way and could not cross, running out of provisions en route. Looking into the distance, they saw a great tree that seemed to possess divine energy, as if someone lived there. They hastened to beneath the tree, but saw nothing at all. The brāhmaṇas lifted their voices in great weeping: “Wearied and afflicted by hunger and thirst, we shall perish utterly in this marsh!” The tree deity manifested a body and asked the brāhmaṇas, “Whence have you practitioners come, and whither do you wish to go now?” With one voice they replied, “We wished to go to the sacred pool to bathe in hope of attaining immortality. Today, we are hungry and thirsty; please have pity and rescue us!” The tree deity raised his hand, and food and drink of a hundred flavours flowed forth from his hand in abundance, providing food and drink for the crowd so that all were fully satisfied, with the leftover food and drink sufficient to supply their provisions for the journey. Just as they were about to depart, they approached the deity and asked, “What virtue did you practice originally to attain such magnificent majesty?” The deity answered the brāhmaṇas, “I originally lived in the kingdom of Śrāvastī. At that time, a great minister of the state named Sudatta provided a meal for the Buddha and the saṃgha of monks. He went to the market to buy curds, but there was no one to carry the curds, so he hired me to carry them. Arriving at the vihāra, he had me serve them; when this was finished, he distributed washing water, and we sat reverently listening to the Dharma. Everyone rejoiced, praising it as boundlessly good. At that time, I upheld the fast, and when I returned home in the evening I did not eat. My wife questioned me with surprise: ‘I wonder what grievance you have?’ I answered, ‘I have no grievance. I saw the elder Sudatta offering a meal to the Buddha in the park, and he invited me to observe the fast. The fast is called the Eight Precepts.’ His wife became furious and said with indignation, ‘Gautama upsets customs; how can he be worth following? If you do not break the fast and eat, misfortune will arise from this flaw!’ She pressed me incessantly, so we ate together. That very night, my lifespan was exhausted, and I passed away at midnight. My spirit came to be born here. Because this foolish woman broke my fast, I did not attain the fruits of that karma, but came to be born in this marsh as this tree deity. By the merit of carrying the curds, food and drink issue from my hands; had I completed the fast, I should have been born in heaven to enjoy spontaneous pleasures.” He then composed a verse for the brāhmaṇas, saying: