諸經要集 3.57

3.57

又菩薩本行經云。昔佛在世時。告五百阿羅漢。汝等各說前世宿行所作功德。今得值我得道因緣。時有阿羅漢名婆竭多梨。即從坐起白佛言。世尊。我念過去無央數劫。有佛出世號曰定光。入涅槃後。分布舍利起塔供養。法欲末時有一貧人。無方自濟賣薪為業向澤採薪。遙見澤中有一塔寺甚為巍巍。即到塔邊。瞻覩形像歡喜作禮。唯見狐狼飛鳥走獸止宿之處。草木荊棘不淨滿中。絕逈無人。復無行跡。無供養者。貧人覩見心用愴然。而不曉知如來神德。但以歡喜。誅伐草木掃除不淨。掃訖歡喜遶之八匝。作禮而去。緣此功德命終之後生光音天。眾寶宮殿光明晃焴。於諸天中巍巍最勝。不可計量。盡其天壽。而復百返作轉輪王。七寶自然王四天下。後復壽盡。常生國王大姓長者家。財富無量顏容端正殊妙無雙。人見歡喜無不愛敬。足行之時道路自淨。虛空之中雨散眾花。婆竭多言。昔貧人者今我身是。由昔掃塔生處自然。一阿僧祇九十劫中不墮惡道。天上人間富貴尊榮。封受自然快樂無極。今最後身值釋迦佛。捨豪出家得阿羅漢。三明六通具八解脫。若有人能於佛法僧。少作微善如毛髮許。所生之處受報弘大。無有窮盡。

Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Bodhisattva's Past Practices states: 'Formerly, when the Buddha was in the world, he addressed five hundred arhats: "Let each of you recount the merits generated by your past actions in previous lives, through which you now meet me and attain the causes and conditions for realizing the Way." At that time, an arhat named Bhagatali arose from his seat and said to the Buddha: "Bhagavat, I recall that immeasurable kalpas ago, a Buddha appeared in the world named Dīpaṅkara. After he entered nirvāṇa, his relics were distributed and stūpas were erected to make offerings. When the Dharma was about to end, there was a poor man with no means of supporting himself whose trade was selling firewood, and he went toward a marsh to gather wood. From afar, he saw a stūpa monastery in the marsh, extremely towering. He went up to the stūpa, beheld the images, and rejoiced and made obeisance. He saw only the lodging places of foxes, wolves, flying birds, and running beasts, completely filled with weeds, trees, thorns, and filth, utterly deserted with no people, with no footprints, and with none making offerings. Seeing this, the poor man felt grief in his heart; though he did not comprehend the divine virtue of the Tathāgata, merely out of joy he cut down the weeds and trees and swept away the filth. Having finished sweeping, he circumambulated it eight times in joy, made obeisance, and departed. Due to this merit, after his life ended he was born in the Ābhāsvara Heaven, in palaces of many jewels where the radiance blazed forth, towering and supreme among all the devas beyond measure. When his heavenly life ended, he returned a hundred times as a wheel-turning king, ruling the four continents with the seven treasures appearing spontaneously. Afterward, when that lifespan was exhausted, he was always born into the families of kings and grand householders of high clan, with immeasurable wealth and resources, handsome and upright in countenance, and matchlessly wondrous. Those who saw him rejoiced, and none failed to love and revere him. When his feet walked, the roads became naturally clean; from mid-air, a rain of diverse flowers was scattered. Bhagata said: "That poor man of the past is my present self. Because of formerly sweeping the stūpa, my places of birth were spontaneous; for one asaṃkhyeya and ninety kalpas I did not fall into the evil destinies. In the heavens and the human realm I enjoyed wealth, noble rank, and high honor; my emoluments were spontaneous and my happiness knew no bounds. Now in this final body, I met Śākyamuni Buddha, abandoned nobility to leave home, and attained arhatship, possessing the three knowledges, the six supernatural powers, and the eight liberations. If someone is able to perform the slightest good, even the size of a hair, toward the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, the reward received in the places of rebirth will be vast and grand, without end."'