諸經要集 4.111

4.111

The Xianyu jing also states: Ānanda addressed the Buddha, "I do not know, Bhagavat, what good roots you cultivated in past lives to attain such boundless retributions of lamp offerings?" The Buddha told Ānanda, "Two asaṃkhyeya and ninety-one kalpas ago in the past, there was a great king in this Jambudvīpa named Arceśī. The chief queen gave birth to a prince whose body was purple-golden and endowed with the marks and signs. As he grew up, he left home and became a Buddha, converting and delivering very many people. At that time, his father the king invited the Buddha and the Saṃgha for three months of offerings. There was a bhikṣu named Ariṣṭamitra (in Jin language, Shengji) who acted as the lamp dānapati during these three months, entering the city daily to seek butter oil and lamp wicks. At that time, the king's daughter, named Muni, climbed up to a high tower and saw this bhikṣu entering the city every day to manage these necessities. Reverence and compassion arose in her heart, and she sent someone to ask what he was managing. The bhikṣu replied, 'For these three months, I am acting as the lamp dānapati for the Buddha and the Saṃgha, begging for butter oil and lamp wicks.' The messenger returned and reported this. The princess was overjoyed: 'From now on, do not go begging any more; I will provide you with the lamp wicks and materials.' The bhikṣu agreed. From then on, she constantly supplied butter oil and lamp wicks. Bhikṣu Shengji's sincere mind was deeply steadfast, and the Buddha gave him vyākaraṇa: 'In a future asaṃkhyeya kalpa, you will become a Buddha named Dīpaṅkara (called Ran-deng fo in other sūtras).' When Princess Muni heard that Bhikṣu Shengji had received vyākaraṇa to become a Buddha, she thought to herself, 'The materials for the Buddha's lamps were all mine; the bhikṣu has already received vyākaraṇa, but I alone have not.' Having had this thought, she went to the Buddha's presence and explained what was in her heart. The Buddha also gave her vyākaraṇa, telling Muni, 'In a future time, after two asaṃkhyeya and ninety-one kalpas, you will become a Buddha named Śākyamuni, fully endowed with the ten titles.' When the princess heard the prophecy, she rejoiced and generated the resolve [for bodhi], transformed into a male, prostrated herself again at the Buddha's feet, and asked to become a śramaṇa. The Buddha then permitted it, and he practiced diligently without cease. Because of that past dāna of lamps and light, from that time onward through countless kalpas, he naturally enjoyed blessings among gods and humans, his body was extraordinary and surpassed that of others, and up to the present attainment of Buddhahood, he enjoys this retribution of lamps and light."