諸經要集 4.113

4.113

Furthermore, the Piyu jing (Avadāna-sūtra) says: Formerly, when the Buddha was in the world, the virtues among his disciples were each different: such as Śāriputra being foremost in wisdom; Mahāmaudgalyāyana being foremost in supernatural powers; and Aniruddha being foremost in the divine eye, able to see the trichiliocosm down to the microscopic, with nothing hidden that he could not perceive. Ānanda, having seen this, said to the Buddha, "What past karma did this Aniruddha have that his divine eye is like this?" The Buddha told Ānanda, "Ninety-one kalpas ago in the past, after the Buddha Vipaśyin entered nirvāṇa, this person was at that time a bandit. He entered a Buddha's stūpa wanting to steal the stūpa's property. At that time, a lamp was burning before the Buddha in the stūpa, and its light was about to go out. The bandit then used an arrow to straighten the lamp, causing it to burn brightly. Seeing the Buddha's majestic light, his hairs bristled with awe. He then thought to himself, 'Other people are even able to renounce property to seek merit; why should I steal?' He then abandoned it and departed. Due to the causal condition of the merit of straightening the lamp wick, from that time onward for ninety-one kalpas, he was constantly born in good realms, gradually abandoning all evils as his merit and blessings increased day by day. Now he has met me, gone forth to practice the path, attained arhatship, and among all the assembly his clear-sighted divine eye is foremost. How much more so for one who, giving rise to the intention of renunciation, burns a lamp before the Buddha! The merit obtained is difficult to measure." Furthermore, the Zhidu lun (Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom) says: If a person steals jewels from a Buddha's stūpa, or steals lamp light, upon death they fall into hell; if they emerge to become human, they are born blind lifetime after lifetime.