諸經要集 4.121

4.121

Furthermore, the Avadānaśataka says: Long ago, when the Buddha was in the world, there was a householder in the city of Kapilavastu whose family was immensely wealthy, with boundless and incalculable wealth and jewels. He fathered a boy who was handsome, extraordinary, and far superior to the multitude. When this child was first born, a great banner appeared in the sky, completely covering the city above. His parents, having seen it, rejoiced boundlessly, and thereupon gave him the name Patāka. Gradually growing older, he sought the Buddha and went forth from the household, attaining arhatship, endowed with the three knowledges, the six supernormal powers, and the eight liberations. When the bhikṣus saw this, they said to the Buddha: "What merit did this Patāka plant in the past, that from birth he was handsome and far superior to the multitude, that a great banner-canopy in the sky completely covered the city above, and that he has moreover met the Bhagavat, gone forth, and attained the path?" The Buddha told the bhikṣus: "Ninety-one eons in the past, after the Buddha Vipaśyin entered nirvāṇa, there was a king named Bandhumat who collected his relics, built a four-jewelled stūpa one yojana high, and made offerings to it. At that time, a man arranged a great assembly beside that stūpa, made a long banner, hung it upon the stūpa, made an aspiration, and departed. By virtue of this merit, from that time onward for ninety-one eons, he has not fallen into the evil destinies. In heaven and among humans, a great banner has constantly sheltered and shaded him above, and he has enjoyed blessed happiness, culminating in his meeting me today, going forth, and attaining the path."