諸經要集 4.69

4.69

Furthermore, the Caihua shoujue jing says: At that time, there was a king of the kingdom of Rājagṛha who employed more than ten men to constantly gather fine flowers to supply the royal household. One day, the noble ladies of the inner palace went outside the city. The flower-gatherers encountered the Buddha, gave rise to the aspiration [for awakening], and prostrated in worship. They thought to themselves, 'We would rather give up our bodies and lives to offer these flowers to the Buddha and scatter them over the holy assembly; even if we are killed, we will not fall into suffering.' Thereupon, they scattered the flowers over the Buddha and the holy assembly, retreated, took refuge, and whole-heartedly bowed again. The Buddha knew their thoughts, had great compassion for them, and fully preached the Dharma to them. All the flower-gatherers gave rise to the aspiration for the Way. The Buddha immediately bestowed a prediction: in the future they would attain Buddhahood, with the name Wonderful Flower (Supuṣpa). At that time, the flower-gatherers returned home and bade farewell to their parents: 'Our lives are now at an end; we will be killed by the king.' The parents were shocked and asked what offense they had committed. They answered fully with the reason: 'Having no flowers to offer the king, our lives will surely be in peril; for this reason we come to say farewell.' Hearing this, their parents became even more grieved. Opening the baskets to look, they found them filled with fine flowers, their fragrance permeating in all four directions. The parents told them, 'You can present them to the king.' At that time, the king was greatly enraged: 'Why have they not come when summoned?' He was about to have them bound with their arms behind their backs, their offense warranting execution in the public market. When the gatherers saw the king, the color of their faces did not change. The king wondered at this and asked them, 'You are guilty of an offense and your lives are to be taken; why are you not afraid?' They immediately addressed the king, saying, 'In human life there is death; when things are formed there is decay. Because of punishable offenses, we do not begrudge our bodies and lives. This morning we went to gather flowers and encountered the Buddha, to whom we offered them. Knowing that disobeying the command was an offense for which we ought to die, we would rather die with virtue than survive without virtue. Returning to inspect the flower baskets, they remained full as before. This was entirely sheltered by the Tathāgata's kindness and benevolence.' The king thought it very strange and did not believe it to be so in his heart. Therefore, he went to the Buddha's place to ask the Buddha about this matter. The Buddha said, 'It is truly so. With an utmost heart, these men wished to deliver the ten directions, not begrudging their bodies and lives; therefore, they took the many flowers to scatter upon the Buddha. With minds free of conception of reward, they have received predictions: in the future they will become Buddhas named Wonderful Flower.' The king was greatly delighted, untied their bonds, repented of his error, and reproached his own foolish mind: 'I do not measure up to these bodhisattvas; I only beg you to pardon my crime.' The Buddha said, 'Excellent! One who can reform oneself is the same as one without fault.'"