諸經要集 5.70

5.70

Furthermore, the Fu fazang jing says: In the past, ninety-one kalpas ago, after Vipaśyin Buddha entered nirvāṇa, there was a monk who suffered greatly from a headache. Bakkula was at that time a poor man. Seeing the sick monk, he immediately took a harītakī fruit and gave it to the sick monk. When the monk took it, his illness was cured. By virtue of giving the fruit, for ninety-one kalpas among gods and humans, he enjoyed the bliss of merit and was never sick. In his final life, he was born into a brāhmaṇa family. His mother died early, and his father then married a new wife. Bakkula was young, and seeing his stepmother making cakes, he asked her for some. The stepmother was jealous, and immediately grabbed Bakkula and threw him onto a frying pan. Although the pan was scorching hot, it could not burn or harm him. The father came from outside, and seeing Bakkula on the hot pan, he immediately took him down in his arms. Later, when the mother was boiling meat in a cauldron, Bakkula asked her for meat. The mother became even angrier and immediately threw him into the cauldron, yet he was not scalded or cooked. The father looked for him and could not find him, so he called out to him. Bakkula heard the call and responded from inside the cauldron. The father immediately carried him out, safe and sound as before. Later, the mother went to the river and Bakkula followed along. The stepmother was enraged and said: 'What kind of demonic and monstrous creature is this? Even burning and boiling cannot cause him to die!' She immediately grabbed him and threw him into the river. He encountered a large fish, which swallowed and ate him. Due to his meritorious conditions, he still did not die. A fisherman caught this fish and went to the marketplace to sell it. Because he demanded a high price, no one bought it. By evening it was about to spoil. Bakkula's father saw it and bought it on the spot. He brought it home and cut open the belly with a knife. The boy was inside the fish's belly and called out in a loud voice: 'I beg father to proceed gently, so as not to injure your child!' The father opened the fish's belly and carried the child out. When he gradually grew up, he sought to go forth from household life and attained the fruit of an arhat. From birth to old age, at the age of one hundred and sixty, he was never sick, and never even had body heat or a headache. Because of giving medicine, he attained this long life and did not die in five places: the pan scorched him without burning him; the cauldron boiled him without cooking him; he did not drown in water; being swallowed by a fish did not digest him; and cutting with a knife did not harm him. By these causes and conditions, the wise should perform such deeds. Furthermore, the Za piyu jing says: In the past, in Śrāvastī, there was a poor family. In their courtyard was a grape vine with several clusters. They thought of giving to a man of the Way. At that time, the king had previously invited the monks for meals for one month. The poor family's influence was not equal to the king's. Exactly when a full month had passed, they finally obtained a man of the Way and presented it to him. They said to the man of the Way: 'I have been thinking of giving for a whole month, and only today has my wish been fulfilled.' The man of the Way said to the upāsikā: 'You have already been giving for a whole month.' The upāsikā said: 'I only gave a single cluster of grapes; how could it be giving for a month?' The man of the Way said: 'Because throughout that one month you held the thought of wanting to renounce and give, that constitutes a whole month.'