諸經要集 8.61

8.61

Furthermore, the Zabaozang jing states: Formerly, there was an arhat of the Way who kept a śrāmaṇera. Knowing that this śrāmaṇera was destined to die seven days later, he gave him leave to return home, instructing him to come back on the seventh day. The śrāmaṇera bade farewell to his master and went home. Along the road, he saw ants drifting in the water, on the verge of death. Giving rise to maitrī-karuṇā, he took off his kāṣāya, filled it with earth to dam the water, and picked up the ants to place them on high, dry ground; thus they all survived. On the seventh day, he returned to his master. The master was greatly astonished and immediately entered samādhi. Looking with the divine eye, he knew that the boy had no other merit, but solely through the conditions of rescuing the ants, he did not die on the seventh day and had his lifespan prolonged. (Repairing old stūpas also prolongs life; repairing and filling cracks and holes in the walls of a saṅghārāma also prolongs life.)