菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經 6.7

6.7

At that time, when the Bhagavat had finished speaking these verses, among the great assembly, seventy-seven thousand kotis of nayutas of devas and humans all resolved their minds upon the unsurpassable, true, and correct path. At that time, the Bhagavat said to Wisdom Purity Bodhisattva: "A great bodhisattva mahāsattva bound to one last birth, born through skillful means in a lowly household, wishing to demonstrate the eradication of the fetters of ignorance, remained in the womb for ten months; when the day of birth came, he appeared without hands or feet. Seeing him, the parents thought he was a ghost and abandoned him in the wilderness, allowing no one to see him. Why? The bodhisattva used skillful manifestation wishing to let his foolish parents and kin behold the light of the path. Several months later, the mother again became pregnant. After a full ten months, she gave birth to a boy, handsome and extraordinarily graceful, rare in the world; yet he was born by day and died at night. The parents wailed, beat their breasts, and faced heaven: 'Mountain gods, tree gods, why do you have no pity on us? First we gave birth to a son without hands and feet, whom we cast away in the wilderness. Now we have given birth to a son peerlessly handsome, like a heavenly spirit, yet now he was born by day and died at night! Our hearts and livers are broken—what can we do now?' After several more months passed, the mother conceived again. After a full ten months, she gave birth to a boy with three heads, eight feet, four eyes, and eight arms. Those who saw him had their hair stand on end. The parents and kin abandoned him and wanted to leave; the bodhisattva manifested his skillful powers so that they could not leave. The parents asked: 'Are you a deva? Or are you a nāga, ghost or spirit, asura, gandharva, garuḍa, kiṃnara, mahoraga, human, or non-human?'" At that time, the newborn boy replied to his parents in verse, saying: