佛說觀佛三昧海經 8.5

8.5

The Buddha told Ānanda: “Before you went forth from the household, the King of Mathurā had a wet-nurse named Dhūmapā, who nursed that king for fifteen years. When the king had grown up, she joined her palms, knelt long, and sought a boon from the king, saying to the Great King: ‘Though I am lowly, I have labored to nurse the Great King for years on end. I prostrate and beg the Great King to grant me a boon!’ The king asked: ‘What does my wet-nurse desire?’ The wet-nurse then said: ‘In the king’s palace, I am like the Goddess of Fortune (Śrīmahādevī), lacking nothing at all; I lack only one thing, namely, what a woman desires to enjoy.’ The king said to the wet-nurse: ‘I shall match my wet-nurse with a great minister to be husband and wife.’ The wet-nurse did not wish this, and said to the Great King: ‘Noble men are full of affairs; that is not what I enjoy. I wish an order to be given to all the men in the country, from fifteen and older to thirty and younger, that all submit to me. If any can come, I will bestow on that person a large gold coin; if one is ugly, I will bestow a silver coin.’ Then that king, to repay the nurse's kindness, built a high tower and proclaimed an order throughout the country commanding the men: ‘Gather together according to her wish as stated above.’ As years passed, the wet-nurse grew old and feeble. She recruited many women, eventually numbering five hundred. Each woman furthermore bought female servants, adorned in various ways, numbering a full eight thousand.