that verse,” said the boy, “is like seeing only half the moon, or obtaining half a jewel. It must have been you who spoke, so I beg you to teach me the remaining half.” The demon replied sarcastically, “You are already enlightened, so you should feel no resentment even if you don’t hear the rest of the verse. I’m dying of starvation, and I haven’t the strength to speak— say no more to me!”
“Could you teach me if you had something to eat?” asked the boy. “If I had something to eat, I might be able to,” said the demon. Elated, the boy said, “Well, then, what kind of food would you like?” But the demon replied, “Ask no more. You will certainly be horrified when you hear what I eat. Besides, you would never be able to provide it.”
Yet the boy Snow Mountains was insistent. “If you will just tell me what you want, I will try to find it for you.” The demon answered, “I eat only the tender flesh of humans and drink only their warm blood. I fly through the air far and wide in search of food, but people are protected by the Buddhas and gods so that, even though I want to kill them, I cannot. I can only kill and eat those whom the Buddhas and gods have forsaken.”
Hearing this, the boy decided to give his own body for the sake of the Law, so that he could hear the entire verse.
“Your food is right here,” he said. “You need look no further. Since I am still alive, my flesh is warm, and since my flesh is warm, so is my blood. Therefore, I ask you to teach me the rest of the verse, and in exchange, I will offer you my body.” Then the demon grew furious and demanded, “Who could believe your words? After I’ve taught you the rest of the verse, who can I call on as a witness to make you keep your promise?”
The boy replied: “This body of
mine is mortal. But if I give my life for the Law, casting away this vile body that would otherwise die in vain, in the next life I will certainly attain enlightenment and become a Buddha. I will receive a pure and wonderful body. It will be like throwing away a piece of crockery and receiving a precious vessel in exchange. I call upon Brahma and Shakra, the four heavenly kings, and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions to be my witnesses. I could not possibly deceive you in their presence.”
The demon, somewhat mollified, said, “If what you say is true, I will teach you the rest of the verse.” The boy Snow Mountains was overjoyed and, removing his deerskin garment, spread it out for the demon to sit upon while he preached. Then the boy knelt, bowed his head to the ground, and placed his palms together in reverence, saying, “All I ask is that you teach me the rest of the verse.” Thus he offered his heartfelt respect to the demon. The demon, seating himself on the deerskin, then recited these words: “Extinguishing the cycle of birth and death, one enters the joy of nirvana.” The moment he heard this, the boy was filled with joy, and his reverence for the verse was boundless. Resolving to remember it in his next life, he repeated it over and over again, and etched it deep in his heart.
He pondered, thinking to himself, “I rejoice that this verse [though it came from a demon] is no different from the teaching of the Buddha, but at the same time I lament that I alone have heard it and that I am unable to transmit it to others.” Thereupon he inscribed the stanza on stones, cliff faces, and the trees along the road, and he prayed that those who might later pass by would see it, understand its meaning, and finally enter the true way. This done, he climbed a tall tree and threw himself down before the
