[Buddha-l] What's in the tea...

[Franz Metcalf]

Gang,

Jerrold Davis asked for a source for a dharma story. I don't know that 
exact story, but rather a proto-Hindu version where the ascetic Narada 
is shown the power of the "maya" of Vishnu. They go for a walk through 
a barren land. Vishnu asks Narada to go to a village and get him some 
water. Narada begins but gets distracted, lives many years, gains a 
family, loses the family, and finally ends up with an impatient Vishnu 
again, half an hour later, still waiting for his water.

I know this myth from an article by Mircea Eliade, but it apparently 
derives from what Eliade names as the "Matsya Purana." There surely are 
Buddhist versions as well and I look forward to their citations here.

Cheers,

Franz Metcalf