佛說目連問戒律中五百輕重事 1.15

1.15

問：「久負佛物云何償？」「若直償本物，以佛不出入故，故不加償。雖爾故入地獄。昔佛般泥洹後，一比丘精進聰明。有一婆羅門見比丘精進聰明，持女施比丘，作比丘尼。比丘即受。其女端正，比丘後生染意，便共生活，用佛法僧物，各一十萬錢用衣食之。而此比丘極大聰明，能說法使人得四道果。自思惟罪大深重，便欲償之。即詣沙佉國乞，大得錢物。還欲償之，道路山中為七步蛇所螫。比丘知七步當死，六步裏便向弟子處分償物，遣還本國，言：『汝償物已還，我住此待汝。』弟子償物訖還報之，即起七步便死，墮阿鼻地獄中。初入溫暖未至苦熱，謂是溫室，便大舉聲經唄呪願。獄中諸罪人鬼聞經唄者，無數千人得度。獄卒大瞋，便舉鐵杈打之。命終生三十三天。以此驗知，負佛法僧物不可不償。雖復受罪，故得時出矣。」

It was asked, "How should one repay a long-standing debt of Buddha property?" [The answer was,] "If one repays the original property at value, because the Buddha does not engage in commerce, no additional repayment is added. Even so, one will still enter hell. In the past, after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, there was a bhikṣu who was energetic and wise. A brāhmaṇa, seeing that the bhikṣu was energetic and wise, gave his daughter to the bhikṣu to become a bhikṣuṇī. The bhikṣu accepted her. The daughter was upright and beautiful. Later, the bhikṣu gave rise to defiled thoughts and lived together with her, using the property of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—one hundred thousand coins each—for their food and clothing. Yet this bhikṣu was extremely wise and could preach the Dharma to bring people to attain the four fruits of the path. Reflecting on his own offence as being vast and grave, he wished to repay it. He immediately went to the kingdom of Sāketa to beg, and obtained a great amount of money and goods. Returning, wishing to repay it, on a road in the mountains he was bitten by a seven-pace snake. The bhikṣu knew he would die within seven paces; within six paces, he gave instructions to his disciple about the repayment property and sent him back to their home country, saying, 'Return after you have repaid the property; I will stay here and wait for you.' When the disciple finished repaying the property, he returned and reported to him. The bhikṣu then arose, took the seventh step, and died, falling into the Avīci Hell. When he first entered, it was warm and had not yet reached the stage of painful heat; thinking it was a bathhouse, he loudly recited sūtras and chanted praises, making aspirational blessings. Hearing the reciting of sūtras and chanting of praises, countless thousands of guilty persons and spirits in the hell attained deliverance. The hell wardens were greatly enraged, and struck him with an iron fork. When his life ended, he was born in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. From this verification one knows that a debt of property of the Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha must be repaid. Even though one undergoes punishment, one is still able to escape in time."