大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 49.14

49.14

疏「智論十四象王施牙」等者，論云「如釋迦文佛曾為六牙白象，獵者伺便以毒箭射之。諸象競至，欲來踏殺獵者，白象以身捍之，擁護其人愍之如子。曉喻殷勤，遮止群象。徐問獵人：『何故射我？』答曰：『我須汝牙。』即以六牙內石孔中血肉俱出，以鼻舉牙授與獵者。」雖作象身，用心如是，當知此象非畜生行報。阿羅漢法中都無此心，當知此為法身菩薩。疏「及十輪第四」者，經云「若有苾芻於諸根本性重罪中隨犯一罪，雖名破戒惡行苾芻，猶勝一切在家白衣。犯性罪者尚應如是，況犯其餘諸小遮罪，是故不許國王大臣諸在家者輕慢謫罰。所以者何？善男子！乃至過去有迦奢國王名梵授，勅五旃陀羅：『有大象王名青蓮華，六牙具足，住雪山邊。汝可往彼拔取牙來。若不得者，汝等五人定無活義。』時旃陀羅為護身命，執持弓箭，被赤袈裟現於沙門威儀形相，往雪山邊至象王所。時彼母象遙見人來執持弓箭，驚怖馳走詣象王所，白言：『大天！今見有人張弓挾箭，徐行覘視來趣我等。將非我等命欲盡耶？』象王聞已舉目觀見。剃除鬚髮著袈裟人，即為母象而說偈言：『被殑伽沙等，諸佛法幢相。觀此離惡心，必不害眾生。』時彼母象以頌答曰：『雖知被法服，而執於弓箭，是惡旃陀羅，樂惡無悲愍。』時大象王復說頌曰：『見袈裟一相，知是慈悲本，此必歸佛者，愍念諸眾生。汝勿懷疑慮，宜應速攝心。被此法衣人，欲度生死海。』時旃陀羅即以毒箭彎弓審射中象王心，母象見之，舉聲號叫悲哀哽咽，以頌白言：『被此法衣人，宜應定歸佛。威儀雖寂靜，而懷毒惡心。應速踏彼身，令其命根斷，滅此怨令盡，以射天身故。』時大象王以頌答曰：『寧速捨身命，不應生惡心。彼雖懷詐心，猶似佛弟子。智者非為命，而壞清淨心，為度諸有情，常習菩薩行。』時大象王心生悲愍，徐問人言：『汝何所須？』彼人答曰：『欲須汝牙。』象王歡喜，即自拔牙施旃陀羅，而說頌曰：『我以白牙今施汝，無忿無恨無貪惜。願以施福當成佛，滅除眾生煩惱病。』善男子！當觀如是過去象王，雖受如是傍生趣身，為求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提故，而能棄捨身命無悋，恭敬尊重著袈裟人，雖彼為怨而不加報。然未來世有剎帝利旃陀羅王、宰官居士長者、沙門婆羅門等，歸於我法而出家者，若是法器、若非法器，諸弟子所惱亂呵罵，我已鞭杖楚撻其身，或閉牢獄乃至斷命。此於一切過去未來現在諸佛犯諸大罪，決定當趣無間地獄，斷滅善根焚燒相續，一切智者之所遠離。」《莊嚴論》十三亦云「昔釋迦牟尼為菩薩時，作六牙白象王。時王夫人於象有怨，即募人取。與一牸象別處而住，獵師服袈裟懷挾弓箭屏樹徐行，牸象語象王，象王問：『彼著何衣服？』云：『著袈裟。』象王云：『何所怖畏？』亦說偈云：『如是之幢相，不害於外物，內有慈悲心，常護於一切。』於是獵人即射毒箭，牸象乃云：『大天云有慈悲，何以為此？』象王偈云：『此是解脫服。煩惱之所作，遠離於慈悲，悉非衣服過。』牸象欲害，王言：『何不治結使？』復說偈云：『如人鬼入心，癡狂毀罵醫，醫師治於鬼，不責病苦人。』群象尋來，王恐傷之，向彼獵師安之腹下，遣去群象。獵師感之，悲泣流淚。象王撫之，問為何來。獵師答云：『王遣取牙。』象王命取之。獵不敢取。象王遂以鼻絞牙。良久而出。血大流出。痛苦戰掉。有天說偈言：『心當堅安住，莫為愚癡悶。當觀苦惱眾，云何可濟拔？』復有天云：『弟子拔牙苦，悲念於地獄。』拔已而住，獵師思惟：『將無悔耶？』象王知念，說偈勸取，以鼻擎牙而授與之。」釋曰：緣起小異，大意皆同，而牙有出沒。又為難行，故重重引證。

Regarding the commentary's statement, "The fourteenth [fascicle] of the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* on the elephant king giving away his tusks", and so forth: the treatise states, "For example, Śākyamunibuddha was once a six-tusked white elephant. A hunter watched for an opportunity and shot him with a poisoned arrow. When the other elephants rushed up wishing to trample the hunter to death, the white elephant shielded him with his body, protecting the man and pitying him like a son. He earnestly admonished and restrained the herd of elephants, and gently asked the hunter: 'Why did you shoot me?' The hunter replied: 'I need your tusks.' Thereupon, [the elephant] wedged his six tusks into a rock crevice, and with flesh and blood issuing forth together, he lifted the tusks with his trunk and gave them to the hunter." Although possessing an elephant's body, his intention was like this; one should know that this elephant was not acting out of animal karma and retribution. Within the Dharma of arhats, this intention is entirely absent; one should know that this was a dharmakāya bodhisattva. Regarding the commentary's statement, "and the fourth [fascicle] of the *Daśacakra*": the sūtra states, "If a bhikṣu commits even one of the fundamental gravest naturally unwholesome transgressions, although he is called a precept-breaking bhikṣu of evil conduct, he still surpasses all white-robed laymen. If one who commits a naturally unwholesome transgression is still thus, how much more so for one who commits the other minor prescriptive offenses? Therefore, kings, ministers, and laypersons are not permitted to disparage or punish them. Why is this? Good son, in the past, there was a king of the Kāśi country named Brahmadatta, who commanded five caṇḍālas: 'There is a great elephant king named Blue Lotus, endowed with six tusks, dwelling near the Snow Mountains. You must go there, pull out the tusks, and bring them back. If you do not obtain them, the five of you shall certainly not survive.' Thereupon the caṇḍālas, to protect their own lives, took bows and arrows, wore crimson kaṣāyas, and assumed the deportment and appearance of śramaṇas, going to the side of the Snow Mountains to the dwelling of the elephant king. At that time, a female elephant saw from afar a man approaching holding a bow and arrows. Terrified, she ran to the elephant king and said: 'Great divinity! I now see a man drawing a bow and notching an arrow, walking slowly and peering about as he approaches us. Could it be that our lives are about to end?' Having heard this, the elephant king looked up and saw a man with shaved head and beard, wearing a kaṣāya. He then spoke a verse to the female elephant: / 'Wearing the mark of the Dharma banner / Of the Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā, / Seeing that he is free from an evil mind, / He will surely not harm sentient beings.' / At that time, the female elephant replied in verse: / 'Although knowing he wears the Dharma robes, / Yet holding a bow and arrows, / He is an evil caṇḍāla, / Delighting in evil without compassion.' / The great elephant king spoke another verse: / 'Seeing the single mark of the kaṣāya, / I know it is the basis of kindness and compassion. / He must be one who takes refuge in the Buddha, / Pitying and mindful of all sentient beings. / Do not harbor doubt and anxiety; / You should quickly calm your mind. / One who wears this Dharma robe / Wishes to cross the ocean of birth and death.' / At that time, the caṇḍāla drew his bow and carefully shot a poisoned arrow, striking the heart of the elephant king. Seeing this, the female elephant wailed aloud in grief and choked with sobs, speaking in verse: / 'One who wears this Dharma robe / Ought surely to take refuge in the Buddha. / Though his deportment is tranquil, / Yet he harbors a poisonous and evil mind. / We should quickly trample his body / And sever his life faculty, / Completely destroying this enemy, / Because he shot the divine body.' / The great elephant king replied in verse: / 'I would rather quickly relinquish my life / Than give rise to an evil mind. / Though he harbors a deceitful mind, / He still resembles a disciple of the Buddha. / The wise do not, for the sake of life, / Ruin their pure mind. / In order to ferry across all sentient beings, / They constantly practice the bodhisattva conduct.' / Then the great elephant king gave rise to compassion and gently asked the man: 'What do you need?' The man replied: 'I want your tusks.' The elephant king rejoiced, extracted the tusks himself, and gave them to the caṇḍāla, speaking a verse: / 'I now give my white tusks to you / Without anger, resentment, stinginess, or regret. / May the merit of this giving enable me to become a Buddha / And eradicate the illness of defilements in sentient beings.' / Good son, observe this past elephant king: though he received such a body in the animal realm, for the sake of seeking anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi, he was able to relinquish his bodily life without stinginess, revering and honoring one who wore the kaṣāya, and although the other acted as an enemy, he did not retaliate. Yet in future ages, there will be kṣatriyas, caṇḍāla kings, officials, householders, elders, śramaṇas, brāhmaṇas, and so forth, who—towards those who have taken refuge in my Dharma and gone forth, whether they are Dharma vessels or not—trouble, scold, and revile these disciples, or even flog and beat their bodies with whips and rods, imprison them, or even sever their lives. Such persons commit grave offenses against all Buddhas of the past, future, and present; they will certainly fall into the Avīci hell, severing their roots of goodness and burning their continuum, and are shunned by all wise persons." Fascicle thirteen of the *Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra* also states: "In the past, when Śākyamuni was a bodhisattva, he was a six-tusked white elephant king. At that time, the queen bore a grudge against the elephant and recruited someone to take him. Dwelling in a separate place with a female elephant, a hunter dressed in a kaṣāya, concealing a bow and arrows, walked slowly behind trees. The female elephant told the elephant king. The elephant king asked: 'What clothes does he wear?' She said: 'He wears a kaṣāya.' The elephant king said: 'What is there to fear?' and also spoke a verse: / 'Such a banner mark as this / Does not harm external things; / Internally possessing a compassionate mind, / It constantly protects all.' / Thereupon the hunter shot a poisoned arrow. The female elephant then said: 'Great divinity, you said he has compassion—why did he do this?' The elephant king spoke in verse: / 'This is the robe of liberation; / It is produced by defilements. / Being distant from compassion / Is not at all the fault of the robe.' / The female elephant wished to harm him, but the king said: 'Why not cure the fetters?' He spoke another verse: / 'Like a person possessed by a ghost, / Who in mad delirium reviles the physician— / The physician cures the ghost / And does not blame the afflicted person.' / The herd of elephants soon arrived. Fearing they would harm him, the king placed the hunter under his belly and sent the herd away. Moved by this, the hunter wept tears of sorrow. The elephant king consoled him and asked why he had come. The hunter replied: 'The king sent me to take your tusks.' The elephant king bade him take them, but the hunter did not dare. The elephant king then twisted his tusks with his trunk; after a long while they came out. Blood flowed copiously, and he trembled in agony. A deity spoke a verse: / 'Your mind should remain steadfast and secure; / Do not be stupefied by ignorance. / You should contemplate the suffering multitudes: / How can they be rescued?' / Another deity said: 'The disciple's pain in pulling out the tusks arises from compassion mindful of the hells.' After they were pulled out and he stood there, the hunter reflected: 'Might he feel regret?' Knowing his thought, the elephant king spoke a verse encouraging him to take them, lifted the tusks with his trunk, and gave them to him." Explanation: The origins differ slightly, but the overarching meaning is identical, though the extraction of the tusks differs. Moreover, because this was a difficult practice, it is repeatedly cited as evidence.