大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 50.4

50.4

疏「智論十六如毒龍」等者，論云「問曰：『已知尸羅相，云何波羅蜜？』答曰：『有人言：菩薩持戒，寧自失身命，不毀小戒，是為尸羅波羅蜜。如上蘇陀摩王經中所說，不惜身命以全禁戒。如菩薩本身曾作大力毒龍，若眾生在前，身力弱者眼視便死，身力強者氣往而死。是龍曾受一日禁戒，出家求靜入林樹間，思惟坐久疲懈而睡。龍法睡時復形如蛇，身有文綵七寶雜色。獵者見之，驚喜言曰：「此希有難得之皮，獻上國王以為服飾，不亦宜乎。」便以杖按其頭，以刀剝皮。龍自念言：「我力如意，傾覆此國其如反掌。此人小物豈能困我？今以持戒故不計此身，當從佛語。」於是自忍，眠目不視、閉氣不息，憐愍此人。為持戒故，一心受剝不生悔意。既以失皮，赤肉在地。時日大熱，宛轉土中欲趣大水，見諸小蟲來食其身肉，為持戒故不復敢動。自思惟言：「我今此身，以施諸蟲，為佛道故。今以肉施以充其身，後成佛時，當以法施以益其心。」如是誓已，身乾命終即生第二忉利天上。爾時毒龍，即今我身釋迦牟尼佛是。是時獵者，提婆達多等六師是也。諸小蟲輩，釋迦牟尼佛初轉法輪，八萬諸天得道者是。菩薩護戒不惜身命，決定不悔，其事如是，名尸羅波羅蜜。』」釋曰：雖本明戒，正是施皮耳。及《菩薩本緣經》亦有此緣，其事更廣。先為大龍有大勢力，或化身為人。為與諸龍女共相娛樂，至毘陀山幽邃之處。金翅欲食，欲來諸山，碎壞泉池令其枯涸。諸龍龍女化為女人來附此龍，龍為金翅，說慈心法令反本宮，後為諸龍說慈心法亦令行慈。後捨諠就靜，山間齋戒。多日困乏暫臥止息，遂遇惡人，餘同上《智論》。疏「及菩薩本緣集經第四」等者，經云「菩薩過去墮畜生中而為鹿身，兩脇金色、脊似瑠璃，餘處雜廁種種難名，髀如硨磲、角如金精，其身莊嚴如七寶藏，身色光焰如日初出，諸天敬重為立名字名金色鹿。善解人語，為諸群鹿宣說正法，為大利益。」下取意略引。至一河邊，暴水泛溢損壞樹岸，見一溺人，投身救之。其人得濟，白鹿王言：「君即是我再生父母。何以報德？」鹿王言：「我無所須。以身皮妙，常恐人見。當默汝言，知恩之人具多功德，不知恩者即受苦報。」此人背恩，還白王知。王即命駕，令此溺人引至鹿所。鹿王正睡，有烏啄耳，覺已瞻望，見王兵已近，乃安撫群鹿云：「王為我來，汝勿驚怖。」尋至王所，溺者指言：「此是鹿王。」兩手墜落。王見是事，下馬詣鹿。鹿却慰王：「勿令驚怖，我施一切眾生無畏。」王遂讚言：「汝雖獸身，非實畜也。」王語鹿言：「既施一切眾生無畏，何為令此溺人兩手墮落？」鹿王答言：「如人犯官重法，自招其咎。此人自作自受，非我使然。」王便長跪叉手白鹿：「我從今日長相歸依。」鹿白王言：「若能爾者，願賜此人無畏如赤子想。此人必墮地獄，故可憐愍。」王益稱敬，願長為弟子，普施諸鹿令得無畏，勅令國內不許遊獵殺害眾生。廣如彼說。更有《九色鹿經》，事緣一同，但云九色。又王夫人夜夢託病，王為求之，許分半國。溺人貪利見王，言知鹿處，當即面癩。後結會鹿即我身是，王即父王，夫人即先陀利，烏即阿難，溺人即調達，餘皆同也。釋曰：金色義同，非正捨皮，云「大例相似」。疏「相好」者，相謂三十二相中第十五身皮金色。好者，八十種好中第十六。世尊身皮潤滑柔軟光悅鮮淨，塵垢不著故。

Regarding the commentary's phrase "Treatise [on the Great Perfection of Wisdom], fascicle 16: like the venomous dragon" and so forth: the treatise states, "Question: 'We already know the characteristics of śīla; what is its pāramitā?' Answer: 'Some say: A bodhisattva upholding the precepts would rather forfeit their body and life than transgress a minor precept; this is śīla-pāramitā. As explained above in the Sutra on King Sudharma, not sparing body and life in order to preserve the prohibitive precepts. For example, in a previous lifetime, the bodhisattva was once a venomous dragon of great strength; if a sentient being stood before it, one whose physical strength was weak would die at a mere glance, and one whose physical strength was strong would die upon catching its breath. This dragon once received the one-day prohibitive precepts, went forth from household life seeking quietude, and entered among the forest trees. After sitting in contemplation for a long time, it became weary and fell asleep. The nature of dragons is that when sleeping they resume the form of a snake, their body having colorful patterns in the mixed colors of the seven treasures. A hunter saw it, and exclaimed in joyful surprise, "It would be most fitting to present this rare and hard-to-obtain skin to the king of the country as clothing and adornment!" Thereupon he pressed down its head with a staff and stripped its skin with a knife. The dragon thought to itself: "My power is according to my will; overturning this kingdom would be as easy as turning over my palm. How could this petty person trap me? Now, because of upholding the precepts, I will not consider this body, and shall comply with the Buddha's words." Thereupon it restrained itself, closed its eyes and did not look, held its breath and did not breathe, feeling pity for this person. For the sake of upholding the precepts, it wholeheartedly underwent the flaying without giving rise to regret. Having lost its skin, its red flesh lay upon the ground. The day was extremely hot, and it writhed in the dirt wishing to head for a large body of water. Seeing many small insects coming to eat its body's flesh, it dared not move again for the sake of upholding the precepts. It thought to itself: "Now I give this body to these insects for the sake of the Buddha path. Now I give my flesh to fill their bodies; later, when I attain buddhahood, I will give the Dharma to benefit their minds." Having made this vow, its body dried up, its life ended, and it was immediately reborn in the second heaven, Trāyastriṃśa. The venomous dragon of that time was my present self, Śākyamuni Buddha. The hunter of that time was Devadatta and the others of the six masters. The small insects are the eighty thousand deities who attained the Way when Śākyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of the Dharma. The bodhisattva protecting the precepts without sparing body and life, determined without regret, was like this; it is named śīla-pāramitā.'" Explanation: Although the primary topic was precepts, it directly concerns giving the skin. Also, the Bodhisattva-jātaka-sūtra contains this story, and its details are even more extensive. Previously, being a great dragon possessing great power, it would sometimes transform its body into a human. In order to sport together with dragon maidens, it went to a secluded place on Mount Veda. A garuḍa wished to devour them, intending to come to the mountains to shatter the springs and ponds and make them dry up. The dragons and dragon maidens transformed into women to take refuge with this dragon; for the garuḍa's sake, the dragon spoke the Dharma of loving-kindness, causing it to return to its original dwelling; later, for the dragons' sake, it spoke the Dharma of loving-kindness, also causing them to practice loving-kindness. Later, leaving behind noise and seeking quietude, it kept the precepts in the mountains. Exhausted after many days, it briefly lay down to rest, and then encountered the evil man; the rest is the same as the Treatise above. Regarding the commentary's phrase "and Bodhisattva-jātakanidāna-saṃgraha-sūtra, fascicle 4" and so forth: the sūtra states, "In the past, the bodhisattva fell among beasts and took the body of a deer; its flanks were golden-colored, its spine resembled lapis lazuli, its other parts were variegated with various colors difficult to name, its thighs were like mother-of-pearl, and its horns were like refined gold; its body was adorned like a treasury of the seven treasures, and the radiance of its bodily color was like the newly risen sun. The gods revered it and gave it the name 'Golden Deer.' It understood human speech well, and expounded the true Dharma to the herds of deer for their great benefit." Below, the meaning is cited in brief. It arrived beside a river where torrential waters flooded and destroyed the wooded banks; seeing a drowning man, it threw itself in to rescue him. When the man was saved, he said to the deer king, "You are my father and mother of second birth. How can I repay your virtue?" The deer king said, "I need nothing. Because my body's skin is wondrous, I am always afraid of people seeing it. You must keep silent; one who knows gratitude possesses many merits, while one who is ungrateful will immediately receive suffering retribution." This man betrayed the gratitude, returned, and reported it to the king. The king immediately ordered his chariot and had this drowning man lead them to the deer's place. The deer king was just asleep; a crow pecked its ear, and upon waking it looked out, seeing that the king's soldiers were already close. It then comforted the herd of deer, saying, "The king comes for me; do not be afraid." It went straight to the king's location, and the drowning man pointed, saying, "This is the deer king," whereupon his two hands fell off. The king saw this, dismounted, and went to the deer. The deer instead comforted the king: "Do not be afraid; I bestow fearlessness on all sentient beings." The king thereupon praised it, saying, "Although you have a beast's body, you are not truly an animal." The king said to the deer, "Since you bestow fearlessness on all sentient beings, why did you cause this drowning man's two hands to fall off?" The deer king replied, "Just as when a person violates the court's severe laws and incurs their own retribution, this man acts and receives it himself; it was not caused by me." The king then knelt upright with palms joined and said to the deer, "From this day forward, I take refuge in you forever." The deer said to the king, "If you can do so, I pray you grant this person fearlessness, thinking of him like an infant. This person will surely fall into hell, and is therefore pitiable." The king praised and revered it even more, vowing to be its disciple forever, universally bestowing fearlessness on all deer, and decreeing that within the kingdom no hunting or killing of sentient beings was permitted. It is as extensively explained there. There is also the Nine-Colored Deer Sūtra, whose narrative circumstances are identical, only that it says "nine-colored." Also, the king's consort had a night dream and feigned illness, and the king sought it for her, promising to divide half the kingdom. The drowning man, coveting gain, met the king and said he knew the deer's location, whereupon his face immediately became leprous. Later in the identification: the deer was my present self, the king was the father king, the consort was Sundarī, the crow was Ānanda, the drowning man was Devadatta, and the rest is all the same. Explanation: The golden color is identical in meaning, but not specifically the abandonment of skin; hence it says "broadly similar in general." Regarding the commentary's phrase "marks and minor characteristics": "mark" refers to the fifteenth of the thirty-two marks, the body's skin being golden-colored; "minor characteristic" refers to the sixteenth of the eighty minor characteristics, because the World-Honoured One's bodily skin is sleek, soft, luminous, fresh, and pure, untouched by dust and grime.