大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 84.46

84.46

Regarding the Commentary's mention of 'the incident in the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra of the two demons eating a man': this means that when this man was traveling, he stayed overnight at an empty pavilion and saw two demons fighting over a corpse, each claiming, 'I brought it first.' The two demons said together, 'Let us take his judgment.' This man had truly seen the small demon bring it, and when questioned by the demons, he secretly thought to himself: 'Whichever one I say brought it, the one who does not get it will surely kill me. I would rather die speaking the truth than meet my end through falsehood.' He then truthfully answered that the small one had brought it. The large demon tore off his limbs and ate them as he went; the demon who obtained the corpse then took the limbs of the dead body and fitted them onto him. When the demons finished eating, they wiped their mouths and departed. When day broke, he was distressed and perplexed, unable to fathom whose body it was; hence the expression 'spurious aggregation'. At first he constantly doubted, saying: 'If it is my original body, I saw it torn away with my own eyes. If it is another's body, it nevertheless walks and stands with me.' In doubt and hesitation, whenever he met someone he would ask, 'Do you see my body or not?' The saṅgha saw him and said, 'This man is easy to deliver,' and told him: 'Your body was originally the leftover corpse of another; it does not belong to you.' Awakening to this spurious aggregation, he thereupon attained the Way. Because he constantly asked, it is said that he 'constantly made a sound'.