阿彌陀經通贊疏 1.67

1.67

The commentary says: The fourth is the pair of renouncing foolishness and abandoning desire. "Cūḍapanthaka" is translated as "Born by the Roadside." An elder had a daughter who married away to another family; when pregnant, she was returning home and gave birth to a son by the roadside, hence the name "Born by the Roadside." There were two brothers: the elder brother was named Panthaka, and the younger was named Cūḍapanthaka. The Ekottarāgama states: Both parents of this venerable one had died. The elder brother entered the Path first and had already attained the holy fruit; the younger brother later also left home, but due to his enduring ignorance and dullness, he understood nothing at all. The elder brother reproached him, saying: "You have lingered in vain for years without any comprehension at all. Go back to the secular home; you are not permitted to be a monk." The younger brother leaned against the monastery gate, weeping and sighing. When the World-Honoured One saw this, he instructed him to be given a broom and to recite daily as he swept. He would remember one [word] and forget the other, but later he suddenly awakened, saying: "Sweeping means removing defilement to make clean; surely the World-Honoured One wants me to sever and remove the defiling grime within my person." Thereupon he attained the fruit. Furthermore, the Scripture on the Origin of the Five Hundred Disciples says: In the past, this venerable one was driving a pig across a river and tied its mouth with a rope; unable to breathe, it died in midstream. Due to this, he was dull and ignorant; hence by renouncing foolishness he attained wisdom. For this venerable one, the evil karma of a past life was only eliminated in the present life; knowing that sweeping has the efficacy of cleansing a room, he realized that through bodily causes arises the wisdom to sever foolishness. Hence it is called "renouncing evil."