金光明經文句記 3.284

3.284

五、釋近惡友難。如移厩者，厩音救，馬舍也，馬之所聚也。《付法藏傳》云「親近賢善，聽聞正法。如昔華氏國有一白象，氣力勇健。若有罪人，令象蹋殺。後時象厩為火所燒，移近精舍。有一比丘誦《法句》，偈曰『為善生天，為惡入淵。』白象聞之心便柔和。後付罪人，不害，嗅舐而已。王召智臣共謀此事。一臣白王：『此象繫近精舍，必聞妙法，是故爾耳。今可繫近屠坊，彼覩殺害，惡心當盛。』王令繫象屠所，象見殺戮，惡心猛盛，殘害彌甚。」隣於哭貨者，謂隣墓學哭、隣市學貨。葵氏《貨清經》曰「貨，化也。」變化易之也，故字有化。又財也。《史記》曰「孟軻考母偏孤居近墓，軻乃常戲於墓。母曰：『此非所居。』去居市傍，軻復戲為商賈。母又曰：『不可居。』又居學館之傍，乃為揖讓，進退有禮。母曰：『此真可以居。』軻後遂為大儒，著書七篇。」

Fifth, explaining the difficulty of being close to evil companions. "Like moving the stable": "stable" (jiu) is pronounced jiu; it is a house for horses, where horses gather. The *Fu fazang zhuan* states: "Draw close to the virtuous and good, and listen to the true Dharma. Formerly in Pāṭaliputra there was a white elephant of valiant strength. If there was a criminal, they ordered the elephant to trample and kill him. Later, the elephant stable was burned by fire and moved near a monastery. There was a monk reciting the *Dharmapada*, whose verse said: 'Doing good one is born in heaven; doing evil one enters the abyss.' Hearing this, the white elephant's mind became gentle. Later, when criminals were handed over to it, it did not harm them, only sniffing and licking them. The king summoned wise ministers to deliberate on this matter. One minister addressed the king: 'Because this elephant was tethered near a monastery, it must have heard the wondrous Dharma; it is therefore so. Now it can be tethered near a slaughterhouse; when it witnesses killing and harming, its evil mind will flourish.' The king ordered the elephant tethered at the slaughterhouse; seeing the slaughter, its evil mind raged fiercely, and its cruelty was even worse." "Being adjacent to wailing or commerce" means living next to graves and learning to wail, or living next to a market and learning commerce. Master Kui's *Huoqing jing* states: "*Huo* (goods/commerce) means *hua* (transformation)." It is altering and exchanging, hence the character contains *hua*. It also means wealth. The *Shiji* states: "Meng Ke's widowed mother lived alone near graves, and Ke frequently played at the graves. His mother said: 'This is not a place to live.' Leaving, they lived beside a market, and Ke again played at being a merchant. His mother again said: 'It cannot be lived in.' They then lived beside a schoolhouse, and he then bowed and yielded, advancing and retreating with propriety. His mother said: 'This is truly where we can live.' Ke later became a great Confucian, writing a book in seven chapters."