勸發菩提心集 2.17

2.17

復次，雖破戒墮罪，罪畢得解脫。如《優鉢羅華比丘尼本生經》中說：佛在世時，諸比丘尼得六神通阿羅漢，入貴人舍，常讚出家法。語諸貴人婦女云：「姊妹可出家。」諸貴婦女言：「我等少壯容色盛美，持戒為難，或當破戒。」比丘尼言：「破戒便破。但出家。」問言：「破戒當墮地獄，云何可破？」答言：「墮亦便墮。」諸貴婦女咲之言：「地獄受罪，云何可墮？」比丘尼言：「我自憶念本宿因緣，作戲女，作種種衣服，而說應語。或時著比丘尼衣，以為戲咲。以是因緣故，迦葉佛時作比丘尼，自恃貴姓端正，心生憍慢，而破禁戒。破禁戒故，墮地獄中受種種罪。受罪畢竟值釋迦牟尼佛，出家得六神通阿羅漢道。以是故知，出家受戒。雖復破戒，以戒緣故，得羅漢道。若但作惡，無戒因緣，不得道也。我以昔時世世墮地獄，地獄出為惡人。惡人死還墮地獄，都無所得。今以此證知，出家受戒雖破，以是因緣可得道果。」又說，因醉出家，佛便聽許，醉已還俗。餘問佛由。佛言：「此婆羅門無量劫來無出家心，今因醉故發此微心，故許出家，為當來因故。」

Furthermore, although one may break the precepts and fall into sin, once the sin is exhausted one attains liberation. As told in the Utpalavarṇā Bhikṣuṇī Jātaka Sūtra: When the Buddha was in the world, bhikṣuṇīs who were arhats possessing the six supernatural knowledges entered the residences of noble families, constantly praising the Dharma of renouncing the household. They said to the women of the noble families: "Sisters, you may renounce the household." The noble women said: "We are young, vigorous, and beautiful; observing the precepts is difficult, and we might break them." The bhikṣuṇī said: "If you break them, then break them; just renounce the household." They asked: "Breaking the precepts leads to falling into hell; how could one break them?" She answered: "If you fall, then fall." The noble women laughed at her, saying: "Suffering punishment in hell—how could one fall into that?" The bhikṣuṇī said: "I remember my own past causes and conditions: I was an actress, making various costumes and speaking witty words. Sometimes I wore bhikṣuṇī robes as a jest and joke. Through these causes and conditions, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha I became a bhikṣuṇī; relying on my noble clan and beauty, arrogance arose in my mind, and I broke the prohibitive precepts. Because I broke the prohibitive precepts, I fell into hell and underwent various punishments. Having fully exhausted those punishments, I encountered Śākyamuni Buddha, renounced the household, and attained the path of an arhat with the six supernatural knowledges. From this it is known that one who renounces the household and receives the precepts, even if she breaks the precepts, attains the path of an arhat by virtue of the condition of the precepts. If one only does evil without the conditions of the precepts, one cannot attain the path. Because in the past I fell into hell life after life, emerging from hell to become an evil person, and when the evil person died she fell back into hell, I attained nothing at all. Now, using this as proof, I know that though one breaks the precepts after renouncing the household and receiving them, through these conditions one can attain the fruits of the path." It is also said that when someone renounced the household due to drunkenness, the Buddha gave permission; after sobering up, he returned to lay life. Others asked the Buddha the reason. The Buddha said: "For immeasurable kalpas this brāhmaṇa had no mind to renounce the household; now, due to drunkenness, he aroused this slight aspiration, and therefore I permitted him to renounce the household to serve as a cause for the future."