勸發菩提心集 2.38

2.38

《優婆塞戒經》云：往昔有一菩薩大優婆塞，受持五戒，威儀具足。將諸徒眾，遊行國邑，到諸離城上，息林下。見一雌鳥將二鶵子林上鳴叫，聲甚悲感。此優婆塞名曰淨髮，顧觀鳥鳴，目即落淚，顧語徒眾：「今此鳥者是我因時眷屬，我本修行出家受戒，有其二子，年始三四。我妻爾時愛色著我，顧語兒言：『捉汝父衣，生死莫放。慈鳥養子，乳哺三年，父今何忽捨我而去？』緣此之故墮烏鳥中，以慈戒力即便喚言，來至我所，母及二子鳴叫嘷咷不能自止，絕而復蘇：『一別已來十六萬歲，我本敬愛，非是惡心，何期一旦受此罪報。』作是言已，飛來懷愁，悲感懊惱，『今日一別，永無見期。我於此身，何時脫捨淨髮。』爾時，知其悔心善根已至，為說六度十善因緣，復為懺悔除所障罪咎，即授齋法五分法身解脫分戒。既受戒已，頭禮致敬，辭別如去。母子思量經七日夜，俱時命終，生南天竺大婆羅門家，還為眷屬。戒力因緣自然具足，聰明叡智，三業清淨，得不退心。」當知此戒一受不失，乃至畜生。此名優婆塞戒不可思議。

The Upāsakaśīla-sūtra states: Long ago, there was a bodhisattva, a great upāsaka, who received and upheld the five precepts, being fully endowed with deportment. Leading his followers, he traveled through states and towns, arriving above the city of Licchavi and resting under a forest grove. He saw a female bird with two chicks chirping in the grove, their calls sounding extremely mournful. This upāsaka was named Pure Hair (Jingfa). Looking at the birds chirping, tears fell from his eyes, and turning to his followers he said: "These birds now were my relatives in past causes. When I originally practiced and went forth to receive the precepts, I had two sons, aged three and four. My wife at that time was attached to sensual lust with me, and looking at the children, she said: 'Clutch your father's robes; in life and death, do not let go! An affectionate bird nurtures its young, suckling them for three years; how can your father now suddenly abandon us and leave?' Due to these causes, she fell into the state of a bird." Relying on the power of his compassionate śīla, he immediately called out, "Come to my place!" The mother and the two chicks cried out and wept inconsolably, fainting and reviving: "Since our parting, sixteen myriad years have passed. I originally held respect and affection, not an evil mind; how could I have expected to suddenly suffer such karmic retribution?" Having spoken thus, they flew over bearing grief, sorrowful and lamenting: "With today's parting, there will never be a time to meet again. In this body, when shall I cast off and be liberated, Pure Hair?" At that time, knowing that her repentant mind and wholesome roots had matured, he expounded the conditions of the six perfections and ten wholesome actions for them, and further performed kṣamā for them to eliminate the sins and faults that obstructed them, whereupon he transmitted the fasting method and the precepts belonging to the fivefold dharmakāya that pertain to liberation. Having received the precepts, they bowed their heads in deep reverence and took their leave as if going away. The mother and children contemplated this for seven days and nights, and both died at the same time, being reborn into a great Brahmin family in South India, once again becoming relatives. Due to the causal conditions of the power of the precepts, they were naturally complete, sharp-witted and wise, their three kinds of karma purified, and they attained an irreversible mind. One should know that once these precepts are received, they are not lost, even down to animals. This is called the inconceivability of the upāsaka precepts.