法華傳記 7.24

7.24

𤘽薩羅國大愛道故精舍側。有沙門稱摩訶衍提婆。秦云大乘天。披讀法華等大乘典。時有大阿羅漢。三明六通清徹。是大乘天昔親友也。阿羅漢曰。我見舍衛城門外上。虛空中有一餓鬼。身極長大。其狀醜惡。忽有十二枚熱鐵丸。從口中入直下過去。既下過已還入口中。舉體火燃。苦痛宛轉。絕倒復起。起後還倒。即問。汝有何罪苦痛如斯。答吾前世曾為沙彌。給仕大乘天。時世極儉。麥餅為食。爾時為眾僧行食。偏重大乘天。留十二分擬後食。以是罪故。受餓鬼身。苦毒如斯。汝憶知不。答其事實。受苦何疑。大乘天問。以何方便救之。答依汝起業。汝轉讀摩訶衍經。即依羅漢教。讀般若法華般舟等各十遍。迴向救苦。後時問阿羅漢。前沙彌苦何。答入定觀知。依汝讀經力。命終生第二天（同傳）。

Beside the former vihāra of Mahāprajāpatī in the kingdom of Kosala, there was a śramaṇa called Mahāyānadeva, which in the Qin language means Great Vehicle Heaven. He read and recited Mahāyāna scriptures such as the Lotus. At that time, there was a great arhat whose three knowledges and six abhijñās were purely penetrating; he was a former friend of Mahāyānadeva. The arhat said, "Outside and above the gate of the city of Śrāvastī, I saw a hungry ghost in the sky whose body was extremely tall and large, and whose appearance was hideous. Suddenly, twelve hot iron pellets entered through his mouth and passed straight through his body. Having passed through, they returned into his mouth. His entire body was ablaze, and he writhed in agony, collapsing senseless and rising again, only to collapse once more after rising. I asked him, 'What sin did you commit to suffer agony like this?' He answered, 'In my previous life, I was once a novice serving Mahāyānadeva. At that time, there was great scarcity, and barley cakes were our food. When serving food to the monastic assembly at that time, I showed partiality to Mahāyānadeva and set aside twelve portions for his later meal. Due to this sin, I received the body of a hungry ghost and suffer such agonizing poison. Do you remember this?' He replied, 'It is truly so; what doubt is there of your suffering?' Mahāyānadeva asked, 'By what expedient means can he be saved?' [The arhat] answered, 'Because of you his karma arose; you should revolve and recite the Mahāyāna scriptures.' He then followed the arhat's instruction and recited the Prajñā, the Lotus, the Pratyutpanna, and other sūtras ten times each, dedicating the merit to relieve his suffering. Later, he asked the arhat, 'How is that former novice's suffering?' [The arhat] replied, 'Entering samādhi, I observed and knew: relying on the power of your recitation of the sūtras, his life ended and he was born in the second heaven'" (from the same record).