法華傳記 9.20

9.20

昔外國有一比丘。坐禪誦法華經。城邑喧雜。靜散相乖。捨聚落憒鬧。移居深山。鳥路交通。人跡永絕。晝夜坐禪。禪餘暇誦經。其山陰有大蛇。以惡業因緣故。無量毒蟲。聚集之所唼食。遙聞人香。宛轉腹行。趣向僧處。此蛇昔佛弟子。聞法音流淚。毒虫食息。苦痛暫除。歡喜不害比丘。常住僧邊聞經。僧不知有大蛇。乞食已訖。還所止見大蛇蟠。即生驚怖語惡蛇。汝早去早去。若無惡心即近住。蛇聞此言。近來常住。聞誦經聲。至食時含果來供養之。如此日日來。後時良久不來。比丘怪之登峯見下。幽谷臭穢。即下見懸高木枝吐果而死。比丘見悲愍。為呪願報恩還所止。爾時天雨種種雜華滿山谷。來下比丘僧室。種種供養之。飛騰空中。比丘曰。汝誰天。答吾是公弟子山陰大蛇。依聞法力。捨身生忉利天。今為報恩來下而已。天又曰。吾生天上。見一天子。從手放光。掩閉諸天。問因緣答。吾在人間。書寫法華。生此天中。以是因緣。手放光。或天口放光。問因緣答。吾先世讀法華。凡所有天眾。多無解而行法華人也。說此事已。還於本天。比丘手記置。收室柱內耳（出外國記）。

Formerly, in a foreign land, there was a bhikṣu who sat in meditation and recited the Lotus Sūtra. Cities and towns are noisy and bustling, and tranquility and distraction conflict with one another; so he abandoned the clamor of villages and moved to dwell deep in the mountains, where only birds could traverse and human traces were forever cut off. Day and night he sat in meditation, reciting the sūtra during intervals from meditation. On the shaded side of the mountain there was a great snake, which, due to the causes and conditions of evil karma, had gathered immeasurable venomous insects that bit and fed on it. Smelling the scent of a human from afar, it wriggled on its belly and approached the monk's place. This snake had formerly been a disciple of the Buddha; hearing the sound of the Dharma, its tears fell, the insects ceased their feeding, its agony was temporarily removed, and rejoicing, it did not harm the bhikṣu. It constantly stayed beside the monk to listen to the sūtra. The monk did not know of the great snake. After begging for food, he returned to his dwelling and saw the great snake coiled up. Becoming terrified, he said to the wicked snake, 'Leave quickly, leave quickly! If you have no evil intent, you may dwell nearby.' Hearing these words, the snake drew near and constantly stayed there, listening to the sound of sūtra recitation. When the meal hour came, it brought fruit in its mouth as an offering. It came every day in this manner. Later, for a long while it did not come. Finding it strange, the bhikṣu climbed the peak and looked down into a dark, foul ravine. Going down, he saw the snake suspended from a high tree branch, having vomited fruit and died. Seeing this, the bhikṣu felt pity, recited spells and prayers to repay its kindness, and returned to his dwelling. At that time, flowers of various kinds rained from the sky, filling the mountain valley, and descended to the bhikṣu's monastic chamber, making various offerings to him and soaring into the air. The bhikṣu asked, 'What god are you?' The reply came: 'I was your disciple, the great snake on the shaded side of the mountain. Through the power of hearing the Dharma, I cast off that body and was reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. I have now descended only to repay your kindness.' The deva further said: 'When I was born in heaven, I saw a son of the gods whose hands emitted light, outshining all the gods. When I asked the cause, he replied, "In the human realm, I copied the Lotus Sūtra and was born in this heaven; by this cause, my hands emit light." Another deva had light radiating from his mouth. When I asked the cause, he replied, "In my previous life I read the Lotus Sūtra." Most of all the celestial hosts are people who practiced the Lotus Sūtra without understanding.' Having spoken of this matter, he returned to his own heaven. The bhikṣu wrote down this record with his own hand and placed it inside a pillar of his room (from the Waiguo ji).