法華傳記 9.36

9.36

昔月支摩訶衍傳法菩薩。號曰蘇摩耶。傳持摩訶衍大寶藏。師徒訓化。月支古俗。號曰摩訶衍提婆菩提薩埵。將諸弟子。遊化諸國。至師子國邊境海畔前行。路見五百餓鬼。忽然微笑。彷徨不進。弟子怪異問因。答我見五百餓鬼。飢虛窮乏不聞飲食名。見我前進。流淚請救濟。即問。汝等住海渚幾時。答曰。不識幾時。唯見此海七返興敗。菩薩言生死無邊際。汝知幾時。復問。飲食已來如何。答曰。我等得少涕唾。觸口脣已來。經七百年。久久求食不得。設得少尿水。入口成火灰。復問苦何。答受苦不可稱盡。且一日所受苦。三時不同。朝眾多琰魔卒來。以熱鐵丸含口。以鐵棒而打擲之。身成火灰段段壞盡。涼風所吹。還活如故。即嗔吐火呵責言。汝昔貪食。獨口食之。飽吞熱丸。美味有不。呵責已了還去。我等身心苦趣萬死萬生。日中百千軍騎來至。步軍雜役。鑊湛融銅。持用而來先捧鐵刺者。來打我等頭。令坐海渚。次鑊使來至。以融銅灌口云。汝等謗大人。獨食不施。融銅味不。時眾多軍騎。馳後馬以火箭射之。如人間射的。中毒火箭。宛轉躄地。涼風所吹還活如故。夕百千鐵狗鐵烏狐狼等來。牙齒如刃。哮吼馳走。鬪諍摣掣。啀齜食噉至曉更散。如此等苦。百分之一。不可具說。願尊慈蔭。蘇摩耶告曰。汝自作業還自受。如何他人力所及。復問。汝等憶宿命業不。答自爾力故。憶知宿作。我等於無量劫前。作出家眾。不持淨戒。守護田業。慳貪不施。若得食味。屏處獨食。打驅犬烏。死後受此報。菩薩生悲愍。為分別薩達磨芬陀利修多羅等深法。五百餓鬼目出喜淚。歡娛受樂。菩薩前進。到師子國。夜宿空亭至三更。五百天子。來至空亭。各以一枚真珠。供養菩薩已白言。大士我等是海渚餓鬼。乘聞法善生天上。思聞法恩故。以天上福來。最初供養之。即還天上。菩薩自手記因緣。號曰救餓鬼記。

In the past, there was a Great Vehicle Dharma-transmitting bodhisattva of the Yuezhi named Somaya. He transmitted and maintained the great treasury of the Great Vehicle, instructing and transforming teachers and disciples. In the ancient custom of the Yuezhi, he was called Mahāyānadeva Bodhisattva. Leading his disciples, he travelled around to convert various countries. Arriving at the seashore on the border of the Lion Country (Siṃhala), as he walked ahead on the road, he saw five hundred hungry ghosts (pretas). He suddenly gave a faint smile and paced back and forth without advancing. His disciples found it strange and asked the reason. He replied: "I see five hundred hungry ghosts, starved and destitute, who have not heard the name of food or drink. Seeing me approach, they shed tears and begged for deliverance. I then asked them: 'How long have you lived on this seashore?' They answered: 'We do not know how long; we have only seen this sea rise and fall seven times.' The Bodhisattva said: 'Samsara has no limit; how could you know the time?' He asked again: 'How has it been since you last had food or drink?' They answered: 'It has been seven hundred years since we caught a little spittle that touched our lips. For ages we have sought food and found none; even if we get a little urine, the moment it enters our mouths it turns to fiery ashes.' He asked again: 'What is your suffering like?' They replied: 'The suffering we undergo cannot be fully recounted. Moreover, the suffering we undergo in a single day differs at the three times. In the morning, numerous minions of Yama come, fill our mouths with red-hot iron pellets, and beat and strike us with iron clubs. Our bodies turn to fiery ashes and are completely destroyed piece by piece. When the cool wind blows, we revive as before. Then, spitting fire in anger, they berate us, saying: "Formerly you were greedy for food and ate it alone! Swallow your fill of hot pellets—do they taste delicious or not?" Having finished berating us, they leave. In the painful destiny of body and mind, we undergo ten thousand deaths and ten thousand births. At midday, hundreds of thousands of cavalry come, along with infantry and assorted laborers. Bringing cauldrons filled with molten copper, those holding iron thorns come forward first to strike our heads, making us sit on the seashore. Next, the cauldron attendants arrive and pour the molten copper down our throats, saying: "You slandered great beings, ate alone, and gave no alms. Does molten copper have any flavor?" Then the numerous cavalry gallop behind on horses and shoot us with flaming arrows, just as humans shoot at targets. Struck by the poisonous flaming arrows, we writhe and collapse on the ground. When the cool wind blows, we revive as before. In the evening, hundreds of thousands of iron dogs, iron crows, foxes, and wolves arrive. Their teeth are like blades; howling and roaring, they run about, fighting and tearing at us, snarling and devouring us until dawn before scattering. Suffering like this is not even one-hundredth part of it; it cannot be fully described. We pray for your compassionate protection!' Somaya told them: 'You yourselves performed these deeds, and you must receive the retribution yourselves; how can the power of another reach it?' He asked further: 'Do you remember the karma of your past lives?' They answered: 'By our own power, we remember what we did in the past. Immeasurable kalpas ago, we became renunciants, but did not maintain the pure precepts; we guarded fields and property, were stingy and greedy, and gave no alms. Whenever we obtained flavorful food, we ate it alone in secret places, beating and driving away dogs and crows. After death, we received this retribution.' The Bodhisattva gave rise to pity and compassion, and expounded for them profound dharmas such as the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. The five hundred hungry ghosts shed tears of joy from their eyes, rejoiced, and experienced pleasure. The Bodhisattva went forward and reached the Lion Country. At night he lodged in an empty pavilion. At the third watch of the night, five hundred sons of devas came to the empty pavilion. Each made an offering of a genuine pearl to the Bodhisattva, and said: 'Great Being, we are the hungry ghosts from the seashore. Relying on the goodness of hearing the Dharma, we were born in the heavens. Remembering our gratitude for hearing the Dharma, we came with the blessings of heaven to make this initial offering.' Then they returned to the heavens. The Bodhisattva recorded these causes and conditions with his own hand; it is called the Record of Saving the Hungry Ghosts.