雜譬喻經 1.8

1.8

昔迦葉佛時有兄弟二人，出家俱為沙門，兄好持戒坐禪，一心求道而不好布施；弟好布施修福而喜破戒。釋迦文出世，其兄值佛出家修道即得羅漢，而獨薄福，常患衣食不充，與諸伴等遊行乞食，常獨不飽而還。其弟生象中，為象多力能却怨敵，為國王所愛，以好金銀珍寶瓔珞，其身封數百戶邑，供給此象隨其所須。時兄比丘者值世大儉，遊行乞食七日不得，末後得少麤食殆得存命。先知此象是前世兄弟，便往詣象前，手捉象耳而語之言：「我與汝俱有罪也。」象便思惟比丘語，即得自識宿命，見前世因緣，象便愁憂不復飲食。象子怖懼便往白王言：「象不復飲食，不知何意？」王問象子：「先有人犯此象不？」象子答王言：「無他異人，唯見一沙門來至象邊，須臾便去耳。」王即遣人四出覓此沙門。有人於林樹間得，便攝此沙門將詣王前，王問沙門言：「至我象邊何所道說？」沙門答王言：「無所多說，我直語象言：『我與汝俱有罪耳。』」時沙門便向王具說前世因緣事，王意便悟，即放此沙門令還所止。

Formerly, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, there were two brothers who left home together to become śramaṇas. The elder brother loved keeping the precepts and dhyāna sitting, single-mindedly seeking the Way, but did not love dāna. The younger brother loved dāna and cultivating merit, but frequently broke the precepts. When Śākyamuni appeared in the world, the elder brother encountered the Buddha, left home to cultivate the Way, and forthwith attained arhatship, yet he alone was lacking in merit and constantly suffered from insufficient food and clothing. When he went on alms rounds with his companions, he was always the only one who returned without his fill. The younger brother was born among elephants; being an elephant of great strength able to repel enemies, he was loved by the king, who adorned his body with fine gold, silver, and precious jewels, and granted him an estate of several hundred households to supply him with whatever he needed. At that time, the elder brother bhikṣu encountered a severe famine in the world; he went on alms rounds for seven days without obtaining anything, and only in the end did he get a little coarse food to barely stay alive. Knowing beforehand that this elephant was his brother from a previous life, he went up before the elephant, took hold of the elephant's ear with his hand, and said: "Both you and I share in blame." The elephant then reflected on the bhikṣu's words and at once recognized his past lives, seeing the nidānas of his previous life. The elephant then grieved and would no longer eat or drink. The elephant-keeper was frightened and went to report to the king: "The elephant will no longer eat or drink; I do not know why." The king asked the elephant-keeper: "Has anyone provoked this elephant before?" The elephant-keeper replied to the king: "No stranger, only a śramaṇa who came to the elephant's side and left shortly thereafter." The king immediately sent men out in all four directions to search for this śramaṇa. Someone found him among the trees in the forest and arrested the śramaṇa, bringing him before the king. The king asked the śramaṇa: "What did you say when you went to my elephant's side?" The śramaṇa replied to the king: "I did not say much; I simply said to the elephant: 'Both you and I share in blame.'" Then the śramaṇa fully explained the events of their past-life nidānas to the king. The king understood, and immediately released the śramaṇa to return to his dwelling.