雜譬喻經 1.48

1.48

Formerly, there was a gṛhapati whose wife was pregnant. Having invited the Buddha to his house and made offerings, he wished to have the Tathāgata divine the child his wife would bear, wanting to know whether it would be male or female. The Buddha said: “She will later give birth to a boy, upright and exceedingly handsome; when he grows up, he will experience heavenly bliss among humans, and later attain arhatship.” When the gṛhapati heard this, he was doubtful and did not believe it. Later, he invited the six non-Buddhist masters, and after making offerings, also asked them to divine it. The gṛhapati said to the six masters: “Earlier I had the śramaṇa Gautama divine it, and he said she would later give birth to a boy; I do not know if it will truly be a boy or not?” The six masters said: “She will give birth to a girl.” Those six masters hated the Buddha-Dharma and merely wished to contradict it, but reflected to themselves: “If she gives birth to a boy, then that gṛhapati will abandon us and serve Gautama.” So they spoke deceitfully: “Gṛhapati! Your wife will give birth to a boy; but after a boy is born, a great disaster will follow, and your household and kin for seven generations will be wiped out. Because it was inauspicious, I previously lied and said it would be a girl.” Hearing this, the gṛhapati was terrified and did not know what to do. Those six masters then told the gṛhapati: “If you wish to obtain good fortune, you must simply get rid of him.” The six masters then pressed the belly of the gṛhapati's wife, wishing to abort it by pressing the belly. They pressed her belly without stopping until the gṛhapati's wife died, but the child did not die, due to the merits of his past lives. The gṛhapati then discarded his wife in the cemetery and piled up a great deal of firewood to burn her. Once the flames blazed vigorously, the Buddha led his disciples to go and look. The gṛhapati's wife’s body was destroyed, and then the child was seen sitting upon a lotus flower, upright and exceedingly handsome, his countenance white as snow. The Buddha commanded Jīvaka: “Fetch this child.” Jīvaka immediately retrieved him and returned him to the original gṛhapati, who then raised him. By the age of sixteen, his talent and beauty surpassed others. He then laid out many fine dishes and drinks and invited those six masters. After the six masters sat down, before long they burst out laughing. The youth asked: “Why do you laugh?” The six masters answered: “We see a mountain fifty thousand li away, with water beneath the mountain, and a monkey has fallen into the water; that is why we laugh.” This boy knew they were lying, so he filled bowls with various fine soups and covered them with rice, ordering people to present them, while in other people's bowls the rice was placed below and the soup on top. Everyone ate, but the six masters alone were angry and did not eat. The host asked: “Why do you not eat?” The six masters answered: “Without soup, how can we eat?” The host said: “Your eyes can see a monkey falling into water fifty thousand li away; how can you not see the soup beneath the rice?” Thereupon the six masters were furious, and went back without eating, going straight to Śrīgupta to tell him in detail. The youth's elder sister was Śrīgupta's wife. Hearing this, Śrīgupta was also angry, and told the six masters: “Gautama is his teacher; on behalf of the great masters, I will invite him and humiliate him.” For this reason, he prepared a fire pit and poisoned rice. This parable is extremely extensive and cannot be related entirely, so its essentials are briefly stated here.