雜譬喻經 1.50

1.50

Formerly, a practitioner went to a brāhmaṇa’s house to beg for food. The brāhmaṇa had his wife bring food to feed him, and the wife stood before him. His wife was beautiful, and looking at her, the practitioner’s mind was stirred. He said to the brāhmaṇa: “Gratification, peril, and escape.” The brāhmaṇa did not understand and asked: “What are gratification, peril, and escape?” The practitioner then embraced his wife by the neck, kissed her, and said to the brāhmaṇa: “This is gratification.” The brāhmaṇa was furious and struck this practitioner once with a stick. The practitioner said again: “This fault is peril.” The brāhmaṇa was about to strike him again, but the practitioner ran outside the gate, turned his head, and said to the brāhmaṇa: “This is escape.” This illustrates that when people cannot fathom subtle meanings, they must have things pointed out before they awaken.