雜譬喻經 1.60

1.60

Once a fowler spread his snare over a marsh and placed food favored by birds inside it. A multitude of birds called to their companions and vied to come eat it. The fowler drew his net, and all the birds fell into the trap. At that time there was a bird, large and strong, that lifted the net with its body and flew off together with the flock. The fowler watched its shadow and gave chase on foot. Someone said to the fowler, “The birds fly in the empty sky while you pursue them on foot; how foolish you are!” The fowler replied, “It is not as you say. At nightfall those birds will seek a place to roost. Their inclinations being different, they will fall.” The man continued pursuing them without stopping. As it grew toward evening, he looked up and saw the flock flying about in disorder and contention: some wished to go east, some wished to go west; some looked toward the tall forest, and some wished to rush toward the abyss. Continuing thus without ceasing, in an instant they fell, and the fowler was then able to catch and kill them one by one. The fowler is like Pāpīyas; the spreading of the snare is like the fetters; flying while carrying the net is like a person who has not separated from the fetters yet seeks a path of escape; resting at nightfall is like when a person conceives negligence in his mind and no longer advances; seeking different roosts is like giving rise to the sixty-two views, which are ever in opposition; the birds falling to the ground is like a person receiving an unwholesome retribution and falling into hell. This illustrates that defilements and impurities are the snares of Māra.