雜譬喻經 1.74

1.74

All grasses and trees in the world can be used as medicine; it is only because people are not good at distinguishing them that they do not know this. In the past, there was a king of holy physicians named Jīvaka who could blend medicinal herbs into the form of a young boy, such that whoever saw him was delighted and all their illnesses were cured. Sometimes he treated manifold illnesses with a single herb; sometimes he treated a single illness with manifold herbs. There was no herb in the world that could not be employed, and no illness in the world that could not be cured. When Jīvaka's life ended, all the medicinal herbs in the world wept simultaneously, raising their voices together and saying: 'All of us can be used to treat illnesses, but only Jīvaka understood us. After Jīvaka's death, there will no longer be anyone who can understand us. Later generations may use us mistakenly, increasing or decreasing [doses], causing illnesses not to be cured, and making all the people of the world think we are not efficacious. It is because of reflecting on this that we weep.' Only a single myrobalan (harītakī) stayed apart on one side and did not weep alone, saying of itself: 'I can cure all illnesses. Whoever takes me will surely have their illness cured; whoever does not take me naturally will not be cured. I do not need anyone to understand me; therefore I do not weep.' Jīvaka is an analogy for the Buddha; the manifold medicinal herbs are an analogy for the dharmas; the myrobalan is an analogy for impermanence. This means that when the Buddha was in the world, he skillfully employed the power of dharmas, directly using lust, anger, and delusion as medicine to cure people's illnesses, and employed other wholesome dharmas as appropriate. There was no fixed rule—he was like a good physician to the sick. After the Buddha passed away from the world, few could skillfully employ the dharmas according to the time and circumstances. The contemplation of impermanence cures many things: it can cure lust, it can cure anger, and it can cure delusion. If skillfully used, it removes illness; if unskillfully used, it does no harm. Therefore it is compared to the myrobalan. The remaining dharmas are not easy to use; one who uses them must obtain a proper master. If skillfully used, illness is diminished; if unskillfully used, illness is increased.