眾經撰雜譬喻 1.20

1.20

昔有慳貪長者，佛欲度之，先遣舍利弗為說布施之福種種功德。長者慳貪都無施意，見日欲中，語舍利弗：「汝何不去？我無食與汝。」舍利弗知不可化，即還佛所。佛復遣目連神足返化而為說法。長者復言：「汝欲得我物故作此幻術。」目連知其不可化，即還佛所。於是佛必破其慳貪自造其家，長者見佛自來，為作禮，將佛入座。佛方便種種說法，語長者言：「汝能行五大施不？」長者白佛：「我小施猶尚不能，況復大施！」長者白佛：「云何五大施？」佛言：「五大施者，不得殺生，汝能作不？」長者思惟：「不殺生者，乃不用我財物又無所損。」即白佛言：「我能！」以是次第為說，乃至不飲酒，皆言：「能作！」於是佛即為長者種種說法五戒義：「若能持此五戒，便為作五大施竟。」即大歡喜，欲以一張不好㲲施佛，即入庫求，無不好者，便以一張而奉施佛。庫中餘㲲盡相隨來，至於佛前。佛知長者施心不定，語長者言：「天帝釋與阿修羅共鬪，心不定故三返不如，後以定心故大破阿修羅軍。」長者聞已，知佛大聖深知人意，信心清淨，佛為說法，即得須陀洹道。明日魔知其心，即化作佛欲來壞之，而至其家，長者以未得他心智故，不知是魔歡喜迎之，善來將入座。魔佛語長者言：「我昨日所說者，盡非是佛語，汝速捨之！」長者聞此語已，甚大怪之：「形雖是佛而所說者非，如師子皮被驢，雖形似獅子而心是驢。」長者不信，魔知其心正，還復其身言：「我故來試汝，而汝心不可轉。」是故經言：「見諦之人尚不信佛語，何況餘道？以深察理故。」是故佛弟子要解深理，魔說佛說悉皆能知。是故義不可不學，施不可不修。

Once there was a stingy elder. Wishing to deliver him, the Buddha first sent Śāriputra to explain to him the merits of dāna and its various virtues. The elder was stingy and had no intention of giving. Seeing that noon was approaching, he said to Śāriputra: “Why do you not leave? I have no food to give you.” Śāriputra knew he could not be converted and immediately returned to the Buddha's place. The Buddha then sent Maudgalyāyana to use his psychic powers of transformation to preach the Dharma to him. The elder said again: “You perform this magical trick because you want my goods.” Maudgalyāyana knew he could not be converted and immediately returned to the Buddha's place. Thereupon, the Buddha, resolved to break his stinginess, went to his house in person. Seeing the Buddha come in person, the elder paid homage to him and led the Buddha to a seat. The Buddha taught the Dharma in various upāyas, and said to the elder: “Can you practice the five great gifts?” The elder said to the Buddha: “I cannot even practice small gifts, how much less great gifts!” The elder said to the Buddha: “What are the five great gifts?” The Buddha said: “The five great gifts are: not killing living beings. Can you do this?” The elder thought: “Not killing living beings does not use my wealth and goods, nor does it cause any loss.” He then said to the Buddha: “I can!” In this sequence, he explained them to him, down to not drinking alcohol; to all of them he said: “I can do it!” Thereupon, the Buddha explained the meaning of the five precepts to the elder in various ways: “If you can observe these five precepts, you will have completed the five great gifts.” He was then filled with great joy and wished to give a piece of poor-quality fine cotton cloth to the Buddha. He went into his storeroom to look, but found none of poor quality; he then took one piece and offered it to the Buddha. The remaining cloth in the storeroom all followed along, arriving before the Buddha. The Buddha knew that the elder's mind of giving was unsettled, and said to the elder: “Śakra Devānāmindra fought with the asuras; because his mind was unsettled, he was defeated three times. Later, with a settled mind, he utterly routed the asura army.” Having heard this, the elder knew that the Buddha was a great sage who deeply knew the minds of people; his mind of faith became pure. The Buddha preached the Dharma for him, and he immediately attained the path of the srotāpanna. The next day, Māra knew his state of mind and transformed himself into a buddha, wishing to come and corrupt him. Arriving at his house, the elder, not yet having attained the knowledge of others' minds, did not know it was Māra; he welcomed him with joy, saying: “Welcome,” and led him to a seat. The Māra-buddha said to the elder: “What I said yesterday was not the Buddha's words at all; discard them quickly!” Hearing these words, the elder was greatly astonished: “Although the form is a buddha, what he says is not. It is like a donkey covered in a lion's skin; though its form resembles a lion, its mind is that of a donkey.” The elder did not believe him. Knowing that his mind was upright, Māra resumed his original body and said: “I deliberately came to test you, but your mind cannot be turned.” Therefore a sūtra says: “A person who has seen the truths does not even believe [false] words attributed to the Buddha, how much less those of other paths? This is because he has deeply examined the principle.” Therefore, disciples of the Buddha must understand the deep principle, so that they can recognize whether it is spoken by Māra or spoken by the Buddha. For this reason, one must not fail to learn the meaning, and one must not fail to cultivate dāna.