眾經撰雜譬喻 2.36

2.36

昔有沙門，坐在樹下誦經，鳥來在樹上聽經，專心聽經不左顧右視，為獵師所射殺。鳥臨死時其心不亂，魂神即生天上，自念生所從來根源，便識一世宿命。既生天已，來下散華在樹下沙門上。天人語道人曰：「蒙道人誦經恩福故，得免此鳥身，得為天人。」道人聞鳥語便得道跡，須臾忽然不現，天人還本所。師曰：「諸學道者，臨欲壽終心不亂者，所生不墮惡道苦痛之處，便識宿命自所更來，故出經示後生也！」

Once, there was a śramaṇa who sat beneath a tree reciting sūtras. A bird came and listened to the sūtra recitation from the tree, listening with single-minded devotion without looking to the left or right, when it was shot and killed by a hunter. As the bird faced death, its mind was not disordered; its soul was immediately born in heaven. Reflecting on the origin of where it had come from, it recognised its former life from one rebirth ago. Having been born in heaven, it came down and scattered flowers over the śramaṇa beneath the tree. The god said to the renunciant: "Owing to the blessing of the renunciant reciting the sūtra, I was freed from that bird's body and became a god." Hearing the bird's words, the renunciant attained the stage of the Path. In an instant, the god suddenly vanished and returned to his original abode. The master said: "For all practitioners of the Path, if their minds are not disordered when their lives are about to end, their place of rebirth will not fall into the agony of the evil paths; they will immediately recognise the former lives through which they have passed. Therefore, this sūtra is delivered to instruct future generations!"