[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [眾經撰雜譬喻](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208) › 2.40 # 眾經撰雜譬喻 2.40 眾經撰雜譬喻 2.40 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [2.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2.40) 昔佛涅槃後百年，有王名阿育，大憍奢作殿舍縱廣十里，皆召諸小國畫師。畫師至，各隨意畫作種種形像。罽賓北有一小國最遠，送一畫師後到，觀壁上屋表裏盡畫遍，唯有門頰邊五尺未畫。復至仰觀視諸物，不知復作何物，自念：「我始來時過一小城，城邊有池，池有蓮華，見有一女端正姝好，有相可中天下母。」思惟已便畫作城池蓮華及女像訖。王至殿未入，便見此畫，問：「誰畫此耶？」曰：「後來畫師。」即問：「汝見形作也？虛作也？」曰：「見而作，非虛。」王問：「汝為如形像作也？為使好乎？」曰：「不使好，如其形耳！」乃相知此女中天下母，便遣使者索娉為皇后。使者受命逕往其國，見女父母謂言：「王索賢女為皇后。」女父曰：「嫁當奈何？」便謂詣女夫家語：「王使我索此女。」道遠，三年乃到，云：「卿已取王者至尊，卿不宜惜也，當時與王。」此夫是優婆塞，自思念：「人以財色危身，若不與者，或能治人。」便以婦與使者。去還到白王，王見大歡喜，即拜為皇后。得好華便悲啼，王問：「何故啼？」后曰：「王赦我罪當說耳！」王曰：「為說。」后曰：「此正似我前夫香，以故啼耳！」王恚曰：「汝為天下之母，故復念貧賤？汝是老嫗，當應治之。」旨遣使者往錄其故夫知為香不，「若不香者，故當治之。」使者往問其家人，家人曰：「此賢者失婦已，便報父母，行作沙門得阿羅漢道。」使者詣佛國中，語言：「王欲見供養道人。」道人曰：「我亦無所有，復見我為？」使白言：「王欲供養道人。」道人隨使去到白王，王見道人，道人身香甚於蓮華。王曰：「此人以香塗身。」但作熱湯浴之，香又更甚，復以繒其身，其身香轉倍。王乃信之，問：「道人何緣得香乃爾，願見告示！」道人語王：「吾前世時為婆羅門，行遙見人說經，我叉手歡喜一心稱讚菩薩，兼以少香燒以供養，故令得福遂至道果。」 > Once, a hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, there was a king named Aśoka who was exceedingly extravagant. He built a palace ten li square and summoned painters from all the lesser kingdoms. When the painters arrived, each painted various figures according to his fancy. Far to the north of Kashmir, there was a small kingdom furthest of all; it sent a painter who arrived late. He observed that the walls, both inside and outside the buildings, were entirely covered with paintings, except for a space of five feet beside the doorpost that remained unpainted. He looked up again and examined all the subjects, not knowing what else to create. He thought to himself: "When I first came, I passed a small city. Beside the city was a pond, and in the pond were lotuses. I saw a woman there, exquisitely beautiful and possessing the physical signs worthy of becoming the mother of the realm." Having thought this over, he painted the city, pond, lotuses, and the portrait of the woman, completing it. When the king arrived at the hall before entering, he saw this painting and asked: "Who painted this?" They replied: "The painter who arrived late." The king immediately asked: "Did you paint this from an actual likeness, or did you make it up?" He replied: "I painted what I saw; it is not made up." The king asked: "Did you paint her exactly as she looks, or did you embellish her beauty?" He replied: "I did not embellish her; it is just as she looks!" Judging from her signs that this woman was worthy to be the mother of the realm, the king sent an envoy to betroth her as queen. Receiving his orders, the envoy went directly to her country, saw the woman's parents, and said to them: "The king seeks your worthy daughter to be his queen." The woman's father said: "She is already married; what can be done?" He then went to the woman's husband's family and said: "The king has sent me to seek this woman." The journey was far, taking three years to arrive. The father said: "He who would take her is the king, the most exalted of all; you should not begrudge her, but should surrender her to the king at once." This husband was an upāsaka. He thought to himself: "People endanger their lives for wealth and sex; if I do not give her up, he might punish me." He then surrendered his wife to the envoy. They departed, returned, and reported to the king. When the king saw her, he was overjoyed and immediately invested her as queen. Whenever she obtained fine flowers, she would weep sorrowfully. The king asked: "Why do you weep?" The queen said: "Only if the king pardons my offense will I speak!" The king said: "Speak." The queen said: "This scent is exactly like that of my former husband; that is why I weep." The king became enraged and said: "You are the mother of the realm, yet you still long for a base pauper? You are an old hag; you deserve punishment!" He issued a decree sending an envoy to arrest her former husband to see if he was fragrant or not: "If he is not fragrant, she shall indeed be punished." The envoy went and asked his family. The family said: "After this worthy man lost his wife, he informed his parents, became a śramaṇa, and attained the fruit of arhatship." The envoy went into the Buddha's land and said to him: "The king wishes to see and make offerings to the renunciant." The renunciant said: "I have nothing at all; why would he see me again?" The envoy addressed him: "The king wishes to make offerings to the renunciant." The renunciant accompanied the envoy, arrived, and was presented to the king. When the king saw the renunciant, the scent of the renunciant's body surpassed that of a lotus. The king said: "This man has smeared his body with perfume." He had hot water prepared and bathed him, yet the fragrance became even stronger; he then wrapped his body in silk, and his body's scent doubled. The king finally believed, and asked: "Renunciant, by what cause did you obtain such fragrance? I pray that you will reveal and explain it!" The renunciant said to the king: "In a past life, I was a brāhmaṇa. While traveling, I saw someone from afar expounding a sūtra. I joined my palms in joy and praised the bodhisattva with a single mind, and also burned a little incense as an offering. For that reason, I obtained this blessing, which ultimately led to the fruit of the Path." > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 2.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2.39) - [Next: 2.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2.41) - [Up: 2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208~en-mt.2.40) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.208.2.40) · Pramāṇa