眾經撰雜譬喻 2.44

2.44

昔天帝釋與第七梵天親善。時梵天下至忉利天上共戲，釋愁不樂，梵天問釋：「何以不樂？」釋曰：「卿見我天上人轉希不？下方人無復作善者，皆入惡道中，無復生上者，天人下生人間轉復不還，我故愁耳！」梵天語釋：「卿便死化作一師子極令威勢，我當化作婆羅門，共下到閻浮提，教授天下使為善，為善死皆生天。」便各隨所化下到一國。師子在城門中言：「我欲得人噉。」國人見之無不惶怖，叩頭求哀，終不肯去。化婆羅門語國人言：「此師子惡，與罪人應死者三十人，自當去也！」王便出獄囚應死者三十人與師子，師子得人驅著前去到深山中。未噉之頃化天語諸人：「卿等能持五戒、念十善道，身口意相應者，此師子便不噉人。」諸人言：「我等當死，此何足言？能持耳。」便從化人受戒，師子便不噉。師子言：「置令去。雖爾我知汝心，若不持佛五戒者，我故當噉汝。」爾三十人還國，國人見皆驚，問曰：「卿那得還耶？」答曰：「有一人教我等受佛五戒，師子便不復噉我，故我得來歸耳！」師子復住城門中，國人大惶怖，皆從三十人受五戒，師子便去，復到一國，如是周遍八萬諸國，皆使為善，死者生天，天上更大樂豐盛饒人。菩薩方便度人如是，自到作佛。佛語阿難：「釋天化師子者，我身是也，梵天化作婆羅門者，今迦葉是也。爾時助我化度天下人，使我得佛，我故與並坐，報爾時恩。」

In the past, Śakra Devānāmindra was on close terms with the seventh Brahmā heaven. At that time, Brahmā descended to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven to converse and amuse themselves together. Śakra was sorrowful and unhappy. Brahmā asked Śakra, "Why are you unhappy?" Śakra said, "Do you see that the people in my heaven are growing fewer? People in the world below no longer do good; they all enter the evil paths, and none are reborn up here anymore. When gods descend to be reborn among humans, they also do not return. That is why I am sorrowful!" Brahmā said to Śakra, "You should feign death and transform yourself into an exceedingly majestic lion, and I will transform myself into a brāhmaṇa. Together we will descend to Jambudvīpa to teach the world and cause them to do good. If they do good, upon death they will all be born in heaven." Thereupon, each according to their transformation, they descended to a kingdom. The lion stood at the city gate and said, "I want to get humans to eat." When the people of the kingdom saw him, none were not terrified. They kowtowed and begged for mercy, but he was completely unwilling to leave. The transformed brāhmaṇa said to the people of the kingdom, "This lion is vicious. If you give him thirty condemned criminals who ought to die, he will surely depart on his own!" The king then released thirty prisoners from jail who ought to die and gave them to the lion. Having obtained the humans, the lion drove them forward into deep mountains. Before he ate them, the transformed god said to the people, "If you can observe the five precepts and be mindful of the ten paths of wholesome action, aligning body, speech, and mind, this lion will not eat people." The people said, "We were going to die anyway, so why would we hesitate at this? We can certainly observe them." They then received the precepts from the transformed person, and the lion did not eat them. The lion said, "Let them go. Even so, I know your hearts; if you do not observe the Buddha's five precepts, I will still eat you." The thirty people then returned to the kingdom. Seeing them, the people of the kingdom were all astonished and asked, "How were you able to return?" They replied, "There was a person who taught us to receive the Buddha's five precepts, and the lion no longer ate us; that is how we were able to come back!" The lion again stood at the city gate. The people of the kingdom were terrified, and all received the five precepts from the thirty people. The lion then departed and went to another kingdom. In this way, they traversed eighty thousand kingdoms everywhere, causing them all to do good. Those who died were born in heaven, and heaven became even more joyful, flourishing, and abundant with people. The bodhisattva used such upāya to save people, until he attained Buddhahood. The Buddha said to Ānanda, "The god Śakra who transformed into the lion was myself; Brahmā who transformed into the brāhmaṇa is Kāśyapa today. At that time he assisted me in transforming and saving the people of the world, enabling me to attain Buddhahood. For this reason, I sit side by side with him, in recompense for that past kindness."