[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) › [釋門自鏡錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083) › 1.80 # 釋門自鏡錄 1.80 釋門自鏡錄 1.80 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.80](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1.80) 昔如來去世垂五百年。有阿羅漢。自迦濕彌羅國。至健駄羅國婆羅邑。見一梵志捶訓童稚。問何苦此兒。梵志曰。令學聲明業不時進。羅漢\[這-言+(占@口)\]爾而笑。梵志曰。沙門者慈悲為情愍傷物類。仁今所笑願聞其說。羅漢曰。汝頗甞聞波爾尼製聲明論垂訓於世乎。曰具聞之。羅漢曰。汝子即是彼仙。猶以強學翫習世典。唯談異論不究真理。神智唐捐流轉未息。昔南海之濱有一枯樹。五百蝙蝠於中穴居。時有商侶止於樹下。既屬風寒。人皆飢凍。聚𧂐樵薪蘊火其下。煙焰漸熾枯樹自然。時商侶中有一賈客。夜分已後誦阿毘達磨藏。彼請蝙蝠雖為火困。愛好法音忍而不去。於是命終隨業受生俱得人身。捨家修學乘聞法音聰明利智並證聖果。迦尼色迦王與脇尊者。招集五百賢聖。於迦濕彌羅國作毘婆沙論。斯並枯樹之中五百蝙蝠也。余雖不肖是其一數。斯則優劣良異飛伏懸殊。仁今愛子可放出家。功德之大不能詳述。時阿羅漢說此語已。示神通事因忽不見。梵志深生驚異。遂放子出家也。 > Anciently, nearly five hundred years after the Tathāgata entered extinction, there was an arhat who traveled from the country of Kaśmīra to the town of Śālātura in the country of Gandhāra. He saw a brāhmaṇa beating and instructing a young child, and asked: “Why do you distress this child?” The brāhmaṇa said: “I am having him study the science of grammar (śabdavidyā), but he does not progress in due time.” The arhat smiled broadly. The brāhmaṇa said: “A śramaṇa takes compassion as his sentiment, pitying and sorrowing for living beings. As for what you, benevolent sir, are smiling at now, I would hear the reason.” The arhat said: “Have you ever heard that Pāṇini composed a treatise on grammar to hand down instruction to the world?” He replied: “I have heard it all.” The arhat said: “Your son is none other than that sage. Because he still obstinately studies and amuses himself with worldly texts, only discussing non-Buddhist doctrines without plumbing the true reality, his divine wisdom has been expended in vain and his transmigration has not ceased. In ancient times, beside the Southern Sea, there was a withered tree in which five hundred bats lived in a hollow. At that time, a caravan of merchants stopped under the tree. Encountering wind and cold, the men were all starving and freezing. They gathered brushwood and firewood, building a fire underneath, and the smoke and flames gradually grew fierce, setting the withered tree naturally ablaze. Among the merchants, there was a trader who, after midnight, recited the Abhidharma-piṭaka. Although those bats were distressed by the fire, they loved the sound of the Dharma and endured it without leaving. Thereupon their lives ended, and taking rebirth according to their karma, they all obtained human bodies. Leaving home to practice and learn, by virtue of having heard the sound of the Dharma, they had sharp and acute wisdom and all realized the holy fruit. When King Kaniṣka and the Venerable Pārśva assembled five hundred sages and saints in Kaśmīra to compose the \*Vibhāṣā-śāstra\*, these were none other than the five hundred bats from the withered tree! Unworthy as I am, I am one among their number. Thus, their superiority and inferiority are indeed different, far apart as flying and prostrating. Now, regarding your beloved son, you should allow him to leave home; the greatness of the merit cannot be described in detail.” When the arhat had finished speaking these words, he displayed miraculous powers and suddenly disappeared. The brāhmaṇa was filled with great wonder, and thereupon allowed his son to leave home. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.79](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1.79) - [Next: 1.81](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1.81) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083~en-mt.1.80) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1.80](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2083.1.80) · Pramāṇa