釋門自鏡錄 1.14

1.14

Formerly, west of the city in the kingdom of the Yuezhi, there was a great mountain; it was the dwelling place of the pratyekabuddha Revata. A fierce beast ascended here. Not far away, a man lost an ox, and tracking it, came to this mountain, happening upon this pratyekabuddha lighting a fire to dye his robes. Due to the power of past karma, at that exact time the bowl transformed into an ox's head, the Dharma robes transformed into an ox's hide, the dye broth transformed into blood, the dye dregs transformed into meat, and the firewood transformed into bones. Since the traces were thus, he was seized by the ox's owner and put into prison. The disciples searched for him, not knowing where he was. From then on, twelve years elapsed gradually. Later, through certain causes and conditions, they learned that he was in prison, and then said to the king, 'Our teacher is in prison; we pray the king grant a pardon.' The king asked the prison warden whether there was a monk. The prison warden said there was no monk. The disciples said to the king, 'We pray you summon those who are śramaṇas in the prison to come out; our master will emerge of himself.' The prison warden then called, and the pratyekabuddha immediately came out. This pratyekabuddha had been in prison for so long that his hair was long, his robes tattered, and his śramaṇa appearance destroyed. The disciples bowed and asked, saying, 'Why was our master here?' The master at that time answered with the events above. The disciples further asked, 'What cause did you create in a past life that now brought about this?' The master answered, saying, 'In past times I slandered another person for stealing an ox, which brought about this outcome.'