三寶感應要略錄 2.27

2.27

Formerly, by the shore of the southern sea, there was a withered tree. Five hundred bats gathered and dwelt inside its hollow. A party of merchants stopped beneath the tree. As the wind was cold, the men were all freezing and hungry. They gathered firewood and made a fire beneath it to warm themselves. The smoke and flames gradually blazed up, and the withered tree caught fire. At that time, among the merchants was a traveler who, after midnight, recited the Abhidharma Piṭaka. Though distressed by the fire, the bats took delight in the sound of the good Dharma, endured it, and did not leave. Thereupon their lives ended. Born according to their karma, they all obtained human bodies, left home, and cultivated the Hīnayāna Dharma. Being clever and of sharp intellect, they all realized the holy fruit. Recently, King Kaniṣka and Venerable Pārśva gathered five hundred sages and worthies in the country of Kaśmīra to compose the Vibhāṣā treatise. These were the five hundred bats from inside that withered tree.