三寶感應要略錄 3.21

3.21

Qin Anyi was a native of Gaoling. From youth to adulthood, he made releasing falcons and shooting in hunts his family livelihood. In a single day, those killed were unknown in their thousands; month to month and year to year, the living beings killed were completely beyond reckoning or counting. People of wrong views said, 'Anyi loves to kill, yet his body is without illness.' When he was fifty-eight years old, he suddenly broke out in sores; pus and blood defiled his body, and the foul stench made it impossible to approach him. When the sun rose, Anyi's wife saw the sores: every single blister looked like a pheasant’s beak. Producing a rare thought, she called her sons, and all said they looked like pheasant beaks. She further told the relatives, and all who saw them said they looked like pheasant beaks and lips, and the lips seemed to move. Thereupon they dispatched a courier to invite the monk Dharma Master Daojun so that he might clarify this condition. Jun said, 'The retribution for this man’s sins of falconry and hunting has heavily accumulated; in this present body, he is already being gnawed and eaten by what he killed. Unless by the power of repentance, it will be very difficult to rescue and heal him.' He asked Anyi, 'How are your body and mind?' Anyi answered, 'Body and mind are as if being pounded by a pestle. Closing my eyes, I see boundless birds and beasts snarling, baring teeth, pecking and eating my bones and flesh. I pray the master will look upon me to rescue and heal me.' Jun said, 'Present suffering is like this; how much worse will be future suffering! You must repent of your sins.' Anyi said, 'I pray you bestow your compassionate instruction.' Jun said, 'Only by making an image of Samantabhadra can you atone for your transgression.' Just at this moment, he swooned and his breath ceased. His relatives wept. Jun urged them to make an image and cultivate the Samantabhadra repentance. After three days he revived, saying: 'At first I saw horse-headed and ox-headed [jailers] glaring furiously and pulling me, saying: "You foolish and violent man! The living pheasants, chickens, and the like killed by you have entered your body to chew your skin and flesh. Deer, sheep, and the like block the hall, each accusing you of taking their lives out of season. In accordance with the letters of accusation, the King has sent messengers to summon and interrogate you; you cannot refuse." Thereupon, binding me together with four companions, they placed us in a fire cart. While being suddenly driven on the road, helpless and distraught, I met a śramaṇa who rubbed my body, and the burning suffering paused for a while. At last reaching the King’s hall, I saw hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of birds and beasts shackled with bonds and chains, who in turn bound the sinners. At that time, the previous śramaṇa came; the King rose from his seat, folded his hands, and stood. The śramaṇa entered the hall and took a seat; the King then sat down after him. The śramaṇa said, "This man is my dānapati. His relatives, to make offerings to me, have repented of his offense; release and pardon him." The King said, "What the master says cannot be firmly refused. Yet now, in accordance with the accusations of the sentient beings he killed, we have just summoned and interrogated him; what about this matter?" The śramaṇa said, "His friends and spiritual companions in the human world cultivate repentance on his behalf and dedicate [the merit] to all those living beings who were killed; only when the resentful ones dissolve their hearts of resentment can he be freed from suffering." The King said, "It is truly as the master says; he should be released and sent back." The King rose from his seat, bowed to the śramaṇa, and said, "May the master return with him." At that time, the śramaṇa took Anyi and went out together. Suddenly seeing an old house, he opened its entrance with his staff; entering it, Anyi suddenly found [the vision] gone.' At that time, his relatives told Anyi, 'We made an image for you, and the image rescued you.' Hearing these words, Anyi wept and rejoiced all at once. His bodily sores were cured, his vitality became harmonious. He further gave away all his possessions to make offerings to the image, shaved his hair to leave the household life, and admonished the descendants of his family: 'With this body like lightning and dew, do not commit grave sins! Killing a single life brings calamity for many kalpas. Matters of the unseen world are all real; one cannot escape transgressions.' Leaving only these words behind, his whereabouts became unknown.