三寶感應要略錄 3.57

3.57

Formerly, there was a śramaṇa who practiced the Great Dharma and begged for food in regular order, arriving at the house of a great brāhmaṇa. Just when the brāhmaṇa's household encountered this śramaṇa, the ridgepole and beams of the house snapped and collapsed, water jars and earthenware vessels smashed, oxen and horses broke their halters and galloped off in all four directions. At that time the brāhmaṇa thought, “An inauspicious person has entered my home, causing these monstrous anomalies.” Hearing this, the śramaṇa replied to the brāhmaṇa, saying: “Have you not seen the children of your household with swollen bellies and puffy faces, heavy bodies and dimmed eyes, afflicted by disease spirits?” The brāhmaṇa said, “I have noticed it before.” The śramaṇa said further, “Inside your house there are evil yakṣa demons who suck people’s vital essence. That there is now illness inside your household is because these spirits, fearing me, fled in avoidance, causing these things.” Immediately, the children’s various afflictions were dispelled. The brāhmaṇa said, “What power do you possess?” The śramaṇa replied, “Because I closely attend to the Great Dharma of the Tathāgata and carry an image of the Thousand-Handed One, I possess this awesome spiritual power.” Having heard and seen this, the brāhmaṇa and his wife rejoiced and made offerings to it.