眾經撰雜譬喻 1.47

1.47

Formerly, there was a householder whose wife was pregnant. Having invited the Buddha to his house and made offerings, he wished to have the Tathāgata divine the child his wife would later bear, wishing to know whether it would be male or female. The Buddha said: “Later she will give birth to a boy, upright and handsome. When he grows up, he will experience heavenly bliss among men, and later he will attain arhatship.” The householder heard this and had doubts in his mind, not believing it. Later he invited the six non-Buddhist teachers, and after making offerings, had them divine it as well. The householder said to the six teachers: “Earlier I had the śramaṇa Gautama divine it, and he said, ‘Later she will give birth to a boy.’ Is it truly a boy or not?” The six teachers replied: “She will give birth to a girl.” Those six teachers hated and envied the Buddha-Dharma, seeking only to contradict it. They returned to reflect: “If she gives birth to a boy, the householder will abandon us and serve Gautama.” So they fabricated deceptive words and said to the householder: “Your wife will give birth to a boy, and after the boy is born, there will be great calamity and disaster; your household and kin will be wiped out for seven generations. Because it was inauspicious, I earlier deceptively said it was a girl!” When the householder heard this, he was terrified in his mind and did not know what to do. The six teachers then said to the householder: “If you wish for good fortune, you must simply get rid of it.” The six teachers then pressed the householder's wife's belly, intending to abort the child, but instead they killed the mother. The householder’s wife thereupon died, but the child did not die, on account of the merit of past lives! The householder then abandoned his wife, placing her in the charnel ground, and piled up a great heap of firewood to burn her. When the flames were blazing, the Buddha led his disciples to go and observe. Just as the householder’s wife's body began to break apart, they saw her child sitting upon a lotus flower, upright and handsome, his countenance like snow. The Buddha ordered Jīvaka to retrieve this child. Jīvaka entered the fire, took the child in his arms, brought him out, and returned him to the original householder. The householder then reared him. By the age of sixteen, his talents and beauty surpassed others. He then prepared an abundance of fine food and drink and invited the six teachers. After the six teachers were seated, before long they broke into laughter. The man asked: “Why do you laugh?” The six teachers replied: “Fifty thousand li away I see a mountain, below which there is water, and a monkey has fallen into the water; that is why I laugh!” The boy knew they were lying; so he filled their bowls with various fine broths and covered them with rice, and had someone carry them and give them to them. In the other people's bowls, rice was placed below and broth on top. All the other people ate, but the six teachers alone were angry and did not eat. The host asked: “Why do you not eat?” The six teachers answered: “There is no broth; how can we eat?” The host said: “Your eyes can see a monkey falling into the water fifty thousand li away, so why do you not see the broth beneath the rice?” Thereupon the six teachers were furious and returned without eating anything. Because of this, the householder and his son ceased serving them and took refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha. The Buddha preached the Dharma to them in various ways, and they ultimately attained the fruits of the Way. Parables such as this are very numerous; this is a brief record to clarify the true and the false.