眾經撰雜譬喻 2.20

2.20

Formerly, there was a merchant who went to sea to gather jewels. He encountered a great nāga spirit that lifted the boat and was about to capsize it, and the people were terrified. The nāga asked, "Have you ever traveled to that kingdom?" They replied, "We have passed through it." The nāga gave them a large egg like a five-sheng jar: "Take this egg and bury it under the big tree in that kingdom's marketplace. If you do not, I will kill you later." The man agreed. Later, he passed through that kingdom and buried the egg under the big tree in the marketplace. From then on, the kingdom suffered many disasters, diseases, and pestilence. The king summoned practitioners of esoteric arts to divine it; they said there was a python's egg in the kingdom causing the disasters and pestilence. They immediately searched, dug it up, and burned it, and the illnesses were all cured. Later, when the merchant went to sea again, he saw the nāga spirit, who asked about the matter. The merchant said, "Formerly, according to your instructions, I buried the egg in the marketplace. Many diseases and pestilences arose in the kingdom. The king summoned brahmacārins to divine it; they found it and burned it, and the sick were all cured." The spirit said, "I regret not having killed those slaves!" The boatmen asked the spirit, "Why is that so?" The spirit said, "Have you ever heard of a valiant warrior so-and-so in that kingdom?" They replied, "We have heard of him; he has already died." The spirit said, "I am he! When I was alive, I liked to oppress the people in the kingdom. From the beginning, no one ever taught or admonished me, but only encouraged me. This caused me to fall among pythons, and I wanted to kill them all!" Therefore, people should admonish one another, comply with goodness, and not rely on power and authority to oppress others, bringing upon themselves the suffering of the three evil paths, which should only be heard of by report and never experienced in bodily form.