經律異相 10.24

10.24

昔者菩薩為大國王。理民以慈月月巡行。貧乏鰥寡疾療藥糜。每出巡狩命使後車具載所須衣服醫藥。死者葬之。君名被十方。帝釋見其德行懼奪其位思欲壞之。化為老梵志從王乞銀錢一千。王即惠之。曰吾栖窘恐人盜之願以寄王。王曰。吾國無盜重寄即受。又化為梵志。又詣宮門。王即現之。梵志歎曰。大王名布八極德行希有。我生在凡庶欣慕尊榮欲乞斯國。王曰大善。即與妻子輕乘而去。天帝復化為餘梵志。從王乞車。以車馬惠之。與妻子步進依山止宿。有五通道士與王為友。忽憶王德覩之失國靖心禪息。覩天帝釋貪嫉奪國委頓瘦疵。道士以神足忽之王所曰將欲何求勞志若茲曰。吾志所存子已具知。道士即化為一轅之車以送王矣。天化梵志復乞其車。未至彼國由數千里。天復化為前梵志來求索銀錢。王曰。吾以國惠人脫忘子錢。王即以妻子質得錢一千以還梵志。妻本侍質家。女浴脫身珠璣眾寶。天化為鷹捄衣寶去。女云何婦盜錄之繫獄。其兒與質家兒俱臥。天夜殺質家兒死。家取兒付獄。母子被拘。饑饉毀形呼嗟無救。銜泣終日罪成棄市。王賃得銀錢一千。行贖妻子。歷市覩之。即念諸佛自悔過曰。吾宿命要乃致茲乎。靖心入明覩天所為。空中聲曰。何不急殺之。王曰。吾聞帝釋普濟眾生赤心惻愴育過慈母含血之類莫不蒙祐。爾為無惡緣獲帝位。釋懷重毒惡熟罪成。生入太山。天人龍鬼莫不稱善。地主之王即釋妻子之罪。二王相見尋問其原。國無巨細靡不墮淚。地主之王分國而治。故國臣民尋王所在率土奉迎。二國居民一哀一喜。爾時王者吾身是。妻者裘夷是。王子羅云是。天帝調達是。山中梵志舍利弗是。彼國王者彌勒是（出度無極集第一卷）。

In the past, the bodhisattva was a great king. He governed the people with benevolence, going on inspection tours month after month. For the poor, destitute, widows, widowers, and the sick, he provided medicine and gruel. Whenever he went out on an inspection tour, he ordered the rear carriages to be fully loaded with needed clothing, medicine, and food; the dead were given burial. The ruler's name spread throughout the ten directions. When Śakra saw his virtuous conduct, he feared that he would usurp his throne and thought to destroy him. Transforming himself into an old brahmacārin, he begged the king for a thousand silver coins. The king gave them to him at once. [The brahmacārin] said: 'I live in hardship and distress, and fear someone will steal them; I wish to deposit them with the king.' The king said: 'In my country there are no thieves; since you entrust them to me with great regard, I accept.' [Śakra] then transformed into another brahmacārin and went again to the palace gates. The king immediately received him. The brahmacārin praised him, saying: 'Great King, your name spreads across the eight extremes, and your virtuous conduct is rare indeed. I was born among the common folk, and admiring your exalted glory, I wish to beg for this kingdom.' The king said: 'Very good.' He then departed with his wife and child in a light carriage. The heavenly king transformed again into another brahmacārin and begged the king for the carriage. [The king] gave him the carriage and horses, and proceeded on foot with his wife and child, stopping at a mountain to lodge. There was an adept possessing the five supernormal powers who was friends with the king. Suddenly remembering the king's virtues, he saw that he had lost his kingdom; settling his mind in dhyāna, he saw that Heavenly Śakra, out of greed and jealousy, had seized the kingdom, leaving [the king] exhausted and emaciated. Using supernormal travel, the adept suddenly arrived at the king's place and asked: 'What do you seek that you wear down your resolve like this?' [The king] replied: 'What my resolve rests upon, you, my friend, already know fully.' The adept then transformed himself into a single-shafted carriage to convey the king. The transformed brahmacārin begged for that carriage too. They had not yet reached that foreign country, being still several thousand li away. The deity transformed again into the earlier brahmacārin and came to demand his silver coins. The king said: 'I gave my kingdom away to another, and inadvertently forgot your money.' The king immediately pawned his wife and child to obtain a thousand coins to repay the brahmacārin. The wife originally served in the pawnbroker's house. The daughter took off her pearls and various jewels while bathing; the deity transformed into a hawk and snatched away the clothes and jewels. The daughter claimed: 'The woman stole them,' and arrested her, casting her into prison. Her boy slept together with the pawnbroker's child. At night, the deity killed the pawnbroker's child. The household seized the boy and sent him to prison. Mother and son were detained; emaciated by starvation, they wept and sighed without rescue. Weeping all day long, their guilt was established and they were to be executed in the marketplace. The king earned a thousand silver coins through hired labor and went to redeem his wife and child. Passing through the marketplace, he saw them. He at once recollected the Buddhas and reproached himself, saying: 'Did my past deeds bring about this?' Calming his mind, he entered clear insight and saw that it was the work of the deity. A voice in the air said: 'Why not kill them quickly?' The king said: 'I have heard that Śakra saves all sentient beings, having a sincere and sorrowful heart that nurtures them beyond a loving mother, so that among all living creatures none fails to receive his protection. You obtained the throne of the gods through the absence of evil conditions; yet harboring severe malice, your evil has ripened and your crime is established—you shall fall alive into Mount Tai!' The devas, humans, nāgas, and ghosts all praised this as good. The ruler of the land immediately pardoned the wife and child of their crime. The two kings met and inquired into the origins of the matter; throughout the country, among great and small, none failed to shed tears. The ruler of the land divided his kingdom to govern jointly. The ministers and commoners of the former kingdom searched for the king's whereabouts, and from across the land they welcomed him. The residents of the two kingdoms experienced sorrow and joy respectively. The king at that time was myself; the wife was Yaśodharā; the prince was Rāhula; the heavenly king was Devadatta; the adept in the mountains was Śāriputra; and the king of that foreign country was Maitreya (Extracted from the first fascicle of the Collection of the Six Pāramitās).