經律異相 11.12

11.12

昔者菩薩。曾為師子。在林中住。與一獼猴共為親友。獼猴以二子寄於師子。時有鷲鳥飢行求食。值師子睡。取獼猴子去住於樹上。師子覺已。求獼猴子不得。見鷲持在樹上。而告鷲言。我受獼猴寄託二子。護之不謹。令汝得去。孤負言信。請從汝索。我為獸中之王。汝為鳥中之主。貴勢同等。宜以相還。鷲言。汝不知時。吾今飢乏何論同異。師子知其叵得。自以利抓。爴其脇肉。以貿獼猴子。又過去世時。人民多病。黃白痿熟。菩薩爾時身為赤魚。自以其肉施諸病人。以救其疾。又昔菩薩。作一鳥身在林中住。見有一人入於深水。非人行處為水神所羂。水神。羂法著不可解。若能至香山中。取一藥草著其羂上。繩即爛壞人得脫去。如是等無量本生。多有所濟名本生經（出大智論第三十三卷）。

In the past, the Bodhisattva was once a lion dwelling in a forest, being close friends with a monkey. The monkey entrusted its two young to the lion. At that time, a hungry vulture was roaming in search of food. Encountering the lion asleep, it seized the monkey's young and perched in a tree. When the lion awoke and could not find the monkey's young, he saw the vulture holding them in the tree. He said to the vulture: 'I received the monkey's entrustment of its two young, but failed to guard them carefully, allowing you to take them away. I have broken faith with my word; I beg to ask them back from you. I am the king among beasts, and you are the master among birds; our noble status and power are equal, so you ought to return them.' The vulture said: 'You do not understand the time. I am now starving and exhausted; why speak of equality or difference?' Knowing he could not obtain them, the lion with his own sharp claws tore out the flesh of his own flanks to exchange for the monkey's young. Furthermore, in a past age, the people had many diseases—jaundice, paleness, and withered frailty. The Bodhisattva was at that time a red fish, giving his own flesh to all the sick to cure their illnesses. Furthermore, in the past, the Bodhisattva assumed the body of a bird dwelling in a forest. He saw a man enter deep water, a place not traversed by humans, and become snared by a water spirit. According to the spirit's law of snaring, once bound, it could not be undone; but if one could reach Mount Gandhamādana, fetch an herb, and apply it to the snare, the rope would immediately rot away and the man could escape. Immeasurable jātaka stories such as these, which brought vast rescue, are called Jātaka Sūtras. (Taken from the thirty-third fascicle of the Da zhidu lun).