[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [經律異相](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121) › 11.34 # 經律異相 11.34 經律異相 11.34 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [11.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11.34) 昔者菩薩。身為九色鹿。其毛九種色。其角白如雪。在恒水邊飲食水草。常與一烏為知識。時水中有一溺人。隨流來下。或出或沒。仰頭呼天。山神樹神諸天龍神。何不愍我。鹿聞下水言。汝可騎我背捉我角。負出上岸。溺人下地。繞鹿三匝。向鹿叩頭。乞得為大夫作奴。給其使令採水草。鹿言不用。且各自去。欲報恩者。莫道我在此。人貪我皮角。必來殺我。時國王夫人。夜夢見九色鹿。即詐病不起。王問何以。答曰。我昨夜夢見非常之鹿。其毛九種色。其角白如雪。我思欲得其皮作坐蓐。其角作拂柄。王當為我得之。王若不得我將死矣。王募於國中。若有能得當與分國而治。賜其金鉢盛滿銀粟。賜其銀鉢盛滿金粟。溺人聞之欲取富貴。念言。鹿是畜生。死活何在。往至王所言知鹿處。王大歡喜言。汝若能得其皮角來者。報之半國。溺人面上即生癩瘡。溺人言。大王此鹿雖是畜生。大有威神王宜多出人兵乃可得耳。王即大出人眾。經到恒水邊烏在樹頭。見人兵來即呼鹿言。知識且起王來至。鹿故熟臥不覺。烏下啄其耳。鹿方驚覺四向顧望無復走趣。便往趣王車邊。傍臣欲射。王曰。莫射。此鹿非常。將是天神。鹿言。大王。且莫射我。我前活王國中一人。鹿復長跪問王言。誰道我在此。王便指示。車邊癩面人是也。鹿即仰頭。視此人面。眼中淚出。不能自勝。此人前溺在水中。我不惜身命。自投水中。負此人出。約不相道也。無反復不如出水中浮木也。王有愧色。三數其民。汝受其恩。奈何反欲殺之。即下於國中。若有驅逐此鹿者。當誅五族。眾鹿數千皆來依附。飲食水草不侵禾稼。風雨時節五穀豐熟。人無疾病。其世太平。時九色鹿我身是也。烏阿難是。國王者今父王閱頭檀是。時王夫人者今孫陀利是。時溺人者調達是也。我雖有善心向之。故欲害我。阿難有至意（出九色鹿經）。 > In the past, the Bodhisattva was a nine-coloured deer. Its coat was of nine colours, and its antlers were as white as snow. It ate and drank water and grass beside the Ganges River, and was constant friends with a crow. At that time, a drowning man in the water came floating down with the current, now rising, now sinking. Looking up, he cried out to Heaven: 'Mountain spirits, tree spirits, all heavenly and nāga spirits, why do you not pity me?' Hearing him, the deer entered the water and said, 'You may mount my back and grasp my antlers.' It carried him out and onto the bank. Reaching land, the drowning man circumambulated the deer three times and kowtowed to it, begging to become a slave to this great master, to run its errands and gather water and grass. The deer said, 'There is no need. Just go your own way. If you wish to repay my kindness, do not tell anyone that I am here. People covet my pelt and antlers, and will surely come to kill me.' At that time, the queen of the country saw the nine-coloured deer in a night dream. She immediately feigned illness and would not rise. The king asked why. She replied, 'Last night I saw in a dream an extraordinary deer: its coat had nine colours and its antlers were as white as snow. I long to obtain its pelt to make a seating mat, and its antlers to make a whisk-handle. The king must obtain it for me. If the king does not obtain it, I shall surely die.' The king recruited throughout the country: 'If anyone can obtain it, I shall divide the kingdom with him to rule, and bestow upon him a gold bowl filled with silver millet and a silver bowl filled with gold millet.' Hearing of this and wishing to acquire wealth and honour, the drowning man reflected, 'A deer is a beast; what does its life or death matter?' He went to the king's place and said he knew where the deer was. Overjoyed, the king said, 'If you can bring its pelt and antlers, I will reward you with half the kingdom.' Leprous sores immediately broke out upon the drowning man's face. The drowning man said, 'Great King, though this deer is a beast, it possesses great spiritual power. The king ought to dispatch many soldiers; only then can it be taken.' The king immediately dispatched a great host of men. When they reached the bank of the Ganges River, the crow was atop a tree. Seeing the soldiers coming, it called out to the deer, 'Friend, arise! The king has arrived!' The deer was still fast asleep and unaware. The crow flew down and pecked its ear. Only then was the deer startled awake. Looking around in all four directions, there was no way to escape; so it went directly towards the king's carriage. The attendants wished to shoot it. The king said, 'Do not shoot! This deer is extraordinary; it may be a heavenly spirit.' The deer said, 'Great King, please do not shoot me. Previously, I saved the life of a person in the king's realm.' The deer then knelt long and asked the king, 'Who told you I was here?' The king pointed it out: 'It was the leper-faced man beside the carriage.' The deer then raised its head and looked at this man's face. Tears flowed from its eyes, and it could not contain itself: 'This man was drowning in the water previously. Sparing neither body nor life, I threw myself into the water and carried this man out. We made a covenant not to speak of me. One without gratitude is not as good as a piece of floating wood retrieved from the water!' The king looked ashamed and reproached his subject three times: 'You received its kindness, yet how could you turn around and seek to kill it?' He then decreed throughout the realm: 'If anyone chases this deer, their five familial clans shall be executed.' Several thousand deer all came to take refuge with it. They ate and drank water and grass without harming the crops. The winds and rains came in season, the five grains were abundant and ripe, the people were free of disease, and the realm was at great peace. The nine-coloured deer at that time was my own person. The crow was Ānanda. The king was my present royal father Śuddhodana. The queen of that time was Sundarī. The drowning man was Devadatta. Though I had a wholesome heart towards him, he still wished to harm me. Ānanda had earnest intentions. (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Nine-Coloured Deer.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 11.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11.33) - [Next: 11.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11.35) - [Up: 11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121~en-mt.11.34) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.11.34) · Pramāṇa