[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) › 13.20 # 經律異相 13.20 經律異相 13.20 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [13.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13.20) 佛在迦毘羅衛國。尼拘盧陀僧伽藍。諸釋問佛。憍陳如等。宿有何緣。如來出世法鼓初振。最先得聞甘露始降便蒙沾澤。異口同音稱讚無量。比丘聞之。以事白佛。佛言。非獨今日先度五人。我於久遠亦濟此等。以身為船。救彼沒溺全其生命。吾今成佛先拔濟之。比丘白佛。此事云何。佛言。過去閻浮提。波羅㮈國王。名梵摩達。時有薩薄。名勒那闍耶。遊外林間見有一人。涕泣悲切。以索繫樹。以頭入羅。自殺取死。便前問之。汝何以爾。喻令捨索。報言。貧窮負債。債主剝奪。日夜催切。天地雖曠容身無處。故避此苦。爾時薩薄。即語之曰。卿但自釋。所負多少悉代汝償。作是語已。彼人便休。歡喜踊躍。隨從薩薄俱至市中。宣令一切云。欲償債。時諸債主。競共雲集來者無限。空竭其財猶不畢價。妻子窮凍乞匃自活。時有眾賈。勸進薩薄。欲共入海。即答之曰。我今窮困無所復有。何緣得從。眾人報言。我等眾人凡有五百。出錢開分共辦船具。眾人投合獲金三千兩。薩薄以金千兩辦船。千兩辦糧。千兩用待船上所須餘給妻子。便於海邊。施作大船船成馳去。便於道中。卒遇黑風。破碎船舫。眾人無依。中有五人。共白薩薄。依汝來此。今當沒死。危險垂至。願見拔度。薩薄答曰。吾聞大海不宿死屍。汝等今者悉各捉我。當殺身以濟爾厄。誓求作佛。後成佛時。當以無上法船度汝生死。作是語已。以刀自刎。命斷之後。海神起風吹至彼岸。得度大海皆獲安隱。欲知爾時勒那闍耶者。今我身是。時五人者。拘隣等是（其一出賢愚經第十卷）。 > When the Buddha was at the Nyagrodha Monastery in the country of Kapilavastu, the Śākyas asked the Buddha: 'What prior karmic conditions did Kauṇḍinya and the others possess, such that when the Tathāgata appeared in the world and the Dharma drum was first beaten, they were the very first to hear it, and when the sweet dew first fell, they were graced by its moisture, with everyone praising them immeasurably in unison?' When the monks heard this, they reported the matter to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'Not only today have I delivered these five people first; long ago in the past I also rescued them, using my own body as a boat to save them from drowning and preserve their lives. Now that I have attained buddhahood, I pull them out and deliver them first.' The monks asked the Buddha: 'How was this matter?' The Buddha said: 'Long ago in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Vārāṇasī, there was a king named Brahmadatta. At that time, there was a merchant leader named Ratnajaya. Walking in the forest outside, he saw a man weeping bitterly in sorrow, who had tied a rope to a tree and put his head into the noose to kill himself. He went forward and asked him: 'Why do you do this?' He reasoned with him to abandon the rope. The man replied: 'I am impoverished and in debt. The creditors despoil me, pressing me day and night. Though heaven and earth are vast, there is nowhere to accommodate my body; therefore I escape this suffering.' At that time, the merchant leader said to him: 'Just free yourself; however much you owe, I will repay it all on your behalf.' After he said these words, that man ceased, and with bounding joy he followed the merchant leader into the market. A proclamation was issued to all, saying: 'We wish to repay debts.' At that time, the creditors competed to gather like clouds, coming in limitless numbers. Though his wealth was exhausted, the payments were still not finished, leaving his wife and children impoverished, freezing, and begging to survive. At that time, several merchants encouraged the merchant leader, wishing to go to sea together. He replied to them: 'I am destitute now and have nothing left. How can I join you?' The crowd replied: 'There are five hundred of us in total. We will put up money and divide shares to collectively provide the ship's provisions.' The crowd pooled together and obtained three thousand liang of gold. The merchant leader used one thousand liang of gold to prepare the ship, one thousand liang for provisions, and one thousand liang to supply the necessities on the ship, giving the remainder to his wife and children. Thereupon, by the seaside, they constructed a great ship; when the ship was completed, they set sail. Along the way, they suddenly encountered a violent dark gale that wrecked the ship. The crowd was left helpless. Among them, five people said together to the merchant leader: 'We relied on you to come here; now we are about to drown and die. Peril is upon us; please save and deliver us.' The merchant leader replied: 'I have heard that the great sea does not harbor dead corpses overnight. All of you hold on to me now; I shall sacrifice my life to save you from disaster, vowing to seek buddhahood. When I attain buddhahood in the future, I will ferry you across birth and death with the unsurpassed Dharma boat.' Having said these words, he cut his own throat with a knife. After his life ended, the sea god raised a wind and blew \[them\] to the other shore. Having crossed the great sea, they all attained peace and security. If you wish to know who Ratnajaya was at that time, he was my very self. The five people at that time were Kauṇḍinya and the others' (The first \[source\] is extracted from the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra, Fascicle 10). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 13.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13.19) - [Next: 13.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13.21) - [Up: 13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121~en-mt.13.20) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2121.13.20) · Pramāṇa