經律異相 13.21

13.21

佛在羅閱祇竹園中。阿難又以問佛。阿若憍陳如伴黨五人。宿有何緣。法鼓初震獨先得聞。佛言。先世之時食噉我肉致得安隱。是故今日先得法食用致解脫。過去劫時此閻浮提。有大國王。名曰設頭羅健寧。領閻浮提八萬四千國。有火星現。相師白王。當旱。天遂不雨經十二年。王大憂愁。計現民口。算數倉庫一切人民日得一升。猶尚不足死亡者眾。王自念曰。當設何計濟活人民。即立誓言。今此國人飢羸無食。我捨此身願為大魚。以我身肉充濟一切。即上樹端自投於地。即時命終。於大河中為化生魚。其身長大五百由旬。時有木工五人。各齎斤斧往至河邊。規斫林木。魚曰。汝等須食。來取我肉飽齎還去。後成佛時當以法食濟脫汝等。汝告國人須食者來。五人歡喜具如其語。語於國人展轉相報遍閻浮提悉皆來集。噉食其肉一脇肉盡。即自轉身復取一脇。食盡還生。如是翻覆。恒以身肉給濟一切。經十二年。其諸眾生食肉者皆生慈心。命終生天。時設頭羅健寧王者。則我身是。時五伐木人。憍陳如等是。其諸人民後食肉者。今八萬諸天。及諸弟子得度者是（其二出賢愚經第四卷）。

When the Buddha was in the Bamboo Grove at Rājagṛha, Ānanda again asked the Buddha: “Through what past causes was the company of five, with Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, the very first and only ones to hear the drum of Dharma when it first sounded?” The Buddha said: “In a past life, they ate my flesh and thereby attained peace and security. For this reason, today they were the first to receive the food of the Dharma and thereby attained liberation. In a past kalpa in this Jambudvīpa, there was a great king named Śatrūjit who ruled over eighty-four thousand kingdoms in Jambudvīpa. The Mars star (Fire Star) appeared, and diviners reported to the king: ‘A drought is due.’ Heaven subsequently did not rain for twelve years. The king was filled with great sorrow. He counted the present population and calculated the granaries and storehouses: each person could receive only one pint a day, yet it was still insufficient, and the dead were numerous. The king thought to himself: ‘What plan should I devise to save and preserve the people’s lives?’ He immediately made a vow: ‘Now the people of this country are starved, emaciated, and without food. I cast away this body and vow to become a great fish, using the flesh of my body to supply and save everyone.’ He then climbed to the top of a tree, threw himself down to the ground, and instantly died. In the great river, he took birth as a fish by transformation, its body five hundred yojanas long. At that time, five woodcutters, each carrying axes, went to the riverbank planning to cut trees in the forest. The fish said: ‘You need food; come and take my flesh to your fill, carry it with you, and return. When I attain Buddhahood in the future, I will deliver and liberate you with the food of the Dharma. Go tell the people of the country that whoever needs food may come.’ The five men rejoiced and, exactly as instructed, told the people of the country. Spreading from one to another throughout Jambudvīpa, all came and gathered to eat its flesh. When the flesh on one side was exhausted, it turned its body over for them to take from the other side. When that was eaten away, it grew back again. Turning over and over in this way, it constantly provided the flesh of its body to save all. Twelve years passed. All the living beings who ate its flesh conceived compassionate hearts and, upon dying, were born in heaven. King Śatrūjit at that time was myself. The five woodcutters were Kauṇḍinya and the others. The people who later ate the flesh are the eighty thousand deities and the disciples who have now attained deliverance.” (The second account is from the Damamūka-nidāna-sūtra, fascicle 4.)