經律異相 17.42

17.42

昔佛在摩竭國。甘梨園中。城北石室窟中。有眾多獵師。入山遊獵。廣施羅網。殺鹿無數。復還上山。時有一鹿。墮彼𣚦中。大聲喚呼。獵師聞已。各各馳奔。自還墮𣚦。傷害人民。不可稱數。雖復不死被瘡極重。痛不可言。各相扶持。劣乃到舍。求諸膏藥。以拊其瘡。室家五親各迎屍喪。歸還耶旬之。其中被瘡眾生。自知瘡差。厭患遊獵。宿緣應度。種諸善本。便自捨家學道作沙門。爾時世尊。與無央數百千眾生。前後圍遶。而為說法。爾時世尊。為彼眾生。欲拔其根修立功德。示現教戒。永離生死常處福堂。於大眾中。而說此偈。

Formerly, when the Buddha was in the country of Magadha, in the Amrapālī Garden (in the stone caves north of the city), there were numerous hunters who entered the mountains to go on an expedition, setting out wide nets and slaughtering countless deer. They then ascended the mountains again. At that time, a deer fell into a pit trap and cried out in a loud voice. Hearing it, the hunters each rushed forward, and themselves fell back into the pit traps, injuring people beyond count. Although they did not die, their wounds were exceedingly severe, and their agony was beyond words. Supporting one another, they barely managed to reach home, seeking out salves and medicines to apply to their wounds. Their households and five categories of kin each came out to receive them as if for a corpse and funeral, returning to nurse them for months. Among them, those wounded beings, when they realized their wounds had healed, became disgusted with hunting. Their past karma was ripe for deliverance, and having planted roots of goodness, they left home to study the Way and become śramaṇas. At that time, the Bhagavat was surrounded before and behind by an innumerable hundred thousand beings, preaching the Dharma for them. At that time, for the sake of those beings, wishing to uproot their faults, establish merit, and reveal teachings and precepts so that they would eternally depart from saṃsāra and dwell constantly in the hall of blessings, the Bhagavat spoke this verse amid the great assembly: