經律異相 23.47

23.47

佛遊舍衛祇國。波斯匿王。請佛及僧。宮中設飯。欲詣王宮。有比丘尼。名暴志。木盔繫腹似如懷妊。因索佛衣。汝為我夫從得有身。不給衣食此事云何。時諸大眾人天釋梵四王諸天鬼神。及國人民莫不驚惶。佛為一切三界之尊。其心清淨過於摩尼。智慧之明超於日月。獨步三世無能逮者。降伏諸邪。九十六種莫不歸伏。道德巍巍不可為喻。虛空無形不可污染。佛心過彼無有等侶。此比丘尼既佛弟子。云何懷惡欲謗如來。佛見眾心欲為決疑仰瞻上方。時天帝釋尋時來下。化作一鼠齧繫盔繩。盔即墮地。眾會覩之。瞋喜交集怪之所以。時國王瞋。此比丘尼棄家遠業為佛弟子。既不能歎譽如來無極功德。反還妬謗於是大王。即勅侍者。掘地為坑欲倒埋之。時佛解喻勿得爾也。是吾宿罪非獨彼殃。乃往過去久遠世時。時有賈客。賣好真珠枚數甚多。且圓明好。時有一女皆欲買之。向欲成市。有一男子。遷益倍價獨得珠去。女人不得心懷瞋恨。乃從請求復不肯與。心怒既盛。我前買珠。便來遷奪。又從請求復不肯與。汝毀辱我。我在所生當報汝怨。時買珠男子則我身是。其女身者則暴志是。此自往緣。非直今身也（出生經第一卷）。

The Buddha was travelling in the land of Jetavana in Śrāvastī. King Prasenajit invited the Buddha and the Saṅgha to receive an offering of food in the palace. As they were about to proceed to the royal palace, there was a bhikṣuṇī named Ciñcā, who tied a wooden basin to her belly to look as if she were pregnant. She then demanded clothing from the Buddha, saying: "You are my husband, and from you I became pregnant; yet you provide me neither clothing nor food—what is the meaning of this?" At that time, the great assembly—humans, devas, Śakra, Brahmā, the Four Heavenly Kings, the devas, ghosts, and spirits, as well as the people of the state—none were not terrified. The Buddha is the honoured one of all three realms; his mind is purer than a maṇi jewel, the brightness of his wisdom surpasses the sun and moon, he walks alone through the three periods of time with none able to match him, he subdues all heterodoxies, and none among the ninety-six paths fail to submit to him. His lofty virtue cannot be likened by analogy. Empty space has no form and cannot be defiled; the Buddha's mind surpasses it and has no peer. Since this bhikṣuṇī was a disciple of the Buddha, why would she harbour evil, wishing to slander the Tathāgata? The Buddha, seeing the minds of the assembly and wishing to resolve their doubts, looked upward. At that time, Śakra Devānām Indra immediately descended, transformed into a mouse, and gnawed through the cord that bound the basin. The basin immediately fell to the ground. When the great assembly saw this, anger and joy were mingled, and they were astonished at the reason for it. At that time, the great king was enraged that this bhikṣuṇī, having renounced her family and left behind secular duties to become a disciple of the Buddha, was not only unable to praise the boundless merits of the Tathāgata, but instead harboured jealousy and slander. Thereupon the great king immediately ordered his attendants to dig a pit in the earth, intending to bury her upside down. At that time, the Buddha explained, saying: "Do not do so. This is my own past transgression, not solely her calamity. Long ago in the distant past, there was a merchant who was selling many fine pearls that were round, bright, and beautiful. At that time, there was a woman who wished to buy them all. Just as the trade was about to be concluded, there was a man who raised the offer with double the price and alone obtained the pearls and left. Because the woman did not obtain them, she harboured hatred; she then begged him for them, but he was also unwilling to give them. Her fury grew intense, and she said: 'I was going to buy the pearls, but you came and snatched them away; and when I begged you for them, you were again unwilling to give them. You have disgraced and insulted me; in whatever life I am born, I shall repay this grudge against you.' The man who bought the pearls at that time was myself; the woman was Ciñcā. This is a condition from the past, not merely of this present life" (Extracted from the Sūtra of Previous Lives, fascicle 1).