經律異相 31.21.3

31.21.3

願以王命委屬童子。 今者治之當用何藥。 祇域曰。 唯有醍醐耳。 太后曰。 咄童子慎莫道。 此王大惡聞醍醐之氣。 又惡聞其名。 前後坐口道醍醐而死者數千百人。 汝今道此必當殺汝。 以此飲王終不得下。 願更用他藥。 祇域曰。 醍醐治毒病。 惡聞醍醐是也。 王病若微及是他毒為有餘藥可以愈之。 蠆毒既重。 又已匝體。 自非醍醐終不能消。 今當煎剋化令成水。 乃出見王曰。 向入見太后。 已啟藥方今當合之。 十五日當成。 今我有五願。 王若聽我病可即愈。 若不聽我病不得愈。 王問五願盡何等事。 祇域曰。 一者願得王匣藏中新衣未經軀者與我衣之。 二者願令我得獨出入宮門不使禁訶。 三者願得日日獨入見太后及王后亦莫禁呵。 四者願王飲藥當一仰令盡莫得中息。 五者願得王八千里白象與我乘之。 王聞大怒曰。 兒子何敢求是五願。 從且解之。 若不能解今打殺汝。 祇域曰。 合藥宜當精潔齋戒。 而我來日經久。 衣服皆被塵垢故欲得王衣著以合藥也。 又王前後使諸醫師皆嫌疑之無所委慎。 又誅殺之不服其藥。 群臣大小皆言王當復殺我。 而王病已甚。 恐外人生心作亂。 若令我自出自入不見禁訶。 則外人大小皆知王信我無疑。 必服我藥病必當愈。 則不敢生逆亂之心也。 又言前後殺人甚多。 臣下大小各懷恐怖。 皆不願王之安隱。 無可信者。 今共合藥。 恐其因我顧睨之間。 便投毒藥中。 我所不覺則非小故思惟。 天下可信者恩情無厭。 唯有母與婦。 故欲入見大后與共合藥當煎。 十五日乃成故欲日日得入伺候火齊耳。 又藥有齊數氣味宜當相及。 若其中息則氣不相係也。 又乃南山中有神妙藥草。 去此四千里。 王服藥宜當即得此草。 重復服之故欲乘此象詣往採之。 朝去暮還令藥味相及也。 王意大解。 皆悉聽之。 於是祇域煎剋醍醐十五日成化如清水。 凡得五升便與大后王后。 俱出奉藥白可服。 願被白象置殿前。 王即聽之。 王見藥但如清水一服便盡。 祇域便乘象徑去歸其本國道。 適行三千里年幼微弱不堪疾迅頭眩疲極臥息山間。 過中王噫出醍醐氣。 怒曰。 小兒子敢以醍醐中我。 怪小兒所以求我白象。 正欲以叛去耳。 王有勇士。 名曰烏。 神足能行。 即勅逐取小兒還。 我目前捶而殺之。 烏行及之曰。 汝何故以醍醐與王。 而言是藥王令我追呼汝還。 汝急隨去陳謝自首庶望得活。 若故欲走今必殺汝終不得脫。 祇域自念我雖方便求此白象。 故復不脫。 今當復作方便何可隨去。 乃謂烏言。 我朝來未食還必當死。 寧可假我須臾得於山間。 啖果飲水絕而就死乎。 烏見祇域小兒懼死言辭辛苦。 矜而聽之曰。 促食當去不得久留。 祇域乃取一梨喫食其半。 以毒藥著爪甲中以分餘半便置於地。 又取一坏水先飲其半。 又行爪下毒於餘水中復置於地。 乃歎曰。 此水及梨皆是天藥。 清香且美。 其飲食者令人身安。 百病皆愈氣力兼倍。 恨其不在國都之下。 百姓當共得之。 而在深山之中人不知也。 便進入山索求他果。 烏性既貪舐不能忍於飲食。 又聞祇域歎為神藥。 亦見祇域已飲食之。 謂必無毒。 便食餘梨飲餘水。 即便下痢。 痢如注水。 躄地而臥。 起輒眩倒。 不能復動。 祇域往語之曰。 王服我藥病必當愈。 然今藥力未行餘毒未盡。 我今往者必當殺我。 汝無所知。 趣欲得我以解身負故使汝病。 病自無苦慎莫動搖三日當差。 若遂起逐我必死不疑。 便上象而去。 過語墟聚伍長曰。 此是大國王使。 今忽得病。 汝等急往輿取。 歸家好養護之。 厚其床席給與糜粥慎莫令死。 若令死者王滅汝國。 語畢便去遂歸本國。 伍長承勅。 迎取養護三日毒歇。 下給便歸。 見王叩頭自陳曰。 我實愚癡違負王教。

"I wish to entrust the King's life to you, boy. In treating him now, what medicine should be used?" Jīvaka said, "There is only clarified butter (ghṛta)." The Queen Mother said, "Hush, boy! Take care not to speak of it! This King dreads smelling the scent of clarified butter, and he also dreads hearing its name. Formerly and recently, several hundreds and thousands of people have died simply on account of their mouths speaking of clarified butter. If you speak of this now, he will certainly kill you! To have the King drink this—he will never swallow it. Please use some other medicine." Jīvaka said, "Clarified butter treats venomous illnesses; that he dreads clarified butter is precisely [a symptom of] this. If the King's illness were slight or due to some other poison, there would be other medicines that could cure it. But the scorpion venom is already severe, and it has already pervaded his entire body. Unless it is clarified butter, it can never be dispelled. Now I shall boil and refine it, transforming it so that it becomes like water." He then went out to see the King and said, "Just now I entered to see the Queen Mother, and I have already presented the prescription. Now I must compound it, and in fifteen days it will be ready. Now I have five requests. If the King grants them to me, your illness can be immediately cured; if you do not grant them, your illness cannot be cured." The King asked what matters all five requests were. Jīvaka said, "First, I wish to obtain from the King's storage chests new garments that have never touched a body, for me to wear. Second, I wish to be allowed to enter and leave the palace gates alone without being stopped or questioned. Third, I wish to be allowed daily to enter alone to see the Queen Mother and the Chief Queen, also without being stopped or questioned. Fourth, when the King drinks the medicine, I wish that you swallow it all in a single tilt, not stopping midway. Fifth, I wish to obtain the King's eight-thousand-li white elephant for me to ride." Hearing this, the King was enraged and said, "Child, how dare you seek these five wishes? Come, explain them! If you cannot explain them, I will beat you to death right now!" Jīvaka said, "In compounding medicine, one ought to be pure and clean, observing the precepts. But I have been traveling for many days, and my garments are all soiled with dust and dirt; hence I wish to obtain the King's clothes to wear in order to compound the medicine. Furthermore, of the various physicians the King previously employed, you suspected them all, not placing trust or reliance in any; and you executed them without taking their medicine. The ministers, great and small, all say that the King will kill me as well. But the King's illness is already critical, and I fear outsiders may conceive rebellious designs. If I am allowed to go out and come in by myself without being stopped or questioned, then outsiders, great and small, will all know that the King trusts me without suspicion, will certainly take my medicine, and that the illness will certainly be cured; thus they will not dare to conceive treasonous intentions. Furthermore, it is said that previously very many people were killed; your subjects, great and small, each cherish fear and dread, none wishing for the King's well-being, and there is none who can be trusted. Now, as I compound the medicine together [with others], I fear that in a moment when my gaze is turned, they might drop poison into the medicine; if I failed to notice, the consequences would be grave. Reflecting upon this, among those under heaven who can be trusted, whose affection is boundless, there are only one's mother and wife. Hence I wish to enter to see the Queen Mother and compound the medicine together with her. It must be boiled for fifteen days before it is ready; hence I wish to be able to enter daily to watch over the decoction's regulation. Furthermore, medicines have precise measures, and their vital energies and flavors ought to be continuous; if one pauses in between, the vital energies will not remain connected. Furthermore, on the Southern Mountains there is a divine, wondrous medicinal herb, four thousand li away from here. When the King takes the medicine, it will be proper to obtain this herb at once and take it again; therefore, I wish to ride this elephant to go there and gather it, leaving in the morning and returning in the evening, so that the medicine's flavors may connect with each other." The King's heart was greatly mollified, and he granted them all. Thereupon, Jīvaka boiled and refined the clarified butter; after fifteen days it was completed, transformed so as to look like clear water. In all, he obtained five sheng. Then, together with the Queen Mother and the Chief Queen, he came forward to present the medicine, stating that it could be taken. He also requested that the white elephant be harnessed and placed before the hall. The King immediately granted it. Seeing that the medicine was just like clear water, the King finished it in a single drink. Jīvaka then mounted the elephant and went straight on his way back to his native country. Having traveled three thousand li, being young and weak, he could not endure the high speed; dizzy and utterly exhausted, he lay down to rest in the mountains. Past midday, the King belched, bringing forth the scent of clarified butter. Enraged, he said, "The little boy dared to strike me with clarified butter! No wonder the little boy sought my white elephant—he simply wished to use it to flee in rebellion!" The King had a champion named Wu, whose divine foot-speed enabled him to travel [swiftly]. The King immediately ordered him: "Pursue and capture the little boy, bring him back, and I will beat him to death before my very eyes!" Wu ran and caught up with him, saying, "Why did you give the King clarified butter while claiming it was medicine? The King has ordered me to pursue and summon you back. Quickly follow me back, confess, apologize, and surrender yourself, in the hope of saving your life! If you still wish to flee, I will certainly kill you now, and you will never escape!" Jīvaka thought to himself: "Though I used an expedient to obtain this white elephant, I still have not escaped. Now I must devise another expedient; how could I follow him back?" He then said to Wu, "Since morning I have not eaten; when I return, I will certainly die. Could you perhaps grant me a brief moment here in the mountains to eat some fruit and drink some water, so that I may meet my death on a full stomach?" Seeing that Jīvaka was a young boy who feared death and whose words were plaintive and sorrowful, Wu took pity and granted it, saying, "Eat quickly and then we must go; you may not linger long." Jīvaka then took a pear and ate half of it; having placed poison under his fingernail, he divided the remaining half, leaving [the poison on] it, and set it on the ground. He also took a cup of water, drank half first, applied the poison from beneath his nail into the remaining water, and set it on the ground as well. He then sighed, saying, "This water and this pear are truly heavenly medicines, pure, fragrant, and delicious! Whoever eats or drinks them will have peace in their body, all hundred illnesses will be cured, and their vigor will be doubled. It is a pity that they are not below the capital city, where the common people could partake of them together; instead, they are deep in the mountains where people do not know of them." He then went further into the mountains searching for other fruits. Wu's nature was gluttonous and he could not restrain himself regarding food and drink. Moreover, having heard Jīvaka praise them as divine medicine and having seen that Jīvaka had already eaten and drunk from them, he assumed there was definitely no poison. He then ate the remaining pear and drank the remaining water. Immediately he suffered diarrhea, which flowed like pouring water. He collapsed to the ground and lay there; whenever he tried to rise, he grew dizzy and fell, unable to move any longer. Jīvaka went to him and said, "When the King took my medicine, his illness was sure to be cured. However, before the medicine's power had taken effect and the residual poison had not yet been fully dispelled, had I gone now, he would certainly have killed me. You knew nothing, and merely wished to seize me to fulfill your mission; hence I caused you to fall ill. The illness itself will bring no harm; take care not to move about, and in three days you will recover. If you persist in rising to pursue me, you will certainly die without doubt." He then mounted the elephant and departed. Passing by, he spoke to the head of a hamlet, saying, "This is an envoy of the great king. He has suddenly fallen ill. Go quickly with a stretcher to carry him, bring him home, and take good care of him. Make his bed thick with mats and supply him with rice porridge; take care not to let him die! If you let him die, the King will destroy your state!" Having spoken, he departed at once and returned to his native country. The hamlet head received the command, went to welcome and fetch him, and nursed him. After three days the poison abated; having recovered, [Wu] returned. Seeing the King, he kowtowed and confessed, saying, "I was truly foolish, disobeying and failing the King's command."