經律異相 33.10

33.10

王復語弟。汝於一生中思惟死苦。雖得上妙五欲而不生愛。出家比丘於十二入。思惟無量生死及三惡道苦。又思惟人中天上四維馳求終歸壞敗。譬如空村無有居民。以無常火燒諸世間。佛諸弟子常作此觀。云何而得起煩惱耶。王以方便佛法教化。毘多輸柯言。我於今者歸佛法僧。王以兩手抱其弟頸。而語之言。我不捨汝為欲令汝信於佛法。是故現此方便。時毘多輸柯以種種花香及諸伎樂供養佛塔。以種種飲食供養眾僧（出阿育王經）以他日更出遊獵。至阿練若處。見一比丘座。名曇無德。有一𠌵折取木枝遙拂比丘。帝須心喜又作願言。我何時得如彼比丘。曇無德（阿育王經云耶舍言亦小異）比丘自逆知帝須心願。即以神力飛騰虛空。令帝須見。往阿育僧伽藍坐立池水。脫衣置虛空中入池洗浴。帝須見云。我當出家。還宮白王言。願必哀念聽我出家。王言。伎樂百味何以出家。王種種方便令其心止。志意堅固永不肯從。而答王言。歡樂暫有會當別離。大王歎言善哉（出善見毘婆沙第二卷）當先習乞食然後出家。時王後園有一大樹。以草布地使住其下。與一瓦鉢令入宮乞食。毘多輸柯即便持鉢行入宮內。種種上食而便與之。王語宮人。云何乃與乞者上食。從今當以麁食施之。乃至麥飯。時毘多輸柯得而食之不以為惡。王語之言。勿食此食。聽汝出家。出家之後恒來見我。即辦衣鉢。千乘萬騎送至鷄寺。思此人動不得修道。便往毘提國曇。無德比丘所出家。國中豪貴諸長者子一千人亦隨出家。一切民疑。共相謂言。尚捨王位。我等何為。無數人眾皆悉出家。王外甥阿嗜婆羅門一男出家（佛法第四）諸侯百官奴婢僕使悉持五戒月持六齋滿八支法。由是多有剎利出家佛法興隆。外道衰殄都失供養周遍乞食不得。詐入佛法而作沙門。猶執本法教化人民。諸善比丘不與同事。時目連子帝須捨弟子付摩哂陀。隱靜阿休何山。諸外道比丘欲以其典雜亂佛法。遂成垢濁。或事火者。或五熱炙身。或大寒入水。或破壞佛法。如是展轉乃至七年不得說戒。阿育遣一大臣入王僧伽藍。白上座言。王令眾僧和合說戒。上座答言。諸善比丘不與外道比丘同共布薩。大臣從次斬殺及帝須。大臣問曰。汝是誰耶。答曰。是王同生弟也。於是乃止。臣即啟王。王聞驚愕心生懊惱。即到寺中問。諸比丘誰得罪耶。一比丘言。兩俱得罪。一比丘言。無殺心。王自無罪。王心生疑。問諸比丘。有能斷我疑者。若斷疑心當更竪立佛法。諸比丘言。帝須能斷。遣信迎帝須。使傳王意曰。今佛法已沒。仰屈大德。來共竪立。帝須答曰。我出家正為佛法今時至矣。王夜夢有一白象以鼻摩王頭捉王右手。明旦問相師。相師答曰。捉王手者是沙門像也。便問信云。帝須今至。王出迎接。帝須捉王手左右拔劍而欲害之。王見水中劍影曰。昔勅汝往寺令眾僧和合說戒。僻取我意殺諸比丘。今復欲殺我耶。王將帝須入園。手為洗脚以油摩之。請言。欲見大德神力。帝須周迴四方各一由旬彈繩作界。東方安車南方安馬西方安人北方安銅。槃水使各騎界上界外震動。外脚皆搖內脚不動。王喜曰。先疑改也。於佛法中惡法得滅。帝須為說本生經云。佛告諸比丘。先籌量心然後作業。一切業皆由心也（出毘婆沙第二卷）後得阿羅漢道受解脫樂。憶昔王約。出家之後恒來見王。我於今者應滿本約。乃至次第行波吒利弗多國。早起著衣持鉢入國乞食。次第行至王城語門人。汝入白王云。毘多輸柯今在門外欲見大王。時守門人即白王。王言將入。即起作禮如大樹倒。起而合掌視之無厭。悲泣而言。

The king further said to his younger brother, "Within a single lifetime you contemplated the suffering of death, and though you obtained superior, wondrous five desires, you did not give rise to attachment. The ordained monk contemplates boundless saṃsāra and the suffering of the three evil destinies in relation to the twelve sense-bases. Furthermore, he contemplates that striving in all directions among humans and in heaven ultimately ends in ruin and destruction, like an empty village without inhabitants, while the fire of impermanence burns the worlds. All disciples of the Buddha constantly engage in this contemplation. How then could defilements arise [in them]?" The king used skillful means to instruct and transform him through the Buddha-Dharma. Vītāśoka said, "I now take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha." The king embraced his brother's neck with both hands and said to him, "I did not abandon you; it was because I wished to cause you to have faith in the Buddha-Dharma that I manifested this skillful means." Then Vītāśoka offered various flowers, incenses, and musical performances to the stupa of the Buddha, and offered various foods and drinks to the Saṃgha (derived from the *Aśokarājasūtra*). On another day he went out hunting again and arrived at an araṇya, where he saw a monk sitting, named Dharmagupta. An ape snapped off a tree branch and fanned the monk from afar. Tiṣya felt joy in his heart and made a vow, saying, "When shall I be like that monk?" The monk Dharmagupta (the *Aśokarājasūtra* says Yaśas; there are also slight differences) innately knew Tiṣya's heartfelt aspiration beforehand, and immediately flew up into the void by supernatural power to let Tiṣya see. He went to Aśoka's saṃghārāma, sat and stood by the pond water, stripped off his robes and set them in the void, and entered the pond to bathe. Tiṣya saw this and said, "I shall go forth from home." Returning to the palace, he addressed the king, saying, "I beseech your compassion to permit me to go forth from home." The king said, "With musical entertainment and a hundred delicacies, why go forth from home?" The king used various skillful means to restrain his mind, but his resolve was firm and he absolutely refused to comply, answering the king, saying, "Pleasures are momentary; there will inevitably be parting." The great king sighed and said, "Excellent!" (derived from the second fascicle of the *Samantapāsādikā*), [adding,] "You should first practice begging for food and only then go forth from home." At that time, there was a great tree in the king's rear garden; grass was spread upon the ground, and he was made to reside beneath it. He was given an earthenware bowl and made to enter the palace to beg for food. Vītāśoka then held the bowl and walked into the palace interior. Various superior foods were immediately given to him. The king said to the palace attendants, "Why do you give superior food to a beggar? From now on, you must give him coarse food, even barley rice." Then Vītāśoka received and ate it without regarding it as bad. The king said to him, "Do not eat this food. I permit you to go forth from home. After going forth, come constantly to see me." Robes and bowl were immediately prepared, and a thousand chariots and ten thousand cavalry escorted him to Kukkuṭārāma. Reflecting that with this bustling crowd he could not cultivate the Path, he then went to the country of Videha to the place of the monk Dharmagupta and went forth from home. One thousand sons of wealthy elders and eminent nobility in the country also went forth following him. All the people were astonished and said to one another, "He even renounced the royal throne; what are we doing?" Innumerable crowds of people all went forth from home. A son of the king's nephew Ājīva, a brāhmaṇa, went forth from home (Buddha-Dharma, part 4). Feudal lords, the hundred officials, male and female slaves, and servants all upheld the five precepts, and each month upheld the six fast days, fulfilling the eightfold method. Because of this, many kṣatriyas went forth from home, and the Buddha-Dharma flourished. Non-Buddhists declined and were ruined, completely losing their offerings; wandering around begging for food, they obtained nothing. They falsely entered the Buddha-Dharma to become śramaṇas, yet still clung to their original teachings to instruct the people. The wholesome monks would not associate with them in their activities. At that time, Maudgalīputra Tiṣya handed over his disciples to Mahinda, and lived in secluded quiet on Mount Ahogāṅga. The non-Buddhist monks wished to confound the Buddha-Dharma with their own scriptures, which subsequently became tainted and defiled. Some worshipped fire, some scorched their bodies with five fires, some entered water in severe cold, or destroyed the Buddha-Dharma. In this manner it continued progressively, even up to seven years without being able to recite the precepts. Aśoka dispatched a great minister to enter the royal saṃghārāma and address the sthavira, saying, "The king commands the Saṃgha to assemble in harmony and recite the precepts." The sthavira replied, "The wholesome monks will not hold the poṣadha together with non-Buddhist monks." The minister proceeded down the row, decapitating monks until he reached Tiṣya. The minister asked, "Who are you?" He replied, "I am the king's uterine brother." Thereupon he stopped. The minister then reported to the king. Hearing this, the king was shocked and dismayed, and remorse arose in his heart. He went immediately to the monastery and asked, "Which monk has incurred guilt?" One monk said, "Both have incurred guilt." One monk said, "Without an intention to kill, the king himself is without guilt." The king felt doubt in his heart and asked the monks, "Is there anyone who can resolve my doubts? If my doubts are resolved, I shall re-establish the Buddha-Dharma." The monks said, "Tiṣya can resolve them." He dispatched a messenger to welcome Tiṣya, having the messenger convey the king's intention, saying, "Now the Buddha-Dharma has declined. We look up to and trouble the Venerable to come and re-establish it together." Tiṣya replied, "My going forth from home was precisely for the sake of the Buddha-Dharma; now the time has arrived." That night the king dreamed of a white elephant stroking the king's head with its trunk and taking hold of the king's right hand. The next morning he asked a diviner. The diviner replied, "The one holding the king's hand is the likeness of a śramaṇa." He then asked the messenger, who said that Tiṣya was now arriving. The king went out to receive him. Tiṣya took the king's hand; those at the king's left and right drew their swords, wishing to harm him. The king saw the sword reflections in the water and said, "Formerly I ordered you to go to the monastery to have the Saṃgha assemble in harmony and recite the precepts. You distorted my intention and killed the monks; now do you wish to kill me as well?" The king brought Tiṣya into the park, washed his feet with his own hands, and rubbed them with oil. He requested, saying, "I wish to see the Venerable's supernatural power." Tiṣya snapped a cord to make a boundary one yojana on each of the four sides. In the east he placed a chariot, in the south a horse, in the west a person, and in the north a copper vessel of water, making each straddle the boundary; outside the boundary, there was shaking: the outer feet all shook, while the inner feet did not move. The king rejoiced and said, "My former doubt has been transformed. Among the Buddha-Dharma, bad teachings will be eradicated." Tiṣya preached a Jātaka sūtra for him, saying, "The Buddha told the monks: First deliberate in the mind, and only then perform the action; all actions originate from the mind" (derived from the second fascicle of the *Vibhāṣā*). Later he attained the arhat path and experienced the joy of liberation. Remembering the former agreement with the king—"After going forth from home, come constantly to see the king"—[he thought,] "I should now fulfill the original agreement." Proceeding in succession, he went to the country of Pāṭaliputra. Rising early, he put on his robes, took his bowl, and entered the city to beg for food. Walking in succession, he reached the royal city and told the gatekeeper, "Enter and tell the king: 'Vītāśoka is now outside the gate, wishing to see the Great King.'" At that time, the gatekeeper immediately reported to the king. The king said, "Bring him in!" He immediately arose and paid homage like a great tree falling. Arising, he joined his palms and gazed at him insatiably, weeping sorrowfully and saying: