經律異相 33.16

33.16

毘多輸柯往至邊地。至已得病。以病重故頭皆發瘡。時王聞之。即遣給事醫藥療治。後得小差。醫師給事悉遣令還。其體所資唯食牛乳。為乞食故往多牛處。復有一國名分那婆陀那（梁言增長）彼國皆信外道。有佛弟子見以白王。使夜叉於一念頃。即將外道弟子并畫像來。生大瞋心。於分那婆陀那國一切外道。悉皆殺之。於一日中殺十萬八千外道。復有一外道弟子。愛外道法事裸形神。畫作如來禮其神足。時王復聞是事。即勅餘人。令取此人及其親屬。置一屋中以火焚之。時王頒勅。若有人能得一尼揵首者。我當與一金錢。毘多輸柯入養牛處病來多日。頭鬢髮瓜悉皆長利。衣服弊惡無有光色。時養牛女竊生是念。今此尼揵來入我舍。便語其夫。汝當殺此尼揵取頭與王。必得金賞。夫拔刀往。毘多輸柯即自思惟。見其業報無得脫處。即便受死。而將頭至王所欲求覓金。王疑即問其醫師及給事人言。答此是毘多輸柯頭。王悶絕良久。大臣白王。無漏之人不滅此苦。大王當施眾生無畏。王隨其言宣令一切不得復殺尼揵。諸比丘生疑。問優波笈多。毘多輸柯昔造何業今受此報。答言。過去世時有一獵師多殺群鹿。於大林中有一泉水。時此獵師張施羅網以其繩羂置於水邊多殺諸鹿。是時佛未出世。有一緣覺於水邊食。食竟澡洗還樹下坐。時彼群鹿聞緣覺香不往水邊。時獵師坐不見鹿來。即尋其跡往辟支佛所。念言。坐是人故令鹿不來。即便以刀殺辟支佛。昔獵師者即是毘多輸柯。以殺諸鹿今多病苦。復以殺辟支佛於無數年常在地獄。受諸苦惱於五百世。在人道中生生之處常為他殺。今是最後果報。雖得羅漢猶為他害。於迦葉佛法出家。樂行布施。常勸化人供養眾僧。有一佛髮瓜塔。以香花幡蓋種種伎樂而供養之。以是業報生於大姓。十萬年中常修梵行。復發心願。以是業緣得阿羅漢（出阿育王經第三卷）。

Vītāśoka went to a border region. Having arrived, he fell ill. Because the illness was severe, sores broke out all over his head. At that time, hearing of this, the king immediately sent attendants and medicines to treat him. Later, when he improved slightly, he sent all the physicians and attendants back. For bodily sustenance he consumed only cow's milk. For the sake of begging food, he went to a place with many cows. There was another country named Puṇḍravardhana (in Liang language, "increasing"). That country wholly believed in non-Buddhists. A disciple of the Buddha saw [this] and reported it to the king. [The king] made a yakṣa bring the non-Buddhist disciples and their painted images in a single thought-moment. Giving rise to great wrath, he killed all the non-Buddhists in the country of Puṇḍravardhana. In a single day he killed one hundred and eight thousand non-Buddhists. There was another non-Buddhist disciple who loved non-Buddhist teachings and served a naked deity, painting the Tathāgata bowing at the feet of his deity. Hearing of this again, the king immediately commanded other people to seize this person and his relatives, place them in a house, and burn them with fire. The king then issued an edict: "If anyone can obtain the head of a Nirgrantha, I will give him one gold coin." Vītāśoka entered the cattle-keeping place, having been ill for many days. The hair on his head, his beard, and his nails were all long and sharp, and his robes were ragged, foul, and without luster. At that time, a cowherd woman secretly conceived this thought: "Now this Nirgrantha has entered my house." She then said to her husband, "You should kill this Nirgrantha, take his head, and give it to the king; you will surely obtain the gold reward." The husband drew his sword and went. Vītāśoka then reflected to himself, seeing that for his karmic retribution there was no place of escape; he then accepted death. [The man] brought the head to the king's place, seeking to obtain the gold. Suspicious, the king asked his physician and attendants, who replied, "This is the head of Vītāśoka." The king fainted for a long time. A minister addressed the king, saying, "Even one free of outflows does not escape this suffering. The Great King should bestow fearlessness upon sentient beings." The king followed his words and proclaimed an order that no one should ever kill Nirgranthas again. The monks felt doubt and asked Upagupta, "What karma did Vītāśoka create in the past that he now receives this retribution?" He replied, saying, "In a past life, there was a hunter who killed many herds of deer. In a great forest there was a spring. At that time, this hunter spread nets and placed his snares by the water, killing many deer. At that time, a Buddha had not yet appeared in the world. There was a pratyekabuddha who ate beside the water; having finished eating, he washed himself and returned to sit beneath a tree. At that time, the herd of deer, smelling the fragrance of the pratyekabuddha, did not go to the water's edge. The hunter, sitting and not seeing the deer come, followed their tracks to the pratyekabuddha's place and thought, 'It is because this man sits here that the deer do not come.' He then killed the pratyekabuddha with a sword. That past hunter was precisely Vītāśoka. Because of killing the deer, he now suffers much illness; further, because of killing the pratyekabuddha, he was constantly in hell for innumerable years, enduring all kinds of suffering; for five hundred lifetimes in the human realm, in every place he was born, he was constantly killed by others. This is now his final retribution: though he attained arhatship, he was still harmed by another. Under the Dharma of Kāśyapa Buddha he went forth from home, took pleasure in practicing generosity, and constantly encouraged and converted people to make offerings to the Saṃgha. There was a stupa of the Buddha's hair and nails, and with fragrant flowers, banners, parasols, and various kinds of music, he made offerings to it. Through this karmic retribution, he was born into a prominent family, constantly cultivated pure conduct for one hundred thousand years, and further made an aspiration; through this karmic condition, he attained arhatship" (derived from the third fascicle of the *Aśokarājasūtra*).