經律異相 35.13

35.13

若放男女若放奴婢。若聽人民若自己身。出家入道功德無量。布施之報六天人中往反十世。出家之福無邊無量。勝起七寶塔上至三十三天。以貪人能壞。出家之德無有可毀。乃高須彌。深於大海廣於虛空。若為出家作留難者。其罪甚重。入深地獄黑闇無目。有一長者。名尸利苾提（梁言福增）其年百歲求欲出家。家人大小無從用者。尸利苾提往趣迦蘭陀竹林。從舍利弗求欲出家。老不得出家。遍問五百羅漢皆同。舍利弗出竹園門。舉聲大哭。優波離是剃髮賤人。泥提下穢除糞之人。殃掘魔羅殺無量人。及陀塞䩭大賊惡人。如是等人尚得出家。我有何罪而獨不得。佛即踊現。問福增言。汝何故哭。聞佛梵音心喜作禮。白佛言。諸罪惡人皆得出家。我何罪不聽我出家。大小不復用。我於佛法中復不得出家。設我還家必不見前。我當何趣。今日定當於此捨命。佛慰喻言。汝莫憂惱。聽汝出家。告大目連。聽與出家。即得出家。受具足戒。晝夜精勤修集讀誦廣通經藏。以年老故不能隨時恭敬迎送禮問上座。諸少比丘皆為上座常苦言激切。又作是念。我今寧死。往大河岸邊脫去袈裟置樹枝上。泣而誓言。我不捨佛法眾僧。唯欲捨命。我此身上布施持戒精進誦經。設有報者。願我捨身生富樂家。眷屬調從。於我善法不作留難。常遇三寶遭值善師。示悟涅槃畢投𭱫澓中。未至水頃目連接置岸上。令捉衣角上衝虛空。猶如猛鷹銜一小鳥。屈申臂頃至大海島。海邊有新死人。女相具足。見有一虫從口出還從鼻入復從眼出更從耳入。苾提問。此何女人。答曰。時到當說。前行復見一女。自負銅鑊燃火吹之既沸。脫衣自入鑊中。髮爪先脫肉熟離骨沸吹骨出。在外風吹尋還成人。自取其肉而噉食之。次復前行見一大樹。多虫圍唼其身乃至枝葉。無有空處如針頭許。大叫震動如地獄聲。復次見一男子。周匝獸頭諸惡鬼神。手執弓弩三放毒箭鏃皆火燃。競共射之。身皆燋然。又見一大山。下安刀劍見有一人。從上投下刀戟劍矟壞刺其身。即自收拔還竪本處。往還不息。前見骨山。高七百由旬。目連於山為說。舍衛城中大薩薄婦。夫甚愛念。欲入大海戀婦不捨。即將入海。婦擎鏡照面。自覩端正。便起憍慢深心愛著。時遇大龜蹋船沒海。一切皆死。五百賈客一切皆死。海不受屍。夜叉羅剎出置岸上。隨所愛念死還生為虫。捨此虫身墮大地獄。舍衛國優婆夷婢優婆夷請一比丘。夏九十日奉給供養。使婢送食。婢至屏處選好自食。餘與比丘。大家覺問。婢答。我若先食使我世世自食身肉。今先受花報後墮地獄。

Whether liberating sons and daughters, liberating slaves, or permitting common people or one's own person to go forth and enter the Path, the merit is immeasurable. The reward of giving is to transmigrate back and forth among the six heavens and humanity for ten lifetimes, but the merit of going forth is boundless and limitless, surpassing the erection of a seven-jeweled stūpa reaching up to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Trāyastriṃśa). For greedy people can destroy [a stūpa], but the virtue of going forth cannot be destroyed; it is higher than Sumeru, deeper than the great ocean, and broader than empty space. If anyone creates obstacles to going forth, their sin is extremely grave: they will enter deep hells, blind in darkness. There was an elder named Śrīvṛddhi (in Liang language: Fuzeng [Prosperity-Increase]), who was a hundred years old and sought to go forth. None of his family, great or small, would have anything to do with him. Śrīvṛddhi went to the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove and sought to go forth under Śāriputra, [who refused him because of] his old age. He asked all five hundred arhats, and all were the same. Going out the gate of the Bamboo Grove, he wept aloud: 'Upāli was a lowly barber; Nidhi was an unclean disposal worker; Aṅgulimāla killed countless people; and [someone like] the great bandit Dasaka—such people were still able to go forth. What sin have I that I alone cannot?' The Buddha suddenly leaped forth and appeared, asking Śrīvṛddhi: 'Why are you weeping?' Hearing the Buddha's Brahmā voice, his heart rejoiced and he paid homage, saying to the Buddha: 'All sinful people are allowed to go forth; what sin have I that you do not permit me to go forth? Great and small no longer tolerate me, and now in the Buddha's Dharma I again cannot go forth. If I return home, I will surely not be tolerated. Where shall I turn? Today I must surely end my life here.' The Buddha comforted him, saying: 'Do not worry or grieve; I permit you to go forth.' He instructed Mahāmaudgalyāyana to permit him to go forth. He was then able to go forth and received the complete precepts. Day and night he practiced diligently, recited, and mastered the collections of sūtras. Because of his old age, he could not appropriately welcome, send off, pay respects to, and inquire after the elders; the younger monks all acted as senior elders and constantly vexed him with sharp words. He then thought: 'I would rather die now.' He went to the bank of a great river, took off his kāṣāya, placed it on a tree branch, wept, and vowed: 'I do not abandon the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Saṅgha; I only wish to abandon my life. With the generosity, precept-keeping, vigor, and recitation of sūtras in this body of mine, if there be any karmic reward, may I cast off this body and be reborn in a wealthy and happy family, with submissive family members who do not create obstacles for my wholesome dharmas, always meeting the Three Jewels and encountering good teachers to instruct and awaken me to nirvāṇa!' Having spoken, he cast himself into the swirling waters. Before he reached the water, Maudgalyāyana caught him and placed him on the bank, then made him hold the corner of his robe and soared up into empty space, just like a fierce hawk carrying a small bird. In the space of bending and extending an arm, they reached an island in the great ocean. By the seaside there was a newly dead person, possessing all female features. He saw a worm come out from the mouth, re-enter through the nose, come out from the eyes, and re-enter through the ears. Śrīvṛddhi asked: 'What woman is this?' [Maudgalyāyana] answered: 'When the time comes, I shall explain.' Walking forward, they further saw a woman carrying a bronze cauldron on her back, blowing a fire until the cauldron boiled. When it boiled, she stripped off her clothes and entered the cauldron herself. Her hair and nails fell off first, and her flesh, cooked, separated from the bones. The bubbling blew the bones out, and when blown by the wind outside, they immediately returned to a human form; she then took her own flesh and ate it. Next, walking forward, they saw a great tree with many worms surrounding and biting its trunk and branches, leaving no empty space even the size of a needlepoint. It screamed loudly, shaking as with the sounds of hell. Next, they saw a man surrounded by beast-headed evil spirits and ghosts, holding bows and crossbows, repeatedly shooting poison arrows whose heads were ablaze with fire, competing to shoot him, his whole body burnt. They also saw a great mountain with knives and swords set beneath it; they saw a man cast himself down from above, where knives, halberds, swords, and spears tore and pierced his body, whereupon he gathered and pulled them out himself, stood them back in their original place, and repeated this unceasingly. Moving forward, they saw a mountain of bones seven hundred yojanas high. On the mountain, Maudgalyāyana explained to him: 'In the city of Śrāvastī there was a great merchant chief's wife, whom her husband deeply loved. When he was about to enter the great ocean, longing for his wife and unable to part with her, he took her into the sea. The wife held a mirror to gaze at her face, and seeing her own loveliness, she gave rise to arrogance and deep attachment. At that time, a great turtle trampled the boat, sinking it into the sea, and all died; all five hundred merchants died. The sea does not tolerate corpses, so yakṣas and rākṣasas carried them out and placed them on the shore. According to her attachment, upon dying she was reborn as a worm. Casting off this worm body, she will fall into the great hells. The maidservant of an upāsikā in the country of Śrāvastī: the upāsikā invited a monk for the ninety days of the summer retreat to provide him with offerings. She sent the maidservant to deliver the food. When the maidservant reached a secluded place, she selected the good food and ate it herself, giving the remainder to the monk. The mistress noticed and questioned her. The maidservant answered: "If I ate it first, may I eat the flesh of my own body life after life!" Now she first receives the blossoming retribution (flowering fruit), and later will fall into hell.