經律異相 35.29

35.29

昔有長者。字曇摩留支問訊。佛言。曇摩留支。別來大久乃得相見。有人問。佛答曰。昔阿僧祇劫時。世有佛。名曰定光。我時為梵志。字曰超述。時定光佛。方欲入城。我即中路相逢。解髮布泥上令佛蹈過。佛即記曰。汝勇猛乃爾。却後阿僧祇劫當得作佛。汝于時起恚心曰。此人與畜生無異。乃蹈他頭髮上過去。從起以來阿僧祇劫。常墮畜生中。復在大海中。為摩竭魚。身長七千由延。時有五百賈客。乘船入海採寶。值此大魚噏船垂欲入口。時五百人各稱所行事。時賈客主語眾人言。今世有佛名釋迦文。濟人危厄無復是過。我等稱名冀蒙得脫。即便齊聲稱喚。魚聞佛名本識由存。即自惟曰。釋迦文佛已出世間。我身云何故在魚中。即還沒水。五百賈客安隱而歸。時魚即撲身出沙壇上。不飲不食經二七日命終。生長者家作子。字曇摩留支。今來與吾相見。所以稱久遠耳。留支聞此本末。即向海邊求其故屍。見大魚骨皮肉已盡行脇骨上。思惟言。此是我故屍。即以華散故屍上。尋惟即往。忽然道成（出分別功德經第四卷）。

Formerly there was an elder named Dharmaruci who came to pay his respects. The Buddha said, “Dharmaruci, we have been separated for a very long time before finally meeting.” Someone asked [about this], and the Buddha replied, saying, “Formerly, an asaṃkhyeya of kalpas ago, there was a Buddha in the world named Dīpaṅkara. At that time I was a brahmacārin named Chaosshu. At that time, Dīpaṅkara Buddha was about to enter the city. I met him midway on the road, untied my hair, and spread it over the mud to let the Buddha walk over it. The Buddha then made a prophecy, saying, ‘You are so valiant; after an asaṃkhyeya of kalpas you shall become a Buddha.’ You at that time gave rise to an angry thought, saying, ‘This person is no different from an animal, that he should walk across another person’s hair!’ From the time you gave rise to that [thought] for an asaṃkhyeya of kalpas, you constantly fell among animals. Moreover, in the great ocean you became a makara fish, seven thousand yojanas in length. At that time there were five hundred merchants who boarded a ship and entered the ocean to gather jewels. Encountering this great fish inhaling the ship, which was about to enter its mouth, the five hundred people each invoked the deeds they practiced. At that time, the leader of the merchants spoke to the crowd, saying, ‘In this world there is now a Buddha named Śākyamuni. In rescuing people from distress and peril, there is none superior to him. Let us chant his name, hoping to be delivered.’ Thereupon they called out with one voice. When the fish heard the Buddha’s name, its original consciousness still remained, and it reflected to itself, ‘Śākyamuni Buddha has already appeared in the world; why is my body still among fish?’ It immediately submerged back into the water, and the five hundred merchants returned in safety and peace. At that time, the fish threw its body onto a sandbank, and without drinking or eating, it ended its life after two times seven days. It was born as a son in an elder’s household, named Dharmaruci. He has now come to meet with me; that is why I said it has been a long time.” When Ruci heard this origin from beginning to end, he went to the seashore to seek out his former corpse. Seeing the great fish’s bones, its skin and flesh already gone, he walked upon its rib bones. He contemplated, saying, “This is my former corpse.” He then scattered flowers upon the former corpse. As he reflected, he passed away, and suddenly the Path was accomplished (taken from fascicle 4 of the *Fenbie gongde jing*).