經律異相 40.37

40.37

有清信士。其婦端正威德無倫。言語辯才眾人所敬。夫婿不重亦不喜見。反愛僕使。婦見婿心。謂夫言。卿不喜我。願聽出家。婿便聽之。即時出家為比丘尼。晝夜精進。行道未久證得羅漢。然後清信士所敬女人死。清信士呼比丘尼歸。尼了不肯。比丘尼白佛。說其本末。佛言。是清信士前世已毀辱此有德之人。此女有殊特志。此人常為壞亂。已入大路復欲毀之。不能得也。佛言。過去世時有一梵志婦。名蓮華。端正絕世。梵志不喜。所愛者婢。用其婢語。捨婦山間。上優鉢曇樹擇取熟果。棄生與婦。婦問。君獨噉熟果。而棄生者與人。夫曰。汝可上樹。婦即上樹。夫取荊蕀四匝遮樹。欲使死不得下。時國王遊獵。見女端正。即問女言。卿是何人。婦自具本末。王念梵志。愚騃無知非是丈夫。即除荊蕀。車載還宮內立為王后。多諸伎藝智辯無雙。又能摴博。遠近女人來共博戲。王后輒勝無能當者。梵志善於博弈。遙聞后勝。念言。是我前婦非是異人。乃欲詣王現其伎術。后聞一梵志形像知是前夫。啟王現之。遙試博戲。后偈答曰。梵志心懷愧恨。即自刻責悔無所及。時梵志者今清信士是。時婦者即今婦是。彼國王者吾身是也（出夫婦經）。

There was a lay devotee whose wife was upright and handsome, unequaled in majesty and virtue, and respected by everyone for her speech and eloquence. Her husband did not value her, nor did he like to see her; on the contrary, he loved a maidservant. Seeing her husband's mind, the wife said to her husband: 'You do not like me. Please permit me to go forth from the household.' The husband then permitted her. She immediately went forth from the household to become a bhikṣuṇī. Diligent day and night, before practicing the Way for long, she realized arhatship. Later, the woman loved by the lay devotee died. The lay devotee called the bhikṣuṇī to return, but the bhikṣuṇī utterly refused. The bhikṣuṇī addressed the Buddha, recounting the beginning and end [of the story]. The Buddha said: 'This lay devotee in a past life had already humiliated this virtuous person. This woman has extraordinary aspirations; this man has constantly disrupted and disordered them. Now that she has entered the Great Path, he wishes to ruin her again, but he cannot succeed.' The Buddha said: 'In a past life, there was a brahmacārin whose wife was named Padmā, possessing unexcelled beauty. The brahmacārin did not like her; the one he loved was a maidservant. Taking the maidservant's advice, he abandoned his wife in the mountains. Climbing an udumbara tree, he selected and picked the ripe fruit, while throwing the unripe ones down to his wife. His wife asked: "Why do you alone eat the ripe fruit and throw the unripe to others?" The husband said: "You can climb the tree." The wife then climbed the tree. The husband gathered brambles and encircled the tree on all four sides, wishing to make her die without being able to come down. At that time, the king of the country was out hunting. Seeing that the woman was upright and handsome, he asked the woman: "Who are you?" The wife herself fully related the beginning and end of the matter. The king thought: "This brahmacārin is foolish and ignorant, not a real man." He immediately cleared away the brambles, brought her back to the palace in a carriage, and installed her as queen. She was skilled in many arts, unequaled in wisdom and eloquence, and moreover skilled at dice. Women from near and far came to play dice with her; the queen always won, and none could match her. The brahmacārin was skilled at board games. Hearing from afar of the queen's victories, he thought: "This must be my former wife; it cannot be anyone else." He thereupon wished to visit the king to display his skills. When the queen heard the description of a certain brahmacārin, she knew he was her former husband. She reported to the king to have him shown in, and challenged him to a game of dice from afar. The queen answered with a verse: […] The brahmacārin harboured shame and regret in his heart, reproaching himself, but his remorse was of no avail. The brahmacārin of that time is now this lay devotee; the wife of that time is now this wife; and the king of that country was myself.' (Extracted from the Sūtra on Husbands and Wives)