經律異相 41.25

41.25

昔者舍衛城東。有一婆羅門大富。其子娶妻。得事佛家女。奉五戒持六齋。常好布施沙門道士。勸夫修施。夫即開解。白其父母。父母大恚。謂破吾門戶。婦持錢絹與夫。夫持與守閤婢。婢持與守門奴。奴持往佛寺中。布施沙門燒香燃燈。夫婦共誓言。假令布施無福自己。又假令有福者。當使天下人皆共見之。時國俗三月三日。舉國人民皆至水上作樂歌戲。時東南角有一天人。騎一白馬乘空而過。眾人仰問是何神靈。答曰。問後來者。須臾復有七寶殿舍。有玉女獨坐其上。四大天神接殿飛行。眾人又問。君何功德。玉女亦云。問後來者。俄而後有四柱寶殿。有一天人有一玉女共坐其中。前後左右四部妓樂。十二天神共接其殿。眾人又問。有何功德。亦答。問後來者。須臾復有二薜荔鬼。身長三丈。黑瘦醜陋飢渴苦痛。身中燋然。各捉大棒更相撾打。眾人又問。答曰。諸君聞舍衛城東大富婆羅門不。騎白馬者是守門奴。小殿玉女者是守閤婢。大殿二人是我兒我兒婦。二鬼是婆羅門夫婦。前世愚癡不信正法。今當厄禍可復奈何（出十卷譬喻經第一卷）。

Formerly, east of the city of Śrāvastī, there was a very wealthy brāhmaṇa. His son married a wife, obtaining a woman from a Buddhist family. She observed the five precepts and kept the six fast-days, always delighting in giving alms to śramaṇas and practitioners of the Path, and urged her husband to practice giving. The husband was immediately awakened to this understanding and reported it to his parents. His parents were furious, saying, "This will ruin our household!" The wife gave money and silk to her husband; the husband gave them to the maid guarding the inner gate; the maid gave them to the male servant guarding the outer gate; and the servant took them to the Buddhist monastery to give alms to the śramaṇas, burn incense, and light lamps. The husband and wife jointly made a vow: "If giving alms brings no merit, let it end with ourselves; but if it brings merit, may everyone under heaven see it!" At that time, according to the custom of the land, on the third day of the third month, all the people of the country went to the waterside to make music, sing, and play. Just then, in the southeastern corner, a deva riding a white horse passed through the sky. The crowd looked up and asked, "What divine spirit is this?" He replied, "Ask the one coming behind me." A moment later, there was a palace of seven treasures with a jade maiden sitting alone upon it; four great heavenly spirits carried the palace as it flew. The crowd asked again, "What merit do you possess?" The jade maiden also said, "Ask the one coming behind me." Soon after, there was a jeweled palace with four pillars, where a deva and a jade maiden sat together inside, surrounded on all sides by four groups of musicians, and twelve heavenly spirits carried the palace together. The crowd asked again, "What merit do you possess?" They also replied, "Ask the ones coming behind us." A moment later, there were two preta ghosts, thirty chi tall, black, emaciated, ugly, tormented by hunger and thirst, with fire burning inside their bodies, each holding a large club and beating one another. The crowd asked again. They replied, "Have you gentlemen heard of the wealthy brāhmaṇa east of Śrāvastī? The one riding the white horse is the servant who guarded the outer gate; the jade maiden in the small palace is the maid who guarded the inner gate; the two in the large palace are my son and daughter-in-law; and we two ghosts are the brāhmaṇa husband and wife. In our previous life, we were foolish and did not believe in the true Dharma. Now we must suffer this calamity; what can be done about it?" (From the first fascicle of the Ten-Fascicle Parable Sūtra.)