經律異相 43.43

43.43

昔有五百賈客。乘船入海。值摩竭魚出頭張口欲食眾生。時日少風而船去如箭。薩薄主語眾人言。船去太疾可捨帆。如言捨下。船去轉駃不可得止。薩薄主問樓上人言。汝見何等。我見上有兩日出。下有白山。中有黑山。薩薄主驚言。此是大魚當奈何哉。我與汝等今遭困厄。入此魚腹無有活理。汝等各隨所事一心求之。於是眾人各隨所奉。一心歸命求脫此厄。所求逾篤船去逾疾。須臾不止當入魚口。於是薩薄主告諸人言。我有大神號名為佛。汝等各捨本所奉神一心稱之。時五百人俱發大聲稱南無佛。魚聞佛名。自思惟言。今日世間乃復有佛。我當何忍傷害眾生。即便閉口。水皆倒流轉得遠魚。五百賈人善心生。皆得解脫（出雜譬喻經第六卷）。

Formerly, there were five hundred merchants who boarded a ship and entered the sea. They encountered a makara fish that poked its head out and opened its mouth, wishing to devour living beings. At that time, there was little wind that day, yet the ship moved like an arrow. The leader, the sārthavāha, said to the people, “The ship is moving too fast; lower the sails!” They lowered them as instructed, but the ship moved even faster and could not be stopped. The sārthavāha asked the man up on the lookout tower, “What do you see?” “I see two suns rising above, white mountains below, and a black mountain in the middle.” The sārthavāha said in alarm, “This is a great fish! What can we do? You and I now face distress; if we enter this fish’s belly, there is no way we can survive. Each of you, single-mindedly pray to whatever deity you serve!” Thereupon, the people each took refuge in what they revered with a single mind, seeking deliverance from this distress. But the more earnest their prayers became, the faster the ship moved. If it did not stop in a moment, it would enter the fish’s mouth. Thereupon, the sārthavāha told the people, “I have a great deity whose title is the Buddha. Each of you should abandon the deity you originally revered and recite his name with a single mind!” Then the five hundred people together raised their voices and cried out, “Namo Buddhāya!” Hearing the Buddha’s name, the fish thought to itself: “In the world today, there is again a Buddha! How could I bear to harm living beings?” It immediately closed its mouth. The waters all flowed backward, and the ship moved far away from the fish. Wholesome thoughts arose in the five hundred merchants, and all obtained deliverance. (From the Za piyu jing, scroll 6.)