經律異相 47.128

47.128

如來於摩偷羅國涅槃。百年後優婁漫陀山。一邊有五百緣覺。一邊有五百仙人。一邊有五百獼猴。獼猴主往緣覺間見諸緣覺。生歡喜心。取樹華果供養緣覺。作禮坐於僧末。日日如是。後諸緣覺皆入涅槃。獼猴供養如本。見諸緣覺不受。便牽衣捉足亦復不動。獼猴思惟。皆已死矣。啼泣懊惱。復至五百仙人所。皆到棘刺中。獼猴亦到。仙復到灰土上。獼猴亦到灰土上。仙人五熱炙身。獼猴亦復如是。仙手攀樹自懸獼猴。撥其手令墮地。常教化諸仙以四威儀。既教化已。於諸仙所端坐修定。語仙人言。汝等一切當如是坐。時五百仙隨其坐禪。諸仙無師說法。於三十七品助菩提法。思惟取證得緣覺道。皆作是念。我得聖道由此獼猴。即以香華飲食供養獼猴。獼猴命終以香木燒其身。佛語阿難。是獼猴者即優波笈多。於惡道中為多眾生作饒益。我涅槃後百餘年。當有上事（出阿育王經第六卷）。

One hundred years after the Tathāgata entered nirvāṇa in the kingdom of Mathurā, on Mount Urumuṇḍa, on one side there were five hundred pratyekabuddhas, on one side five hundred ṛṣis, and on one side five hundred monkeys. The chief of the monkeys went among the pratyekabuddhas, saw them, and gave rise to a joyful mind. He gathered tree flowers and fruits to offer to the pratyekabuddhas, bowed, and sat at the end of the saṃgha. Day after day it was thus. Later, all the pratyekabuddhas entered nirvāṇa. The monkey made offerings as before. Seeing that the pratyekabuddhas did not accept them, he tugged at their robes and grasped their feet, but they still did not move. The monkey reflected, “They are all already dead!” He wept and lamented. He then went to the five hundred ṛṣis. They all cast themselves into thorns, and the monkey also cast himself into thorns. The ṛṣis then threw themselves onto ashes and dirt, and the monkey also threw himself onto ashes and dirt. The ṛṣis exposed their bodies to the five fires, and the monkey did likewise. When a ṛṣi grasped a tree with his hands and hung himself, the monkey pried his hands away to make him fall to the ground. He continually instructed the ṛṣis by means of the four bodily postures. Having instructed them, he sat upright among the ṛṣis and cultivated concentration, saying to the ṛṣis, “All of you ought to sit like this.” At that time, the five hundred ṛṣis followed him in sitting in meditation. The ṛṣis had no master to preach the Dharma, yet by contemplating and realizing the thirty-seven factors of awakening, they attained the path of a pratyekabuddha. They all had this thought: “That we attained the noble path is due to this monkey.” Thereupon, they made offerings of incense, flowers, food, and drink to the monkey. When the monkey's life ended, they burned his body with fragrant wood. The Buddha said to Ānanda, “This monkey was none other than Upagupta. Even in the evil destinies he brought great benefit to many sentient beings. More than a hundred years after my nirvāṇa, this event shall take place.” (Extracted from the sixth fascicle of the Sūtra of King Aśoka.)