經律異相 48.61

48.61

大力毒龍。以眼視人弱者即死。以氣噓人強者亦死。時龍受一日戒。出家入林樹間思惟。坐久疲懈而睡。龍法眠時形如蛇狀。七寶雜色。獵者見之驚喜言曰。以希有難得之皮。獻上國王。以為船飾不亦宜乎。便以杖案其頭刀剝其皮。龍自念言。我力能傾國。此一小物豈能困我。我今以持戒故不計此身。當從佛語自忍。閉目不視閉氣不息。憐愍此人。為持戒故一心受剝不生悔意。既以失皮赤肉在地。時日大熱宛轉土中。欲趣大水見諸小蟲來食其身。為持戒故不復敢動。自思惟言。今我此身以施諸蟲。為佛道故。今以肉施以充其身。後以法施以益其心。身乾命絕即生忉利天上（出大智論第十四卷）。

There was a mighty, venomous nāga: if it looked at a person with its eyes, the weak would instantly die; if it blew its breath at a person, even the strong would die. At that time, the nāga took the one-day precepts, renounced the household life, and entered the forest trees to contemplate. Sitting for a long time, it grew tired and fell asleep. By the nature of nāgas, when sleeping, its form was like that of a snake, variegated with the seven jewels. A hunter saw it and said in joyful surprise: 'To offer this rare and hard-to-find skin to the king of the country as a decoration for his boat—would that not be suitable?' He then pressed down its head with a staff and flayed its skin with a knife. The nāga thought to itself: 'My strength can topple a kingdom; how could this trivial creature overcome me? Yet because I am upholding the precepts now, I take no regard of this body. I must follow the Buddha's words and endure it.' It closed its eyes and did not look; it held its breath and did not exhale. Having pity on this man, for the sake of upholding the precepts, it wholeheartedly endured the flaying without giving rise to regret. After losing its skin, its red flesh lay upon the ground. At that time the sun was intensely hot, and it writhed in the dust. Wishing to make for the great waters, it saw various small insects coming to eat its body. For the sake of upholding the precepts, it dared not move any further. It thought to itself: 'Now I give this body of mine as an offering to these insects. For the sake of the Buddha path, today I give flesh to satisfy their bodies; later I shall give the Dharma to benefit their minds.' When its body dried and its life came to an end, it was immediately reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. (Extracted from the Dàzhìdù lùn, Fascicle 14).