經律異相 6.56

6.56

善容王（又名韋駄首祇阿育王弟也）入山遊獵。見諸梵志。裸形曝露。或食木葉。或吸風服氣。或臥棘刺中。種種自苦以求神仙。善容問曰。那無成辦。梵志答曰。座有群鹿數共合會。我見心動不能自制。王曰。服食羸惙猶有婬欲。釋子沙門。飲食甘美。在好床座。衣服隨時。香華自薰。豈得無耶。阿育聞之即懷憂慼。吾維一弟。忽生邪見。恐永迷沒政當除惡。勅給伎女共相歡娛。王躬語弟。何為取兄伎妾。恣意自樂。即欲殺之。大臣諫曰。王唯有一弟又少息胤。願聽七日。奉依王命。王始默然。語諸臣曰。聽弟著吾衣冠入吾宮裏伎樂自娛。至七日。王遣使問云。意志自由快樂不乎。善容曰。不見不聞有何快樂。王曰。觸事如我復云何不聞不見耶。弟曰。應死之人命雖未終與死無異。當有何情著於五欲。王曰。今一身憂慮萬端。一身應滅。在欲不樂。道說沙門憂念三世。一身死壞復受一身。億百千世身身受苦。無量患惱。雖出為人。與他走使。衣食窮乏。念此辛酸故出家為道。求於無為度世之要。設不精勤當更歷劫數之苦。善容乃心開意解。白王曰。今聞王教乃得醒悟。生老病死實可厭患。愁憂苦惱流轉無窮。惟願大王見聽為道。王曰。宜知是時。弟即出家奉持禁戒晝夜精勤得羅漢道（出求離牢獄經）阿育王傳云。阿育王聞弟得道。深心歡喜稽首禮敬請長供養。弟誓依林野以養餘命。阿育即使鬼神於城內造山高數十丈。斷外人物絕於來往。乃應王命。率捨衣資造石像一軀。高丈六即山為龕室。

King Shanrong (also named Weituoshouji, the younger brother of King Aśoka) entered the mountains on a hunt. He saw various brahmacārins, naked and exposed to the elements, some eating tree leaves, some inhaling the wind and ingesting breath, some lying amidst brambles and thorns, tormenting themselves in diverse ways in pursuit of immortality. Shanrong asked them, "Why have you achieved nothing?" The brahmacārins replied, "At our seats herds of deer frequently mate together; seeing them, our minds are stirred and we cannot control ourselves." The king said, "If even those who ingest [mere air and leaves] and are emaciated still have sensual desire, how could the Śākyan sons, the śramaṇas—who eat sweet and delicious food, sit on fine couches and seats, dress according to the seasons, and perfume themselves with fragrant flowers—be without it?" When Aśoka heard this, he was filled with sorrow and distress: "I have only one younger brother, yet he has suddenly given rise to wrong views. I fear he will be lost forever; I must eradicate this evil." He ordered singing girls to be provided to make merry with him. The king personally said to his brother, "Why have you taken your elder brother's singing concubines to indulge your desires and make merry?" and was about to have him executed. The ministers remonstrated, saying, "The Great King has only one younger brother and moreover lacks male heirs; we pray that you grant him seven days, and then carry out the royal decree." The king then remained silent and said to his ministers, "Allow my younger brother to wear my robes and cap, enter my palace, and amuse himself with music and song." On the seventh day, the king sent an envoy to ask, "Your mind and will were completely free: was it joyful or not?" Shanrong said, "I neither saw nor heard anything; what joy could there be?" The king said, "You experienced everything just as I do; how can you say you did not hear or see?" His younger brother said, "For a man condemned to die, though his life has not yet ended, he is no different from the dead; what inclination could he have to cling to the five desires?" The king said, "Now, with a single life full of myriad anxieties, and that single life destined to be extinguished, you find no pleasure in desires. When speaking of the path, the śramaṇas are mindful and anxious regarding the three periods of time: when one body dies and decays, one receives another body; throughout hundreds of millions of lives, body after body suffers torment and immeasurable misery. Even if born as a human, one runs errands for others, impoverished in food and clothing. Reflecting on this bitterness, they leave the household life to practice the path, seeking the essential way of the unconditioned to cross over the world. If they are not diligent, they will undergo the suffering of kalpas anew." Shanrong's mind then opened and understood. He said to the king, "Hearing the Great King's instruction today, I have finally awakened. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are truly to be reviled; sorrow, distress, pain, and anguish transmigrate without end. I only pray that the Great King will permit me to practice the path." The king said, "You should know that now is the time." His brother immediately went forth from the household life, maintained the prohibitions and precepts, was diligent day and night, and attained the path of an arhat (from the Sūtra on Seeking Release from Prison). The Asokāvadāna states: King Aśoka, hearing that his brother had attained the path, was deeply delighted in his heart. Bowing his head in worshipful reverence, he requested to make lifelong offerings to him. His brother vowed to rely on the forests and wilds to sustain the rest of his life. Aśoka then commanded spirits and deities to construct a mountain several tens of zhang high inside the city, cutting off outside persons and things and ending all coming and going. [His brother] then complied with the king's command. He gave up all his robes and resources to make a stone image sixteen feet high, using the mountain as a niche-chamber.