經律異相 13.20

13.20

When the Buddha was at the Nyagrodha Monastery in the country of Kapilavastu, the Śākyas asked the Buddha: 'What prior karmic conditions did Kauṇḍinya and the others possess, such that when the Tathāgata appeared in the world and the Dharma drum was first beaten, they were the very first to hear it, and when the sweet dew first fell, they were graced by its moisture, with everyone praising them immeasurably in unison?' When the monks heard this, they reported the matter to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'Not only today have I delivered these five people first; long ago in the past I also rescued them, using my own body as a boat to save them from drowning and preserve their lives. Now that I have attained buddhahood, I pull them out and deliver them first.' The monks asked the Buddha: 'How was this matter?' The Buddha said: 'Long ago in Jambudvīpa, in the country of Vārāṇasī, there was a king named Brahmadatta. At that time, there was a merchant leader named Ratnajaya. Walking in the forest outside, he saw a man weeping bitterly in sorrow, who had tied a rope to a tree and put his head into the noose to kill himself. He went forward and asked him: 'Why do you do this?' He reasoned with him to abandon the rope. The man replied: 'I am impoverished and in debt. The creditors despoil me, pressing me day and night. Though heaven and earth are vast, there is nowhere to accommodate my body; therefore I escape this suffering.' At that time, the merchant leader said to him: 'Just free yourself; however much you owe, I will repay it all on your behalf.' After he said these words, that man ceased, and with bounding joy he followed the merchant leader into the market. A proclamation was issued to all, saying: 'We wish to repay debts.' At that time, the creditors competed to gather like clouds, coming in limitless numbers. Though his wealth was exhausted, the payments were still not finished, leaving his wife and children impoverished, freezing, and begging to survive. At that time, several merchants encouraged the merchant leader, wishing to go to sea together. He replied to them: 'I am destitute now and have nothing left. How can I join you?' The crowd replied: 'There are five hundred of us in total. We will put up money and divide shares to collectively provide the ship's provisions.' The crowd pooled together and obtained three thousand liang of gold. The merchant leader used one thousand liang of gold to prepare the ship, one thousand liang for provisions, and one thousand liang to supply the necessities on the ship, giving the remainder to his wife and children. Thereupon, by the seaside, they constructed a great ship; when the ship was completed, they set sail. Along the way, they suddenly encountered a violent dark gale that wrecked the ship. The crowd was left helpless. Among them, five people said together to the merchant leader: 'We relied on you to come here; now we are about to drown and die. Peril is upon us; please save and deliver us.' The merchant leader replied: 'I have heard that the great sea does not harbor dead corpses overnight. All of you hold on to me now; I shall sacrifice my life to save you from disaster, vowing to seek buddhahood. When I attain buddhahood in the future, I will ferry you across birth and death with the unsurpassed Dharma boat.' Having said these words, he cut his own throat with a knife. After his life ended, the sea god raised a wind and blew [them] to the other shore. Having crossed the great sea, they all attained peace and security. If you wish to know who Ratnajaya was at that time, he was my very self. The five people at that time were Kauṇḍinya and the others' (The first [source] is extracted from the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra, Fascicle 10).