經律異相 14.8

14.8

When the Buddha was staying in Śrāvastī, Śāriputra requested the Buddha to formulate precepts. The monks said, 'Why ask to formulate precepts when there have not yet been any offenses?' The Buddha said, 'It is not only today that Śāriputra has requested the formulation of precepts when there were no offenses. In past times, in a settlement where the people and householders had not yet committed any faults or offenses, he also once requested me to establish punishments. At that time, the kingdom was named Kāśi, the city was named Vārāṇasī, and the king of the kingdom was named Śucikīrti. Śucikīrti ruled and transformed [the people] with Dharma, practicing generosity and keeping the precepts, loving all with the way. The people flourished, rich and happily supplied with abundant goods; the roofs of the villages and towns were so contiguous that cocks flew from one to the next. The whole kingdom respected one another, constantly performing arts to entertain each other. At that time there was a minister named Taoli, who was full of strategies. He addressed the king, saying, 'Today the territory is naturally rich and happy, and the people respect one another. May the king establish punishments, lest pleasure reach an extreme and give rise to offenses.' The king said, 'The ministers are clever and wise, with many factions, and cannot be restrained hastily. If one reproaches them, disputes and faults may arise.' The king, wishing to make light of his petition, thereupon spoke a verse: