經律異相 17.12

17.12

The bhikṣu Kṣema fell gravely ill and suffered great pain. The bhikṣu Dāsa was his caregiver. At that time, the elders told the bhikṣu Dāsa to speak to the sick monk on the Dharma of the five aggregates of clinging. He went back and forth twice. The bhikṣu Kṣema said to the bhikṣu Dāsa: 'Why trouble yourself to rush back and forth? Bring a staff; I will support myself with the staff and go to those elders.' When those elders saw Kṣema coming from afar supported by a staff, they spread a seat for him and told him to sit, and further recounted ancient discourses in detail. The bhikṣu Kṣema then preached the Dharma. Thereupon those elders were freed from defilements and parted from dust, attaining the pure Dharma eye; and for the bhikṣu Kṣema, the defilements no longer arose, and his mind attained liberation. (Extracted from the *Sūtra on the Bhikṣu Kṣema's Parable of Grave Illness*)