經律異相 17.40

17.40

In a ward of the city of Śrāvastī, there was a caṇḍāla boy (the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra calls him Nidhi) who made a living by clearing away night-soil. At that time, the Bhagavat entered the city to beg for alms and in due sequence came to his household. The hired scavenger at once avoided into another lane, but the Tathāgata met him there. The man thought to himself: "I carry unclean night-soil. By what means could I possibly behold the Bhagavat today?" He then went toward a marsh. The Buddha called to him from afar, saying: "I have come for your sake." The man replied: "I dare not approach. I do not know what the Bhagavat wishes to instruct me in, that he can have the compassion to speak with a wretched sinner." The Bhagavat told him: "I wish to deliver you so that you may become a śramaṇa." The man addressed the Buddha: "Can hell-beings and beasts also practice the Way?" The Buddha said: "I have now appeared in the world precisely for the sake of the sinful and suffering." Taking the man by the hand, he ascended into the empty sky, arrived at the bank of the Ganges River, and bathed his body. They then reached the Jetavana, where he commanded the monks to ordain him as a śramaṇa. The man exhorted himself and was daily renewed in diligent exertion; before ten days had elapsed, he attained the fruit of srotāpanna up to the fruit of arhat, with the six supernatural knowledges pure and penetrating, freely submerging and emerging. He went to a large square stone, sat in its very center, and was mending an old robe. The king heard that the Buddha had ordained a caṇḍāla boy. He thought that the Buddha came from the noble clan of the Śākyas, and that his retinue and disciples all hailed from the four varnas; when they came into his palace to receive offerings and gifts of faith, he would throw his five limbs to the ground and pay homage by touching their feet. Now that he heard the Tathāgata had ordained a caṇḍāla, how could he pay him homage? "I should now go and reproach the Tathāgata." Before he arrived, he saw the monk seated upon the large square stone, surrounded and venerated by five hundred Śuddhāvāsa devas. The king went forward and said to him: "Please trouble to tell the Bhagavat that King Prasenajit wishes to behold him." Having heard this, the monk at once sank into the stone, emerged from the monastery, and reported everything to the Buddha. The Buddha said: "I know the time." The monk again surged up out of the stone and told the king: "The Tathāgata commands: first ask this monk how he can enter this hard and rigid stone, freely submerging and emerging." Going forward to the Buddha's presence, the king bowed his head and face to his feet, sat to one side, and stepped forward to address the Buddha, saying: "What is the name of that monk who possesses such supernatural power?" The Buddha told the king: "He is the hired scavenger." At that time, the Bhagavat, on account of this circumstance, spoke two verses: / "Just as in foul and wretched earth, / fields, ditches, and deep pits, / there grows a fragrant, pure lotus flower; / how could a man with eyes, O Great King, / not take this flower?" / The king said: "Bhagavat! The flower is extremely fragrant and pure; one ought to take it to adorn oneself." "Look upon a mother's womb as foul and filthy; from within that womb grows the flower of merit." Then the king addressed the Buddha: "That man has happily obtained excellent benefits; it is inconceivable! From this day forth, I invite this monk and will provide him with the four requisites." (From the Caṇḍāladāraka-sūtra.)