經律異相 17.42

17.42

Formerly, when the Buddha was in the country of Magadha, in the Amrapālī Garden (in the stone caves north of the city), there were numerous hunters who entered the mountains to go on an expedition, setting out wide nets and slaughtering countless deer. They then ascended the mountains again. At that time, a deer fell into a pit trap and cried out in a loud voice. Hearing it, the hunters each rushed forward, and themselves fell back into the pit traps, injuring people beyond count. Although they did not die, their wounds were exceedingly severe, and their agony was beyond words. Supporting one another, they barely managed to reach home, seeking out salves and medicines to apply to their wounds. Their households and five categories of kin each came out to receive them as if for a corpse and funeral, returning to nurse them for months. Among them, those wounded beings, when they realized their wounds had healed, became disgusted with hunting. Their past karma was ripe for deliverance, and having planted roots of goodness, they left home to study the Way and become śramaṇas. At that time, the Bhagavat was surrounded before and behind by an innumerable hundred thousand beings, preaching the Dharma for them. At that time, for the sake of those beings, wishing to uproot their faults, establish merit, and reveal teachings and precepts so that they would eternally depart from saṃsāra and dwell constantly in the hall of blessings, the Bhagavat spoke this verse amid the great assembly: