經律異相 18.4

18.4

In the kingdom of Śrāvastī, there was a wealthy elder possessing boundless riches, but he had no sons or descendants and was constantly dejected and anxious. He prayed and made sacrifices to seek one with utmost sincerity and devotion. His wife gave birth to a boy, remarkably handsome and rare. When his parents and kinsmen gathered on an occasion for a banquet, they went to the bank of a great river to feast and amuse themselves. The parents brought the child to the gathering; doting on this child, the father lifted him up and danced with him from his seat. When the father finished dancing, the mother took him in turn, rejoicing and making merry. Coming to the edge of the river, her attention was suddenly distracted; she did not hold him firmly, and the child slipped and fell into the water. She immediately reached and grabbed for him, but in the end could not catch him. The parents grieved and mourned him, their hearts torn with love and attachment. Yet due to the child's merit, he did not die after all; drifting and floating with the current, he was swallowed by a fish. Although inside the fish's belly, he still did not die. In a village downriver, there was another wealthy household that also had no sons, having sought one through various means without success. That wealthy household continually employed a slave whose trade was catching living creatures. By chance, he caught the fish that had swallowed the little child. Cutting open its belly, he found the child and gave him to his master. His master examined him and congratulated himself, saying: "My family has long prayed and sacrificed to the deities, seeking offspring with sincere devotion, and now heaven has granted him to me in response!" He then had him wiped clean and breastfed to raise him. The parents in the upper village heard that an elder in the lower village had obtained a child from a fish's belly, and immediately went to his place to pursue and demand him, saying: "He is my son. I lost this child at that river; now that you have found him, please return him to me." Then that elder answered him, saying: "My family has long prayed and made sacrifices to seek a son. Now the spirits have responded and bestowed a child upon me. Where on earth has your lost child gone?" With the dispute unresolved, they went to the king to seek a judgment. Thereupon both families presented their arguments. The child's parents said: "He is my child; I lost him in the river at such-and-such a time." That other elder also said: "I obtained him from the belly of a fish in the river; he is truly my son, not born of you." Hearing their words, the king did not know what to do, so he arbitrated the matter for the two families: "You two elders each claim this child. Now, if I give him to one, it would not be reasonable. You shall provide for him together. When the child grows up, each family shall take a wife for him and establish an estate for him, and he shall reside in the two places separately. A son born to this wife will belong to this family, and a child born to that wife will belong to that family." Then the two elders each complied with the king's instructions. When the child grew up, both families arranged wives for him and supplied whatever he needed without any lack. The child said to his two sets of parents: "Since I was born, I have encountered hardship and misery; falling into the water, swallowed by a fish, I was rescued on the brink of death. Now my aspiration is to leave home; I only pray that my parents will grant me permission." At that time, the two sets of parents loved this child dearly and could not oppose him, so they granted him permission. He went to the Buddha's place, seeking to enter the Way. The Buddha said: "Welcome!" His hair fell out naturally, and he immediately became a śramaṇa, named "Double-Surname" (Dvikula / Saṃjīva). The Buddha preached the Dharma for him, and he exhausted all suffering and became an arhat. The Buddha said: "Long ago in the past, there was a Buddha, a Bhagavat, named Vipaśyin, who gathered a great assembly to preach the marvelous Dharma. At that time, an elder came into the assembly, heard the great Dharma expounded on the merit of giving and morality, gave rise to faith and reverence, took the three refuges and the precept against killing, and furthermore offered one coin to that Buddha. Life after life, he received blessings and never lacked wealth. The elder's son of that time is now the monk Double-Surname. Because he offered one coin to the Buddha, he was constantly wealthy in money and goods for ninety-one kalpas, continuing down to this life, where parents of two families supplied his needs. Because he took the precept against killing, falling into the water and being swallowed by a fish could not kill him. Because he took the three refuges, he attained arhatship." (From the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra, fascicle 5.)