經律異相 20.23

20.23

At that time there was a son of good family who abandoned his home, left his wife, cast off all his kin, and went forth to become a śramaṇa. His wife was shapely and exquisite; seeing that her husband had left home, she remarried. When the son of good family heard this, longing thoughts arose in his mind as he remembered making merry with his wife. He became sorrowful, distressed, and distraught, no longer taking delight in cultivating the pure brahma-practice together [with the Order], and arose to return home. When the monks heard of this, they went and reported it to the Buddha. The Buddha summoned him and, for his sake, dispelled the defilements of foolish lust and worldly toil, bringing all his thoughts to rest. Thereupon, the son of good family immediately realized the holy and noble Dharma. At that time, the monks said to the Bhagavat, "Were it not for the Tathāgata, who could accomplish such a thing?" [The Buddha] told the monks, "It is not only in this life that this monk's mind was constantly bound by sensual desire. In the distant past, long ago, there was a king named Fangji (Square-Footprints). The women in his inner palace were beyond count, yet they were wanton, contentious, and refused to live in harmony. Right after a quarrel, [the queen] left the palace and departed. Fangji searched for her without knowing where she had gone; he was sorrowful and unhappy, unable to dispel his grief. At that time there was an ascetic (ṛṣi) endowed with the five supernormal powers, who could fly by supernormal foot-power and possessed boundless majesty, named Wule (Joyless). He was flying through the sky and suddenly came down. For [the king's] sake he expounded the perils of sensual love and the virtue of renouncing desire. [The king] went forth to practice the Path, cultivated the four brahma-practices, and after his life ended, he was reborn in the Brahmā heaven." The Buddha told the monks, "The King Fangji of that time was this very monk; the ascetic Wule was my own person." (Extracted from the Nalai jing)