經律異相 21.29

21.29

The Buddha told Ānanda, "If a sentient being arouses a single hateful thought toward the Buddhas of the three periods of time and their like, or toward pratyekabuddhas, arhats, or persons wearing dyed robes—the various śramaṇas—they incur boundless sin. Why is this? Dyed robes are the mark and insignia of the wise and noble. If one can resolve in one's mind to revere those in dyed robes, one obtains immeasurable merit. It was by virtue of faithfully revering and upholding them that I attained buddhahood." Ānanda addressed the Buddha, "How did this past reverence come about?" The Buddha told Ānanda, "Countless kalpas ago in the distant past, there was a great kingdom in this Jambudvīpa (the *Bao'en jing* says the kingdom of Vārāṇasī). Its king, named Tibi (Devī?), ruled over eighty-four thousand petty kings. The Buddha's Dharma did not exist in the world then. There was a pratyekabuddha sitting in meditation and practicing the Way deep in the mountains. At that time, the wild beasts all came close to him. There was a lion named *Jian-jia-luo-bi* (in the Liang language, 'Firm Vow'), whose body was golden and shone brilliantly with marks of radiant light. He ate fruits and grazed on grass, harming no living being. At that time, a hunter shaved his head, put on a kāṣāya, concealed a bow and arrows on his person, and traveled through the marshland. Seeing the lion asleep (the *Bao'en jing* says licking a monk's feet), he shot him with a poisoned arrow. The lion awoke startled and was about to charge and kill him, but seeing that he wore a kāṣāya, he reflected to himself: 'These dyed robes are the mark of good people. If I harm him, it would be directing a hateful thought toward the wise and noble.' Thinking thus, he stood down. The arrow's poison circulated internally, and his life would not last long. Thereupon he spoke a gāthā: *ye-luo-po-she-sha-po-he*. When he uttered these words, heaven and earth shook violently, and blood rained from a cloudless sky. The gods were terrified; looking with the divine eye, they saw the hunter kill the lion, and they rained down heavenly flowers to make offerings to its corpse. The hunter then skinned the lion and offered the hide to King Tibi. The king reflected, 'The scriptures say that if a beast is golden, it must be a bodhisattva.' He asked the hunter, 'What auspicious omens occurred when the lion died?' He answered as above. Hearing these words, the king was filled with mingled grief and joy, and his faith grew all the firmer. He immediately summoned his ministers, elders, and wise men, ordering them to explain this meaning. At that time, in an empty forest, there was an ascetic named Shamo (Śama) who explained it to the king: 'The meaning of *ye-luo* is that by merely shaving one's head and wearing dyed robes, one will swiftly attain liberation from birth and death. *Po-she-sha* means that these are all the marks of the wise and noble, approaching nirvāṇa. *Po-he* means that one will be revered and looked up to by all gods and people of the world.' When the ascetic had explained these words, Tibi rejoiced. He at once summoned all the kings to assemble there, constructed a carriage of seven precious jewels, spread the lion's skin upon it to display to all, and together they revered it, burning incense and scattering flowers in offering. Later, he also beat gold into a coffin, placed the lion's skin inside, and erected a stūpa for it. At that time, because the lion gave rise to a wholesome mind toward the wearer of the dyed robes, he became a wheel-turning sage king for ten billion kalpas." The Buddha told Ānanda, "The lion at that time was myself. The king of the country was the present Maitreya. The ascetic was the present Śāriputra. The hunter was the present Devadatta." (Extracted from the thirteenth fascicle of the *Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish*)