經律異相 22.26

22.26

Formerly, an arhat practiced the Way in the mountains together with a novice. Every day the novice went to people's homes to beg for food. Travelling along an embankment, the path was rugged and perilous; his foot slipped and he fell to the ground, soiling the rice with mud. The novice took the unsoiled rice and placed it in his master's bowl; the soiled rice he washed and ate himself. This went on for more than a day. The master said: “Why do you wash the rice, discarding its flavor?” He answered: “When I went out to beg, it was clear; when I returned from begging, it rained. I fell on the embankment and overturned the rice.” The master reflected in silence and knew that a nāga was harassing the novice. He then stood up, went to the embankment, and struck the bushes with his staff. The nāga transformed into an old man, came out, and bowed with his head to the ground. The śramaṇa said: “Why do you harass my novice?” He answered: “I truly loved his handsome appearance, that is all. Beginning from today, come eat in my chamber every day.” The śramaṇa accepted the invitation and went daily to eat. Later, the novice saw in his master's bowl two or three grains of rice that were not food of the human world. He asked the upādhyāya, but the master remained silent and did not respond. The novice then went under the bed and held fast to the bed-foot with his hands. When the upādhyāya finished his meditative concentration, following along with him, they both flew up to the palace of the nāga. The nāga and the women bowed together to the śramaṇa, and also bowed to the novice. The master only then realized it. He called the novice out and said to him: “These are not court maidens; they are beasts! Though you are a novice who has not yet attained the Way, you will certainly be born in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, which surpasses this a hundredfold. Do not sully your mind!” The novice said: “The dwelling place of this nāga is rarely found in the world.” The master said: “They have three kinds of suffering: first, though it is food of a hundred flavors, upon entering the mouth it immediately transforms into toads; second, though the maidens are peerlessly lovely, when they wish to become husband and wife, two snakes intertwine; third, on the nāga's back there are reversed scales, within which sand and stones form, causing pain that penetrates to the heart and chest. These are great sufferings; why would you follow them? Having not yet attained the Way, you must not be allowed to see the realms of spirits or the inner affairs of worldly kings.” The novice did not answer. Pondering it day and night and yearning for it, he stopped eating, fell ill, and died. His consciousness was reborn as the son of the nāga. (The Da zhidu lun states: “Having practiced giving and upheld the precepts, he vowed to quickly become a nāga. Because the resolve of his pledge was so intense, water sprang forth from under his feet. Later, he went to the edge of the great pool where his master had originally entered, covered his head with his kāṣāya, and entered. Upon dying, he immediately transformed into a great nāga deity, killed the old nāga, and made the whole pool turn completely red.” From the Kāśyapa-codana-nanda-sūtra; also from the Da zhidu lun, fascicle 17.)