經律異相 31.7

31.7

Formerly, in Jambudvīpa, there was a king named Brahmadeva. The king had a crown prince named Dharmakāma, who took deep delight in the true Dharma. Śakra transformed himself into a brāhmaṇa and said: "I can expound the Dharma." The crown prince touched his feet in reverence and requested to hear it. The brāhmaṇa said: "I have studied for a long time; how could you wish to hear it just directly? If you can begrudge neither your life nor your wife and children, and enter a great pit of fire to make an offering to me, only then will I impart the Dharma." The crown prince acted completely according to his words and made a great fire pit. The king, the queen, and the palace ladies went to the palace and reasoned with the brāhmaṇa, begging to offer the kingdom, the city, and his wife and children to serve him as servants, so that the crown prince would not have to throw himself into this fire. The brāhmaṇa said: "I do not compel him; it is according to his own will. But if it is like this, I will not preach for him." The king proclaimed to the country that seven days hence the crown prince would burn his body, and that if anyone wished to witness it, they should come early on that day. The noble and the base of the entire kingdom gathered all at once, begging for mercy and firmly entreating as before. The crown prince said to the crowd: "In the long course of birth and death, I have lost my body countless times. Among humans, out of greed, beings chop and kill one another. In heaven, when lifespan is exhausted, the loss of desires brings grief and suffering. In the hells, being burned and boiled, stripped with knives and dismembered, the River of Ashes and the Sword-Leaf Trees pierce pain straight through to the heart and marrow. Among hungry ghosts, hundreds of poisons bore into the body. In the retribution of animals, their bodies serve as food for the mouths of many, or carry heavy loads while eating grass. Bearing these various sufferings, I have lived and died in vain, never once with a wholesome mind for the sake of the Dharma. Now I discard this foul and defiled form to seek what is pure and supreme. Why do you wish to hinder me? When I attain the Buddha Path, I will bestow upon you the fivefold Dharmakāya." The crown prince then stood above the fire pit. The brāhmaṇa said: