經律異相 33.16

33.16

Vītāśoka went to a border region. Having arrived, he fell ill. Because the illness was severe, sores broke out all over his head. At that time, hearing of this, the king immediately sent attendants and medicines to treat him. Later, when he improved slightly, he sent all the physicians and attendants back. For bodily sustenance he consumed only cow's milk. For the sake of begging food, he went to a place with many cows. There was another country named Puṇḍravardhana (in Liang language, "increasing"). That country wholly believed in non-Buddhists. A disciple of the Buddha saw [this] and reported it to the king. [The king] made a yakṣa bring the non-Buddhist disciples and their painted images in a single thought-moment. Giving rise to great wrath, he killed all the non-Buddhists in the country of Puṇḍravardhana. In a single day he killed one hundred and eight thousand non-Buddhists. There was another non-Buddhist disciple who loved non-Buddhist teachings and served a naked deity, painting the Tathāgata bowing at the feet of his deity. Hearing of this again, the king immediately commanded other people to seize this person and his relatives, place them in a house, and burn them with fire. The king then issued an edict: "If anyone can obtain the head of a Nirgrantha, I will give him one gold coin." Vītāśoka entered the cattle-keeping place, having been ill for many days. The hair on his head, his beard, and his nails were all long and sharp, and his robes were ragged, foul, and without luster. At that time, a cowherd woman secretly conceived this thought: "Now this Nirgrantha has entered my house." She then said to her husband, "You should kill this Nirgrantha, take his head, and give it to the king; you will surely obtain the gold reward." The husband drew his sword and went. Vītāśoka then reflected to himself, seeing that for his karmic retribution there was no place of escape; he then accepted death. [The man] brought the head to the king's place, seeking to obtain the gold. Suspicious, the king asked his physician and attendants, who replied, "This is the head of Vītāśoka." The king fainted for a long time. A minister addressed the king, saying, "Even one free of outflows does not escape this suffering. The Great King should bestow fearlessness upon sentient beings." The king followed his words and proclaimed an order that no one should ever kill Nirgranthas again. The monks felt doubt and asked Upagupta, "What karma did Vītāśoka create in the past that he now receives this retribution?" He replied, saying, "In a past life, there was a hunter who killed many herds of deer. In a great forest there was a spring. At that time, this hunter spread nets and placed his snares by the water, killing many deer. At that time, a Buddha had not yet appeared in the world. There was a pratyekabuddha who ate beside the water; having finished eating, he washed himself and returned to sit beneath a tree. At that time, the herd of deer, smelling the fragrance of the pratyekabuddha, did not go to the water's edge. The hunter, sitting and not seeing the deer come, followed their tracks to the pratyekabuddha's place and thought, 'It is because this man sits here that the deer do not come.' He then killed the pratyekabuddha with a sword. That past hunter was precisely Vītāśoka. Because of killing the deer, he now suffers much illness; further, because of killing the pratyekabuddha, he was constantly in hell for innumerable years, enduring all kinds of suffering; for five hundred lifetimes in the human realm, in every place he was born, he was constantly killed by others. This is now his final retribution: though he attained arhatship, he was still harmed by another. Under the Dharma of Kāśyapa Buddha he went forth from home, took pleasure in practicing generosity, and constantly encouraged and converted people to make offerings to the Saṃgha. There was a stupa of the Buddha's hair and nails, and with fragrant flowers, banners, parasols, and various kinds of music, he made offerings to it. Through this karmic retribution, he was born into a prominent family, constantly cultivated pure conduct for one hundred thousand years, and further made an aspiration; through this karmic condition, he attained arhatship" (derived from the third fascicle of the *Aśokarājasūtra*).