經律異相 33.6

33.6

When King Aśoka first ascended the throne, he installed his younger brother Tissa (the King Aśoka Sūtra calls him Vītāśoka; the Chuyao jing calls him Shanrong) as crown prince and said to him, "You should generate faith in the Buddha's Dharma." Later, while hunting, the younger brother entered a forest and saw a ṛṣi heating his body with the five fires. He immediately gave rise to deep faith, bowed his head to the ṛṣi's feet, and asked, "How long have you lived here? What do you eat and wear? How do you lie peacefully, yet still give rise to lustful desire?" The ṛṣi replied, "For twelve years I have constantly eaten tree fruits and roots, tied cogon grass for clothing, and spread grass to sleep on. Yet seeing deer copulating gives rise to thoughts of desire in me." Tissa wondered: "If even this ascetic still gives rise to desire, the Buddha's disciples live in comfort and practice in pleasure; how could they not give rise to desire when seeing desirable things? And once desire arises, how could they attain revulsion and detachment?" He then spoke a verse: