經律異相 35.13

35.13

Whether liberating sons and daughters, liberating slaves, or permitting common people or one's own person to go forth and enter the Path, the merit is immeasurable. The reward of giving is to transmigrate back and forth among the six heavens and humanity for ten lifetimes, but the merit of going forth is boundless and limitless, surpassing the erection of a seven-jeweled stūpa reaching up to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Trāyastriṃśa). For greedy people can destroy [a stūpa], but the virtue of going forth cannot be destroyed; it is higher than Sumeru, deeper than the great ocean, and broader than empty space. If anyone creates obstacles to going forth, their sin is extremely grave: they will enter deep hells, blind in darkness. There was an elder named Śrīvṛddhi (in Liang language: Fuzeng [Prosperity-Increase]), who was a hundred years old and sought to go forth. None of his family, great or small, would have anything to do with him. Śrīvṛddhi went to the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove and sought to go forth under Śāriputra, [who refused him because of] his old age. He asked all five hundred arhats, and all were the same. Going out the gate of the Bamboo Grove, he wept aloud: 'Upāli was a lowly barber; Nidhi was an unclean disposal worker; Aṅgulimāla killed countless people; and [someone like] the great bandit Dasaka—such people were still able to go forth. What sin have I that I alone cannot?' The Buddha suddenly leaped forth and appeared, asking Śrīvṛddhi: 'Why are you weeping?' Hearing the Buddha's Brahmā voice, his heart rejoiced and he paid homage, saying to the Buddha: 'All sinful people are allowed to go forth; what sin have I that you do not permit me to go forth? Great and small no longer tolerate me, and now in the Buddha's Dharma I again cannot go forth. If I return home, I will surely not be tolerated. Where shall I turn? Today I must surely end my life here.' The Buddha comforted him, saying: 'Do not worry or grieve; I permit you to go forth.' He instructed Mahāmaudgalyāyana to permit him to go forth. He was then able to go forth and received the complete precepts. Day and night he practiced diligently, recited, and mastered the collections of sūtras. Because of his old age, he could not appropriately welcome, send off, pay respects to, and inquire after the elders; the younger monks all acted as senior elders and constantly vexed him with sharp words. He then thought: 'I would rather die now.' He went to the bank of a great river, took off his kāṣāya, placed it on a tree branch, wept, and vowed: 'I do not abandon the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Saṅgha; I only wish to abandon my life. With the generosity, precept-keeping, vigor, and recitation of sūtras in this body of mine, if there be any karmic reward, may I cast off this body and be reborn in a wealthy and happy family, with submissive family members who do not create obstacles for my wholesome dharmas, always meeting the Three Jewels and encountering good teachers to instruct and awaken me to nirvāṇa!' Having spoken, he cast himself into the swirling waters. Before he reached the water, Maudgalyāyana caught him and placed him on the bank, then made him hold the corner of his robe and soared up into empty space, just like a fierce hawk carrying a small bird. In the space of bending and extending an arm, they reached an island in the great ocean. By the seaside there was a newly dead person, possessing all female features. He saw a worm come out from the mouth, re-enter through the nose, come out from the eyes, and re-enter through the ears. Śrīvṛddhi asked: 'What woman is this?' [Maudgalyāyana] answered: 'When the time comes, I shall explain.' Walking forward, they further saw a woman carrying a bronze cauldron on her back, blowing a fire until the cauldron boiled. When it boiled, she stripped off her clothes and entered the cauldron herself. Her hair and nails fell off first, and her flesh, cooked, separated from the bones. The bubbling blew the bones out, and when blown by the wind outside, they immediately returned to a human form; she then took her own flesh and ate it. Next, walking forward, they saw a great tree with many worms surrounding and biting its trunk and branches, leaving no empty space even the size of a needlepoint. It screamed loudly, shaking as with the sounds of hell. Next, they saw a man surrounded by beast-headed evil spirits and ghosts, holding bows and crossbows, repeatedly shooting poison arrows whose heads were ablaze with fire, competing to shoot him, his whole body burnt. They also saw a great mountain with knives and swords set beneath it; they saw a man cast himself down from above, where knives, halberds, swords, and spears tore and pierced his body, whereupon he gathered and pulled them out himself, stood them back in their original place, and repeated this unceasingly. Moving forward, they saw a mountain of bones seven hundred yojanas high. On the mountain, Maudgalyāyana explained to him: 'In the city of Śrāvastī there was a great merchant chief's wife, whom her husband deeply loved. When he was about to enter the great ocean, longing for his wife and unable to part with her, he took her into the sea. The wife held a mirror to gaze at her face, and seeing her own loveliness, she gave rise to arrogance and deep attachment. At that time, a great turtle trampled the boat, sinking it into the sea, and all died; all five hundred merchants died. The sea does not tolerate corpses, so yakṣas and rākṣasas carried them out and placed them on the shore. According to her attachment, upon dying she was reborn as a worm. Casting off this worm body, she will fall into the great hells. The maidservant of an upāsikā in the country of Śrāvastī: the upāsikā invited a monk for the ninety days of the summer retreat to provide him with offerings. She sent the maidservant to deliver the food. When the maidservant reached a secluded place, she selected the good food and ate it herself, giving the remainder to the monk. The mistress noticed and questioned her. The maidservant answered: "If I ate it first, may I eat the flesh of my own body life after life!" Now she first receives the blossoming retribution (flowering fruit), and later will fall into hell.