經律異相 36.4

36.4

The elder's son Jalavāhana cured the countless sufferings and afflictions of all sentient beings in the kingdom of King Devendrāvabhāsa, restoring their bodies to health. Because their illnesses were eliminated, they performed many meritorious deeds, saying, "Excellent, O elder! You are able to extend the countless lifespans of sentient beings. You must surely be a bodhisattva who understands all medicinal remedies." At that time, the elder, together with his two sons, Jalagarbha and Jalamambara, gradually travelled through cities, towns, and villages. At last they came to a large, empty marsh, where they saw tigers, wolves, dogs, birds, and beasts all fleeing in one direction. The elder followed and observed them, and saw a pool whose water was dried up, containing a great many fish. Seeing these fish, he felt great compassion. At that time, a tree spirit revealed half of its body and spoke these words: "Great good man, these fish are pitiful; you should give them water. For this reason you are named Jalavāhana ('Water-Bearer'); you should now act in accord with your name and fulfill its reality." Then the elder's son asked the tree spirit, "How many fish are there in number?" The tree spirit replied, "A full ten thousand." His great compassion increased. At that time, this dry pool was baked by the sun, with only a little water remaining. These ten thousand fish were on the verge of entering the gate of death, writhing in all directions. Seeing the elder, their minds placed their reliance upon him; whichever direction the elder went, they followed and gazed at him, their eyes never leaving him. Then the elder hurried in all four directions, seeking water, but was completely unable to find any. Seeing a large tree, he immediately took branches and leaves, returned to the pool, and made shade and coolness for them. Again he searched to discover where the water in this pool originally came from. He went forth, searching everywhere in all four directions, but found no water source. Running swiftly again, he saw a great river named Waterspring. Evil people, in order to catch these fish, had breached and diverted the water upstream at a precipitous place, preventing it from flowing down. The elder went to the king and explained the circumstances: "I only pray that the great king will lend twenty great elephants to carry water to save the lives of those fish, just as I have given life to sick people." The king ordered his ministers to supply them swiftly: "You may now go to the elephant stables and select them as you wish, to benefit sentient beings." Then Jalavāhana and his two sons took twenty elephants, borrowed leather bags, hurried to the river, filled them with water, and loaded them onto the elephants. The water thereupon filled the pool, restoring it to its original state. Then the elder's son paced back and forth along the four sides of the pool, and the fish followed along the banks. Then the elder's son had this thought: "These fish must be tormented by the fire of hunger; they are again seeking food from me. I should now give it to them." Then the elder's son said to his son, "Take one of the strongest elephants, go quickly to our home, gather all edible things—even the portions of food and drink for my parents, and the portions for my wife, children, male and female servants—load everything onto the elephant, and return in haste." Then the two sons went to the house, reported the matter to their grandfather, collected the edible things in the house, loaded them onto the elephant's back, and swiftly returned to their father at the pool in the empty marsh. When the elder's son saw his sons return, he was boundlessly overjoyed. He took the food and drink from the sons and scattered it into the pool. After feeding the fish, he reflected: "I have now been able to give food to these fish and satisfy them. In future lives, I should give them the food of the Dharma. I once heard that in an empty, quiet place in the past, a monk was reciting Mahāyāna Vaipulya sūtras, in which it was said that if any sentient being at the point of death hears the name of the Tathāgata Ratnaśikhin, they will immediately be reborn in heaven. I should now explain the profound twelve links of dependent origination to these ten thousand fish, and also proclaim the name of the Buddha Ratnaśikhin." He then entered the water and said: "Homage to the past Tathāgata Ratnaśikhin, who formerly, when practicing the bodhisattva path, made this vow: 'If any sentient beings in the realms of the ten directions hear my name at the point of death, I shall cause them immediately to be reborn in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.'" He further explained this profound and wondrous Dharma—namely, the twelve links of dependent origination—to the fish. Having spoken this Dharma, they returned home together. At a later time, when guests were gathered, the elder's son became drunk with wine and lay asleep. At that time, the earth suddenly shook violently. The ten thousand fish died on the same day and were reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. Having been born in heaven, they reflected: "By what wholesome karma have we been born in heaven?" They said to one another: "Formerly, in Jambudvīpa, we fell among the animals and received the bodies of fish. The elder Jalavāhana gave us water and food, explained the twelve links of dependent origination to us, and proclaimed the name of the Tathāgata Ratnaśikhin. By these causes and conditions, we have been born in this heaven. We should now repay his kindness and make offerings." At that time, the elder's son was sleeping out in the open on the upper terrace of his multistoried house. The ten thousand devaputras placed ten thousand heavenly, wondrous necklaces of genuine pearls by his head, ten thousand by his feet, ten thousand on his right side, and ten thousand on his left side. They rained down māndārava and mahāmāndārava flowers until they piled up to his knees. Various kinds of heavenly music produced wondrous sounds, so that everyone in Jambudvīpa who was asleep woke up. The elder's son Jalavāhana also woke from sleep. The ten thousand devaputras flew and travelled through the sky above, raining down heavenly, wondrous lotus flowers everywhere within the kingdom of King Devendrāvabhāsa. The devaputras then went to their original place at the pool in the empty marsh, rained down heavenly flowers again, and then disappeared from there to return to the palace of Trāyastriṃśa, enjoying the five heavenly desires at will and with sovereignty. When the night had passed, King Devendrāvabhāsa asked his ministers, "For what reason did such pure and wondrous auspicious signs appear last night?" A minister replied, "The great king should know: the devas of Trāyastriṃśa rained down forty thousand pearl necklaces and immeasurable māndārava flowers at the house of the elder's son Jalavāhana." The king told the minister, "You may go to that elder's house and summon him here." He immediately went to his house and proclaimed the king's order. The elder then came to the king. The king asked the elder, "For what reason did such auspicious signs appear?" The elder's son said, "I know for certain that those ten thousand fish have died." The great king said, "Now we should send someone to verify this matter." Jalavāhana then sent his son to the pool to see whether the fish were dead or alive. His son went to the pool and saw that there were many mahāmāndārava flowers piled up into a mound, and the fish had all died. He returned and told his father, "Those fish have all died." Then Jalavāhana went again to the king [and told him] that the ten thousand fish had all died. Hearing this, the king rejoiced. At that time, the Bhagavat told the Goddess of Good Fortune (Śrīmahādevī): "The elder's son Jalavāhana at that time was myself. The eldest son, Jalamambara, was Rāhula. The second son, Jalagarbha, was Ānanda. The ten thousand fish were these ten thousand devaputras; therefore, I now confer prophecy upon them. The tree spirit who revealed half of her body at that time was you" (from the fourth fascicle of the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra).