經律異相 37.31

37.31

A person was traveling along a road and saw a dead body beside the way; a ghost was flogging it with a staff. The traveler said, "This person is already dead; why do you flog him?" The ghost said, "This is my former body. When it was alive, it was unfilial to its parents and disloyal in serving its ruler; it did not respect the Three Jewels, nor follow the instructions of teachers and fathers. Now it has caused me to suffer in accordance with my sins, with agony that is beyond words. Being enraged, I flog it." Walking forward a little, he saw another dead body. A heavenly being descended, scattered flowers upon the corpse, and caressed it with his hands. The traveler asked, saying, "Looking at you, you seem to be a heavenly being. Why do you caress this dead body?" He answered, saying, "This was my former body. When it was alive, it was filial and obedient to its parents, loyal and trustworthy in serving its ruler, served the Three Venerable Ones, and received the teachings of teachers and fathers. It caused my spirit to attain rebirth in heaven; all this is by the kindness of my former body. Therefore I have come to repay it, nothing more." Walking forward a little further, he saw another heavenly being whose clothing was fresh and fine, handsome, fragrant, and clean, picking sour jujubes beside the road and eating them. The traveler asked, saying, "Seeing you, you seem to be a heavenly being; why do you eat sour jujubes?" The heavenly being answered, saying, "When I was in the world, I was filial and obedient to my parents, loyal and trustworthy in serving my ruler, served the Three Venerable Ones, and performed various good deeds. Only, I did not like to offer drinks and food to guests. Now that I am a heavenly being, my food is never sufficient; therefore I eat sour jujubes." Having witnessed these three transformations in a single day, the traveler returned to uphold the five precepts and cultivate the ten wholesome deeds, being filial and obedient to parents and loyal and trustworthy in serving the ruler, and teaching later generations that sins and blessings follow a person. (Extracted from Essential Matters from Various Sūtras.)