經律異相 38.12

38.12

In India there was a man who went to the kingdom of Śrāvastī. His wife gave birth to two sons: the eldest son was seven years old, and the second son was an infant in arms. The mother was pregnant again and was about to give birth. According to the customs of India, when a woman is near her month of delivery, she returns to her parents' home. Thereupon, the husband and wife rode together in a wagon carrying their two sons toward the city of Śrāvastī. Mid-journey, they released the ox. A venomous snake coiled around the ox's leg, and the ox broke away from the pen. When the husband went to retrieve the ox, the snake left the ox and killed the husband. When the wife saw this, she was terrified and wept. The sun was about to set. They were not far from home, separated by a river. Fearing nighttime brigands, she abandoned the wagon, took the two sons, and arrived at the riverbank. Leaving the older child at the water's edge, she carried the younger across in her arms. When she was only halfway through the water, a wolf devoured the older child, who cried out to his mother. Hearing his cries, the mother turned her head and saw it. In her shock and fright, she did not notice that she dropped the baby in her arms into the river, where it was swept away with the current. The mother grew even more distraught and confused, losing her wits. Stumbling in the water, she miscarried the child she was carrying. She then crossed the river and asked travelers on the road: "Are my parents safe and well?" They replied: "Yesterday a fire broke out, and they were all burned to death." She asked the travelers again: "Have you heard whether my husband's parents are safe and well?" They replied: "They encountered bandits who harmed them; both parents-in-law are dead." Distressed, terrified, and dazed, she could not tell east from west, and ran madly naked. The travelers who saw her found it strange, thinking she had fallen ill with a demonic affliction. She sprinted and saw the Buddha. The Buddha was preaching the Dharma to a great assembly. When the woman saw the Buddha, her mind immediately attained concentration and she was no longer sorrowful. Looking upon her naked body, she bowed to the ground in shame. The Buddha called Ānanda to bring clothes and give them to her. When the woman had put on the clothes, she paid homage. The Buddha then preached the sūtra and revealed sins and merits to her. She immediately gave rise to the mind of unexcelled awakening and was established in the stage of non-retrogression; her sorrows dispersed like clouds before the sun, and she gave rise to the unexcelled mind. (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Woman Who Met with Calamity; the version in the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish is largely the same with minor differences.)