經律異相 38.4

38.4

In the kingdom of Viṣṇugupta, most people believed in wrong views, and there was no Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha. There was a woman named Upasenā (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya calls her Biwei, also called Weibei; the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya calls her Supriya). At that time, on some business, she went to the kingdom of Śrāvastī. After completing her business with King Prasenajit, she heard of the Buddha's merit from various faithful upāsakas. Desiring to see the Buddha, she went immediately to the Jetavana. She happened to find the Buddha preaching the Dharma of the five precepts to the great assembly. Upasenā requested to receive them from the Buddha, and thereupon received the five precepts. The Buddha further gave her the Dharmapada to chant and recite. At that time, at midnight, while she was reciting the Dharmapada, the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa, accompanied by several thousand yakṣas, was intending to go south to Virūḍhaka's place. Hearing the sound of the sūtra recitation, they all immediately halted to listen and praised her, saying: 'Excellent, Sister, you skillfully expound the essentials of the Dharma!' Upasenā then asked, saying: 'Who are you? I hear only a voice in the air and see no form.' He replied, saying: 'I am the ghost king, the god Vaiśravaṇa. In order to listen to the Dharma, I am staying in the air.' She asked again: 'You are a god, and I am a human. Why do you address me as "Sister"?' He replied, saying: 'The Buddha is the King of the Dharma and the father of humans and gods. Sharing the same taste of the Dharma, I therefore said "Sister".' Upasenā was exceedingly joyful. She frequently sent a servant into the woods to gather firewood. Later, one morning, having climbed a tree, the servant saw Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, and five hundred bhikṣus in this forest diligently practicing meditation and recitation. The servant returned and reported to the mistress. Upasenā was immeasurably pleased, and took off two gold rings to reward the servant. The servant further said: 'The Bhagavat has sent kind words to you, Mistress, fully explaining the five givings.' She took off her necklace and rewarded him again. The servant said: 'It is time to arise, wash your hands, and prepare the food and drink. Just now, in your name, Mistress, I invited the two venerables and the five hundred disciples to come and eat today.' She thereupon freed the servant and gave him precious treasures, announced it to all her family members and neighbors, and arranged the offerings. The venerables and all the bhikṣus put on their robes, held their bowls, and sat on the seats. After paying homage, she personally served the water and served all kinds of food, complete with fragrance and flavor. She said to Śāriputra: 'There is a spirit in this house who is close and intimate with me. Whenever I give, it tells me: "This is an arhat; this is a noble one, this an ordinary person; this one keeps the precepts, this one breaks the precepts; this one is wise, this one is foolish."' She said to Śāriputra: 'I have four sons and a husband who all hold evil, wrong views. Whenever I make offerings to the Three Jewels or give to the poor, they give rise to jealousy and anger. Yet in cultivating goodness and giving, I never flinch, and have become a srotaāpanna.' Śāriputra said: 'This is extremely rare. The Bhagavat will come to the forest of Viṣṇugupta this evening; return now to your dwelling.' After the Saṅgha departed, she prepared what was needed and went to the Buddha's place. Observing the place where the Saṅgha stayed, she saw a sick monk lying in a grass hut. She asked what ailed him and what he needed. He replied, saying: 'My four elements are in disharmony, causing extreme distress. The physician ordered me to take fresh meat broth' (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya says that the bhikṣu was regularly provided for, and having taken a purgative medicine, needed meat). Upasenā said: 'Do not seek it elsewhere; I will bring it tomorrow.' The next day was the fifteenth, when the law of the state prohibited slaughtering. Seeking everywhere, she could not find any. She then sent everyone away, bathed herself in a quiet room, cut the flesh from inside her thigh, wrapped it in fine cotton cloth, cooked it into a soup combined with various medicinal herbs, and sent it to the sick bhikṣu. After the bhikṣu ate it, his illness was cured immediately. Her husband soon returned, saw his wife's complexion had changed, and immediately asked, saying: 'Why are you so haggard?' She replied, saying: 'I am ill.' He immediately summoned a physician, who could not identify the cause. Pressing the female servants of the household, a maid recounted everything. The husband went to the streets and lanes, shouting loudly: 'The śramaṇas of the Śākyan clan eat human flesh like King Kalmāṣapāda!' Because of this, the Buddha instituted a rule: 'Bhikṣus, all kinds of impure meat should never be eaten.' The upāsikā said: 'Because of me, meat was prohibited.' She then said to her husband: 'If you can invite the Buddha and the Saṅgha for me to come here to receive an offering, it will be very good. If you cannot, I shall give up my life.' For his wife's sake, the husband entered the forest to invite the Buddha to take a meal at the house the following day. The Buddha and the Saṅgha sat on their seats. He asked where Upasenā was, and was answered: 'She is ill.' The Buddha said: 'Call her to come.' The husband said: 'Your master calls you.' She replied: 'The pain of illness makes me unable to rise.' The Buddha told Ānanda: 'Go and tell her to rise.' Ānanda went immediately and invoked the Buddha's summons. Carrying her together with her bed, they brought her to the Buddha's place. Encountering the Buddha's light, her painful illness was immediately removed and she was restored as before (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya says that the bhikṣu entered the samādhi of loving-kindness, and the wound immediately healed). She then arose and paid homage to the Buddha. The Buddha expounded the Dharma for her, and she attained the fruition of anāgāmin. The husband and their relatives abandoned the way of wrong views, received the five precepts, and became disciples of the Buddha (From the Sūtra of Upasenā, and also from the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish).