經律異相 40.33

40.33

There was a brahmacārin who lived in Rājagṛha. Hearing that the people of the country of Śrāvastī were largely filial and supportive [of their parents], upheld the scriptures, practiced the Way, and made offerings to and served the Three Honoured Ones, he wished to study and went to inquire and receive instruction. Not far from that country, he saw a father and son plowing the ground and sowing seed. At that moment, a venomous snake emerged, bit the son, and killed him. The father did not pause his plowing and sowing, nor did he even look around. The brahmacārin questioned him. The plowman in turn asked: 'Where do you come from?' The brahmacārin answered: 'I have come from Rājagṛha. Hearing that the people of this country are largely filial and supportive [of their parents], and serve the Three Jewels, I came to study. Whose son was that just now?' [The plowman] said: 'He was my son.' [The brahmacārin] said: 'If he was your son, why are you not grieved, but instead keep on plowing?' The man answered: 'Wherever there is life there is death; wherever things are formed there is decay. What can be done by sorrowing, grieving, weeping, and wailing? If I do not eat or drink, what benefit is that to the dead? If you are entering the city, please stop by and tell my family: "My son has died; do not bring two portions of food."' The brahmacārin secretly thought: 'This person has no sense of reciprocity. His son lies dead on the ground, yet he is utterly without sorrow or grief, and instead merely asks for food!' Entering the city of Śrāvastī, he went to the plowman's house, saw the dead boy's mother, and said: 'Your son has died. The father says only to bring food for one person.' The boy's mother said: 'He was like a guest lodging here: his arrival could not be prevented, and his departure cannot be stayed. This boy was like that. In this life, he came on his own, and in death, he also departs alone. It is beyond my power to advance or hold him back. He follows his own past deeds, pursuing what his lifespan brings about in his next rebirth.' He also told the boy's elder sister, and the sister likewise spoke of the analogy of impermanence. The brahmacārin told the wife: 'Your husband has died.' The wife explained an analogy to the brahmacārin. He also told the servant: 'Your master has died.' The servant likewise explained an analogy. Hearing this, the brahmacārin was deeply shaken, his eyes dimmed, and he could not tell east from west. 'Hearing that this country practices filial devotion and serves the Three Jewels, I came to study. Before I have found any good intention, I have seen five people with no sense of reciprocity, exhausting my body and mind in vain!' He then asked a passerby: 'Where is the Buddha?' [The passerby] answered: 'Nearby, in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada's Park.' The brahmacārin immediately went to the Buddha's place, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet, and sat back to one side, gloomy and unhappy, hanging his head in silence and saying nothing. Knowing his mind, the Buddha said to the brahmacārin: 'Why are you unhappy?' The brahmacārin replied: 'It is because my original wish has been thwarted that I am sorrowful.' The Buddha asked again: 'How so?' He answered with all the details. The Buddha said: 'It is not so; it is not as you say. These five people possess the greatest reciprocity. Knowing that life is impermanent and cannot be helped by sorrow and grief, they calmed themselves through this reflection, and therefore they feel no grief. Worldly people do not recognize impermanence; grieving and weeping, they cannot sever their attachment. For example, when a person's body is afflicted with a fever, not realizing it, they speak deliriously and wildly; when a skilled physician gives them medicine, the fever is removed and cured, and they no longer speak wildly. Worldly people are overwhelmed by grief, folly, and the fever of intoxication, unable to liberate themselves. If they understand impermanence for themselves, they will no longer grieve, just as a fever is cured. These five people are all capable of realizing the Way.' Hearing these words, the brahmacārin reproached himself: 'I was foolish and blind, ignorant of the great meaning. Now hearing the Buddha's words, I am like a blind man gaining eyes, seeing light in the dark.' He then received the five precepts, bowed his head, and departed. (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Five [Persons] Without Reciprocity)