經律異相 45.16

45.16

Formerly, there was a man who did not believe, while his wife served the Buddha with great devotion. The wife said to her husband, "Human life is impermanent; one ought to cultivate merit and virtue." The husband lacked the resolve and was lazy and indolent. Fearing that he would enter hell in the future, the wife spoke to her husband again: "I wish to hang a bell and fix it above the door. Whenever you go out or come in, striking the bell to make a sound, recite 'Namo Buddhāya'." The husband said, "Very well." A long time passed like this, and her husband died. The hell wardens seized him with forks to throw him into a boiling cauldron. The fork struck the cauldron, producing a sound. Thinking it was the sound of the bell, he recited "Namo Buddhāya". Hearing this, the hell official said, "This man venerates the Buddha," and released him to depart, enabling him to be reborn among humans (from the Miscellaneous Avadāna Sūtra).