經律異相 48.81

48.81

The Buddha and the monks were heading toward Vaiśālī and arrived at the river Liyue. By the river were five hundred cowherds and five hundred fishermen. The Buddha sat and rested not far from the river. At that time, the fishermen caught a fish in their net; five hundred men pulled it but could not bring it out. They called the herd of cowherds as well, and with the combined strength of a thousand men, they brought out a great fish. Its body had a hundred heads of various kinds: donkey, horse, camel, tiger, wolf, pig, dog, ape, monkey, fox, and the like. The people found it extraordinary and vied to gather and look at it. The Bhagavat immediately went to the fish and asked it: 'Are you Kapila or not?' Asked this three times, it answered 'yes' every time. He asked again: 'Where are those who taught and converted your faction now?' It answered: 'Fallen into the Avīci hell.' Ānanda asked: 'Why do you now address this hundred-headed fish as Kapila?' The Buddha said: 'In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, there was a brāhmaṇa who bore a boy named Kapila (in the language of Liang, Yellow Head). He was intelligent and extensively learned, foremost in hearing among his kind, inferior only to the śramaṇas. When his father was on the verge of death, he earnestly instructed him: "Be careful never to debate doctrine with the śramaṇas of Kāśyapa. Why? The wisdom of the śramaṇas is profound, and you are certain to be no match for them." After his father died, his mother asked: "You were originally lofty and bright; are there any now who surpass you?" He replied: "The śramaṇas are far superior to me." His mother asked again: "How are they superior?" He answered: "If I have doubts and go ask them, the Buddha can clarify and resolve them. If they ask me, I cannot answer." His mother said to him: "Why do you not study their Dharma?" He answered: "To reverently study their Dharma, one must become a śramaṇa. I am a white-robed layman; how could I study it?" His mother said: "Pretend to be a śramaṇa; once you have studied and mastered it, return home." Obeying his mother's instruction, he became a monk. After a short time, he recited the Tripiṭaka and thoroughly comprehended its meanings. His mother asked him: "Have you surpassed them now?" He answered: "I am superior in learning, but not as good in seated meditation." "How do you know this?" "When I question those people, they can distinguish everything; when they question me, I cannot know. For this reason, I am not yet their equal." His mother told him: "From now on, if you debate with them and happen to be inferior, you may just curse and revile them." Kapila said: "The renunciant śramaṇas have committed no fault or transgression; why should I revile them?" She answered: "Just revile them and you will prevail." Kapila could not bear to disobey his mother. Later, when they debated principles again and he was refuted, he reviled them: "You fools know nothing and are worse than animals!" and compared them to the heads of hundreds of beasts, doing so on numerous occasions. As a retribution for this, he has now received the body of a fish with a hundred heads.' Ānanda asked the Buddha: 'When will it escape this fish body?' The Buddha told Ānanda: 'Even after a thousand Buddhas have passed in this Bhadrakalpa, it will still not escape.' At that time, Ānanda and the multitude, hearing what the Buddha had said, all spoke with one voice: 'One cannot but be cautious in actions of body, speech, and mind!' Then the fishermen, cowherds, and others joined their palms toward the Buddha together, seeking to leave home and cultivate the pure life. The Buddha said: 'Welcome!' and their hair and beards fell off naturally, with Dharma robes on their bodies. He preached the wondrous Dharma for them, and they became arhats. (Extracted from the tenth fascicle of the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish)