經律異相 6.56

6.56

King Shanrong (also named Weituoshouji, the younger brother of King Aśoka) entered the mountains on a hunt. He saw various brahmacārins, naked and exposed to the elements, some eating tree leaves, some inhaling the wind and ingesting breath, some lying amidst brambles and thorns, tormenting themselves in diverse ways in pursuit of immortality. Shanrong asked them, "Why have you achieved nothing?" The brahmacārins replied, "At our seats herds of deer frequently mate together; seeing them, our minds are stirred and we cannot control ourselves." The king said, "If even those who ingest [mere air and leaves] and are emaciated still have sensual desire, how could the Śākyan sons, the śramaṇas—who eat sweet and delicious food, sit on fine couches and seats, dress according to the seasons, and perfume themselves with fragrant flowers—be without it?" When Aśoka heard this, he was filled with sorrow and distress: "I have only one younger brother, yet he has suddenly given rise to wrong views. I fear he will be lost forever; I must eradicate this evil." He ordered singing girls to be provided to make merry with him. The king personally said to his brother, "Why have you taken your elder brother's singing concubines to indulge your desires and make merry?" and was about to have him executed. The ministers remonstrated, saying, "The Great King has only one younger brother and moreover lacks male heirs; we pray that you grant him seven days, and then carry out the royal decree." The king then remained silent and said to his ministers, "Allow my younger brother to wear my robes and cap, enter my palace, and amuse himself with music and song." On the seventh day, the king sent an envoy to ask, "Your mind and will were completely free: was it joyful or not?" Shanrong said, "I neither saw nor heard anything; what joy could there be?" The king said, "You experienced everything just as I do; how can you say you did not hear or see?" His younger brother said, "For a man condemned to die, though his life has not yet ended, he is no different from the dead; what inclination could he have to cling to the five desires?" The king said, "Now, with a single life full of myriad anxieties, and that single life destined to be extinguished, you find no pleasure in desires. When speaking of the path, the śramaṇas are mindful and anxious regarding the three periods of time: when one body dies and decays, one receives another body; throughout hundreds of millions of lives, body after body suffers torment and immeasurable misery. Even if born as a human, one runs errands for others, impoverished in food and clothing. Reflecting on this bitterness, they leave the household life to practice the path, seeking the essential way of the unconditioned to cross over the world. If they are not diligent, they will undergo the suffering of kalpas anew." Shanrong's mind then opened and understood. He said to the king, "Hearing the Great King's instruction today, I have finally awakened. Birth, old age, sickness, and death are truly to be reviled; sorrow, distress, pain, and anguish transmigrate without end. I only pray that the Great King will permit me to practice the path." The king said, "You should know that now is the time." His brother immediately went forth from the household life, maintained the prohibitions and precepts, was diligent day and night, and attained the path of an arhat (from the Sūtra on Seeking Release from Prison). The Asokāvadāna states: King Aśoka, hearing that his brother had attained the path, was deeply delighted in his heart. Bowing his head in worshipful reverence, he requested to make lifelong offerings to him. His brother vowed to rely on the forests and wilds to sustain the rest of his life. Aśoka then commanded spirits and deities to construct a mountain several tens of zhang high inside the city, cutting off outside persons and things and ending all coming and going. [His brother] then complied with the king's command. He gave up all his robes and resources to make a stone image sixteen feet high, using the mountain as a niche-chamber.