[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法苑珠林](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122) › 17.35 # 法苑珠林 17.35 法苑珠林 17.35 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [17.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.35) 如付法藏經云。佛言。一切眾生欲出三界生死大海。必假法船方得度脫。法為清涼除煩惱熱。法是妙藥能愈結病。法是眾生真善知識。作大利益濟諸苦惱。所以然者。一切眾生。志性無定。隨所染習。近善則善。近惡則惡。若近惡友便造惡業。流轉生死無有邊際。若近善友起信敬心。聽受妙法必能令離三塗苦惱。由此功德受最勝樂。華氏國王。有一白象能滅怨敵。若人犯罪令象蹋殺。後時象廐為火所燒。移象近寺。象聞比丘誦法句經偈云。為善生天。為惡入淵。象聞法已心便柔和起慈悲心。後付罪人但以鼻嗅舌舐而去。都不肯殺。王見斯已心大惶怖。即召諸臣共謀此事。智臣白王。此象近寺必聞妙法。是致然耳。今可移近屠肆處繫。王用其言。象見屠殺惡心猛熾殘害更增。是以當知。一切眾生志性無定。畜生尚爾。聞法生慈見殺增害。豈況於人而不染習。是故智者宜應覺知。見惡須棄。覩善宜近。勤聽經法。又於往昔有婆羅門。持人髑髏其數甚多。詣華氏城中遍行衒賣。經歷多時都無買者。時婆羅門極大瞋恚。高聲罵言。此城中人愚癡闇鈍。若不就我買髑髏者。我當與作惡名聞也。爾時城中諸優婆塞。聞畏毀謗便將錢買。即以銅箸貫穿其耳。若徹過者便與多價。其半徹者與價漸少。都不通者全不與直。婆羅門言。我此髑髏皆悉無異。何故與價差別不等。優婆塞言。前徹過者。此人生時聽受妙法智慧高勝。貴其如此相與多價。其半徹者。雖聽經法未善分別。故與少直。全不通者。此人往昔都不聽法。故不與價。時優婆塞持此髑髏。往至城外起塔供養。命終之後悉得生天。以是因緣。當知妙法有大功德。此優婆塞以聽法人髑髏起塔而供養之。尚得生天。況能至心聽受經法。供養恭敬持經人者。此之福報實難窮盡。未來必當成無上道。是故智者。欲得無上安隱快樂。應當至心勤聽經法。 > As the Scripture on the Transmission of the Dharmapiṭaka states: The Buddha said, “If all sentient beings wish to escape from the great ocean of birth and death within the tridhātu, they must rely on the raft of the Dharma before they can attain liberation. The Dharma serves as cool refreshment that eliminates the fever of afflictions; the Dharma is a wondrous medicine that can cure the sickness of fetters; the Dharma is a true spiritual friend to sentient beings, bringing great benefit and rescuing them from all suffering and distress. Why is this? The nature and inclinations of all sentient beings are indeterminate; they conform to what they become habituated to. When close to the good, they become good; when close to evil, they become evil. If they draw near to bad companions, they then commit evil karma and wander in birth and death without limit. If they draw near to good companions, they arouse faith and reverence; hearing and accepting the wondrous Dharma, they will surely be made to leave behind the suffering and distress of the three evil destinies, and through these merits they will enjoy the supreme bliss. The king of the country of Pāṭaliputra had a white elephant capable of destroying his enemies. Whenever a person committed a crime, he would have the elephant trample them to death. Later, when the elephant stable was burned by fire, they moved the elephant near a monastery. The elephant heard a monk reciting verses from the Dharmapada: ‘Doing good brings rebirth in heaven; doing evil leads into the abyss.’ Having heard the Dharma, the elephant’s mind became gentle and mild, and aroused compassion. Afterwards, when criminals were given to it, it merely sniffed them with its trunk, licked them with its tongue, and walked away, utterly refusing to kill them. When the king saw this, he was greatly alarmed and terrified. He immediately summoned all his ministers to deliberate on the matter. A wise minister addressed the king: ‘This elephant was near the monastery and surely heard the wondrous Dharma; that is why this has happened. Now it may be moved and tied near a slaughterhouse.’ The king followed his words. When the elephant saw the slaughtering, its evil mind flared up fiercely, and its cruelty increased even more. From this one should know that the nature and inclinations of all sentient beings are indeterminate. Even animals are like this: hearing the Dharma they produce compassion, while seeing killing they increase in harm. How much more so for human beings—how could they not be influenced by habituation? Therefore the wise should realize this: seeing evil, they must abandon it; seeing good, they should draw near to it, and diligently listen to the scriptures and the Dharma. Furthermore, in the past there was a brahmin who carried a great number of human skulls, going to the city of Pāṭaliputra to peddle them everywhere. After a long time, there was not a single buyer. At that time, the brahmin became extremely angry and shouted abuse, saying: ‘The people in this city are foolish and dull-witted! If you do not buy skulls from me, I shall ruin your reputation!’ At that time, the upāsakas in the city, hearing this and fearing slander, brought money to buy them. They then inserted a copper chopstick through their ears. If it passed completely through, they gave a high price; if it passed halfway through, they gave a lower price; and if it did not pass through at all, they gave no price whatsoever. The brahmin said: ‘These skulls of mine are all no different. Why is there an unequal difference in the prices you give?’ The upāsakas said: ‘For those that passed completely through, when this person was alive, he heard and accepted the wondrous Dharma, and his wisdom was lofty and superior. We value this feature and therefore give a high price. For those that passed halfway through, although he heard the scriptures and the Dharma, he did not distinguish them well; therefore we give a lower price. For those that did not pass through at all, in the past this person never listened to the Dharma at all; therefore we give no price.’ The upāsakas then took these skulls, went outside the city, erected stūpas, and made offerings to them. After their lives ended, they all attained rebirth in heaven. From this circumstance, one should know that the wondrous Dharma has great merit. Since these upāsakas, by merely erecting stūpas and making offerings to the skulls of people who had heard the Dharma, could still attain rebirth in heaven, how much more so for those who can sincerely hear and accept the scriptures and the Dharma, and make offerings to and revere those who uphold the scriptures? The karmic reward of this is truly difficult to exhaust; in the future they will surely achieve the unsurpassed way. Therefore the wise, wishing to attain unsurpassed peace and happiness, should diligently listen to the scriptures and the Dharma with sincere minds.” > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 17.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.34) - [Next: 17.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.36) - [Up: 17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.17.35) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [諸經要集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2123.2.28) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.35](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.35) · Pramāṇa