法苑珠林 34.34

34.34

又雜譬喻經云。昔有五百賈客乘船入海。值摩竭魚。出頭張口欲食眾生。時日少風而船去如箭。薩薄主語眾人言。船去太疾可捨帆。如言捨下。船去轉駛不可得止。薩薄主問樓上人言。汝見何等。我見上有兩日出。下有白山。中有黑山。薩薄主驚言。此是大魚。當奈何哉。我與汝等今遭困厄。入此魚腹無有活理。汝等各隨所事一心求之。於是眾人各隨所奉。一心歸命求脫此厄。所求逾篤船去逾疾。須臾不止當入魚口。於是薩薄主告諸人言。我有大神。號名為佛。汝等各捨奉神一心稱之。時五百人俱發大聲稱南無佛。魚聞佛名自思惟言。今日世間乃復有佛。我當何忍傷害眾生。即便閉口水皆倒流。轉得遠魚。五百賈人善心即生。皆得解脫。

Also, the Za piyu jing says: Formerly, five hundred merchants took a boat out to sea. They encountered a makara fish emerging with its mouth agape, wishing to devour the living beings. At the time there was little wind, yet the boat travelled like an arrow. The chief merchant said to the crowd: "The boat travels too quickly; lower the sail!" They lowered it as instructed, but the boat went ever faster and could not be stopped. The chief merchant asked the person in the watchtower: "What do you see?" [He answered:] "I see two suns risen above, white mountains below, and a black mountain in between." The chief merchant said in alarm: "This is a great fish! What is to be done? You and I now meet with dire straits; entering this fish's belly there is no way we will live. Each of you, according to what you worship, single-mindedly seek help!" Thereupon the people, each according to their devotion, single-mindedly took refuge and sought deliverance from this distress. The more earnestly they sought, the faster the boat travelled. If it did not stop for an instant, it would enter the fish's mouth. At this, the chief merchant said to the people: "I have a great deity whose name is the Buddha. Abandon your worshipped gods and single-mindedly chant his name!" Then the five hundred people together raised a great cry, chanting: "Namo Buddhāya!" Hearing the Buddha's name, the fish thought to itself: "Today there is indeed once more a Buddha in the world! How could I bear to harm living beings?" It immediately closed its mouth, and the waters all flowed backward. Gradually they drew away from the fish. Good thoughts arose in the five hundred merchants, and all attained liberation.