法苑珠林 46.18

46.18

又大集經濟龍品云。時娑伽羅龍王白佛言。而此龍中。或有諸龍所受樂報。猶如諸天。或有受樂如人。有如餓鬼。有如畜生。有如地獄受大辛苦。說是語已。時娑伽羅大龍王子名青蓮華面。前白佛言。世尊。我何惡業罪因緣故來生龍中。身大端正所有色觸受用猶如火燒。常無衣服赤體而行。如我父王受樂最勝。如轉輪王果報不異。佛言。華面。當為汝說。乃往過去三十一劫。有佛世尊。名曰尸棄。時彼世中有王。名曰培多富沙。彼富沙王於三月中供養彼佛。并及無量百千四沙門果大菩薩眾。以種種衣服飲食湯藥而供給之。至心聽法已即發菩提心。并為造寺種種供養。彼王第一太子名裴多娑樹帝。見佛聞法於流轉中生大怖畏。從父王邊願求出家。王報任意。既出家已又白父言。我欲寺上停止。王言。亦隨時。尸棄佛眾僧弟子在彼寺中受用飲食。彼富沙子裴多樹帝。妬嫉心生常瞋罵之。時彼僧眾被瞋罵已悉離寺去。見僧去已生歡喜心。即自念言。彼去者好。我大安隱。恣用寺內衣服飲食。有餘人來即不聽住。由具惡業命終之後生大地獄。經無量千萬那由他歲受諸火燒。地獄得脫生餓鬼中。復經無量受辛苦。餓鬼中死還墮地獄。脫地獄已生餓鬼中。如是經由三十一劫。於流轉中具足如是受諸辛苦。佛言。華面。彼娑樹帝者。豈異人乎。即汝身是也。乃往過去惡業因緣故。生大地獄餓鬼畜生輪轉受苦。經是三十一大劫中備受眾苦。未曾暫捨。以殘業故來生龍中受是惡報。時華面龍聞是語已。大聲號哭舉身自投四肢布地。禮拜白佛。作如是言。我今至心從佛懺悔不敢覆藏。我今至誠入於骨髓。歸依佛法僧。乃至壽盡作優婆塞。佛言善哉善哉。如是歸依我者得盡彼業。此中死已值彌勒佛得於人身。於彌勒佛法中出家證羅漢果。

Furthermore, the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra, in the "Chapter on Saving the Nāgas," states: At that time, the nāga king Sāgara said to the Buddha: "Among these nāgas, some receive pleasant retributions like the gods; some receive pleasure like humans; some are like hungry ghosts; some are like beasts; and some suffer great torment as in the hells." When he had spoken these words, a son of the great nāga Sāgara named Utpalavaktrā (Blue Lotus Face) came forward and said to the Buddha: "World-Honoured One, by what karmic cause of evil deeds have I come to be born among the nāgas? My body is exceedingly handsome, yet all tactile contact and use of it is like being burned by fire, and I always lack clothing, walking naked. By contrast, my father the king enjoys supreme bliss, no different from the retribution of a cakravartin." The Buddha said: "Utpalavaktrā, I will explain it to you. Thirty-one kalpas ago, there was a Buddha, a World-Honoured One named Śikhin. At that time, in that world, there was a king named Vedapuṣpa (Peiduofusha). King Puṣpa made offerings to that Buddha for three months, as well as to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of great bodhisattvas and those who had attained the four fruits of the śramaṇa, supplying them with various robes, food and drink, and medicines. Having listened single-mindedly to the Dharma, he immediately gave rise to the mind of awakening (bodhicitta), and built a monastery for them, making various offerings. That king's eldest crown prince was named Vedapradyota (Peiduosuoshudi). Seeing the Buddha and hearing the Dharma, he felt great dread towards transmigration, and requested from his father the king to leave home. The king replied: 'As you wish.' Having left home, he said again to his father: 'I wish to dwell in the monastery.' The king said: 'Do so as you wish.' The monastic disciples of the Buddha Śikhin enjoyed food and drink in that monastery. That son of Puṣpa, Vedapradyota, gave rise to jealousy and frequently reviled and cursed them with anger. At that time, having been reviled and cursed, the saṃgha departed from the monastery entirely. Seeing that the monks had left, he felt joyful, and thought to himself: 'It is good that they are gone; I am at great ease.' He freely consumed the robes, food, and drink in the monastery, and when other people arrived, he would not allow them to stay. Having accumulated such evil karma, after his life ended he was born into the great hells, where he was burned by fires for immeasurable tens of millions of nayutas of years. Freed from the hells, he was born among the hungry ghosts, where he again underwent immeasurable hardship. Dying among the hungry ghosts, he fell back into the hells; freed from the hells, he was born again among the hungry ghosts. In this way, across thirty-one kalpas, he underwent such hardships fully in transmigration." The Buddha said: "Utpalavaktrā, could that Pradyota have been someone else? He was none other than your own body. Because of those evil karmic causes in the past, you were born into the great hells, the hungry ghosts, and the beasts, undergoing torment in transmigration, fully undergoing myriad sufferings throughout these thirty-one mahākalpas without a moment's relief. Due to the residue of that karma, you were born among the nāgas to receive this evil retribution." When the nāga Utpalavaktrā heard these words, he wept aloud with great wailing, threw his entire body with all four limbs to the ground, prostrated, and addressed the Buddha, saying: "Now, with an earnest mind, I confess and repent before the Buddha, daring not to conceal anything. My sincerity now penetrates into my marrow; I take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha, becoming an upāsaka until the end of my life." The Buddha said: "Sadhu, sadhu! Those who take refuge in me in this manner shall exhaust that karma. Dying from this state, you will encounter Maitreya Buddha, obtain a human body, leave home in the Dharma of Maitreya Buddha, and realize the fruit of an arhat."