法苑珠林 52.12

52.12

爾時長者諸眷屬等聞佛所說。悲苦皆息並獲道果。又法句喻經云。昔有婆羅門。少年出家。學至六十不能得道。婆羅門法六十不得道。然後歸家娶婦為居家。生得一男端正可愛。至年七歲書學聰慧。才辯出口有逾人之操。卒得重病一宿命終。梵志憐惜不能自勝。伏其屍上氣絕復蘇。親族諫喻奪屍殯斂。埋著城外。梵志自念。我今啼哭。計無所益。不如往至閻羅王所先乞索兒命。於是梵志沐浴齋戒。齎持華香發舍而去。所在問人。閻羅王所治處為在何許。展轉前行。行數千里至深山中。見諸得道梵志。復問如前。諸梵志問曰。卿問閻羅王所治處欲求何等。答曰。我有一子。辯慧過人。近日卒亡。悲窮懊惱不能自解。欲至王所求乞兒命。還將歸家養以備老。諸梵志等。愍其愚癡即告之曰閻羅王所治之處。非是生人所可得到也。當示卿方。宜從此西行四百餘里有大川。其中有城。此是諸天神案行世間停宿之城。閻羅王常以四月四日案行必過此城。卿持齋戒往必見之。梵志歡喜奉教而去。到其川中見好城郭。宮殿屋舍如忉利天。梵志詣門燒香翹脚。祝願求見閻羅王。王勅守門人引見之。梵志啟言。晚生一男欲以備老。養育七歲近日命終。唯願大王。垂恩布施還我兒命。閻羅王言。所求大善。卿兒今在東園中戲。自往將去。梵志即往。見兒與諸小兒共戲。即前抱之。向之啼泣曰。我晝夜念汝食寐不甘。汝寧不念父母辛苦以不。小兒驚喚逆呵之曰。癡騃老翁不達道理。寄住須臾名人為子。勿妄多言不如早去。今我此間自有父母。邂逅之間唐自手抱。梵志悵然涕泣而去。即自念言。我聞瞿曇沙門知人魂神變化之道。當往問之。於是梵志即還佛所。時佛在舍衛祇桓為大眾說法。梵志見佛稽首作禮。具以本末向佛陳之。實是我兒不肯見名。反謂語我為癡騃老翁。寄住須臾認我為子。永無父子之情。何緣乃爾。佛告梵志。汝實愚癡。人死神去便更受形。父母妻子因緣合居。譬如寄客起則離散。愚迷縛著計為己有。憂悲苦惱不識本根。沈溺生死未央休息。唯有慧者不貪恩愛。覺苦捨習勤修經戒。滅除識想生死得盡。梵志聞已豁然意解。即於座上得羅漢道。

At that time, the elder's kinfolk, upon hearing what the Buddha taught, had their grief and suffering extinguished and together attained the fruits of the Way. Furthermore, the Avadāna-Dharmapada-sūtra states: In the past, there was a brāhmaṇa who went forth in his youth and studied until sixty without being able to attain the Way. According to the brāhmaṇa custom, if one does not attain the Way by age sixty, one subsequently returns home, takes a wife, and lives as a householder. He fathered a son who was handsome and lovely. When he reached seven years of age, he was intelligent in book-learning, with talent and eloquence upon his lips exceeding ordinary standards. Suddenly he contracted a severe illness and died in a single night. The brahmacārin loved him dearly and could not contain his grief; throwing himself over the corpse, he lost consciousness and revived again. His kin reasoned with him and took away the corpse for encoffining, burying it outside the city. The brahmacārin reflected to himself: “My weeping now serves no benefit; it would be better to go to King Yama's place to beg for my son's life.” Thereupon the brahmacārin bathed, observed the precepts, and carrying flowers and incense, left his house and departed. Wherever he went, he asked people: “Where is the place where King Yama rules?” Traveling on and on, he covered thousands of li into deep mountains, where he saw several brahmacārins who had attained the Way, and asked them as before. The brahmacārins asked: “Sir, you ask for King Yama's dwelling place; what do you seek?” He answered: “I had a son whose eloquence and wisdom surpassed others; recently he suddenly died. In my utter grief and distress, I cannot resolve it myself. I wish to go to the King's place to beg for my son's life, and bring him back home to support me in my old age.” The brahmacārins, pitying his foolishness, said to him: “The place where King Yama rules is not a place that living people can reach. We shall show you a way: from here you should go west for more than four hundred li, where there is a great plain with a city in it. This is the city where all heavenly deities rest when patrolling the world. King Yama always passes through this city when on inspection on the fourth day of the fourth month. If you maintain the precepts and go, you are sure to see him.” The brahmacārin rejoiced, followed their instructions, and departed. Reaching the plain, he saw a splendid city, its palaces and houses like those in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. The brahmacārin went to the gate, burned incense, stood on tiptoe, and prayed, asking to see King Yama. The King ordered the gatekeeper to usher him in. The brahmacārin said: “Late in life I fathered a son, intending him to provide for my old age. Having raised him to seven years, he recently passed away. I only pray that the Great King will bestow your gracious charity and return my son's life to me.” King Yama said: “What you seek is very good. Your son is now playing in the eastern garden; go fetch him yourself.” The brahmacārin immediately went, saw the boy playing with other small children, and stepped forward to embrace him. Weeping before him, he said: “Day and night I long for you, finding no relish in food or sleep. Do you not remember your parents' toil?” The child started in alarm, cried out, and scolded him: “You foolish old man, you do not understand the truth! We resided together for a mere moment, yet you call someone your son! Do not babble nonsense; it is better you leave early. Now I have my own parents here; why embrace me in vain on a chance encounter?” The brahmacārin departed in dejection and tears, and reflected: “I have heard that the Śramaṇa Gautama understands the way of the soul's transformations; I should go ask him.” Thereupon the brahmacārin returned to the Buddha's place. At that time, the Buddha was preaching the Dharma for the great assembly at the Jetavana in Śrāvastī. Seeing the Buddha, the brahmacārin bowed his head in homage and reported the matter from beginning to end to the Buddha: “He truly is my son, yet he refuses to acknowledge me, and on the contrary called me a foolish old man, saying we resided together for a moment yet I claim him as a son, showing no affection of father and son at all. What is the cause of this?” The Buddha told the brahmacārin: “You are truly foolish. When a person dies and the consciousness departs, it immediately assumes another form. Parents, wives, and children dwell together by cause and condition, like lodgers who scatter once they rise. The foolish and deluded are bound and attached, reckoning them as their own, experiencing sorrow, lamentation, and pain without knowing the root cause, sinking in saṃsāra without any rest. Only the wise do not crave affection and love; realizing suffering, they abandon its accumulation and diligently cultivate the sutras and precepts. When consciousness and conception are extinguished, saṃsāra comes to an end.” Upon hearing this, the brahmacārin's mind was suddenly opened to understanding, and right on his seat he attained the arhat path.