法苑珠林 52.27

52.27

復語其婦。卿夫已死何不啼哭。婦說喻向梵志言。譬如飛鳥暮宿高樹。同止共宿。伺明早起。各自飛去。行求飲食。有緣即合。無緣即離。我等夫婦亦復如是。無常對至隨其本行不能救護。

[The brahmacārin] spoke again to his wife: “Your husband is already dead; why do you not weep?” The wife spoke a parable to the brahmacārin, saying: “It is just like birds that roost in a tall tree at dusk, staying and roosting together; waiting for dawn to break, they each fly away to seek food. If there are conditions, they gather; if there are no conditions, they part. We husband and wife are also like this. When the retribution of impermanence arrives, each follows their own past actions; he cannot be saved or protected.”