法苑珠林 54.26

54.26

又五分律云。佛告諸比丘。乃往古昔有一摩納。在山窟中誦剎利書。有一野狐住其左右。專聽誦書心有所解。作是念言。我解此書。語足堪作諸獸中王。作是念已便起游行。逢羸瘦野狐。便欲殺之。彼言何故殺我。答言。我是獸王。汝不伏我是以相殺。彼言。願莫殺我。我當隨從。於是二狐便共游行。復逢一狐又欲殺之。問答如上。亦言隨從。如是展轉伏一切狐。便以群狐伏一切象。復以眾象伏一切虎。復以眾虎伏一切師子。遂權得為王。既作王已復作是念。我今為獸中王。不應以獸為婦。便乘白象率諸群獸不可稱數。圍迦夷城數百千匝。王遣使問。汝諸群獸何故如是。野狐答言。我是獸王應娶汝女。與我者善。若不與我當滅汝國。還白如此。王集群臣共議。唯除一臣皆云應與。所以者何。國之所恃唯賴象馬。我有象馬彼有師子。象馬聞氣惶悑伏地。戰必不如為獸所滅。何惜一女而喪一國。時一大臣聰叡遠略。而白王言。臣觀古今未曾聞見人王之女與下賤獸。臣雖弱昧要殺此狐。使諸群獸各各散走。王即問言。計將焉出。大臣答言。王但剋期戰日。先當從彼求索一願。願令師子先戰後吼。彼謂吾畏必令師子先吼後戰。王至戰日當勅城內皆令塞耳。王用其語遣使剋期并求上願。至于戰日復遣信求。然後出軍。軍鋒欲交野狐果令師子先吼。野狐聞之心破七分。便於象上墜落于地。於是群獸一時散走。佛以是事而說偈言。

Also, the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya says: The Buddha addressed the monks: Long ago in the past, there was a young brāhmaṇa in a mountain cave reciting kṣatriya scriptures. A wild fox stayed beside him, intently listening to the recitation and understanding something of it. It thought: 'I understand these scriptures; by these words, I am qualified to be the king of all beasts.' Having thought this, it set off roaming. Encountering an emaciated wild fox, it wanted to kill it. The other asked, 'Why kill me?' It answered, 'I am the king of beasts. You do not submit to me, which is why I will kill you.' The other said, 'Please do not kill me; I will follow you.' The two foxes then roamed together. Meeting another fox, it again wanted to kill it; the questions and answers were as above, and it also agreed to follow. In this manner, one by one, it subdued all foxes; then with the pack of foxes it subdued all elephants; with the herd of elephants it subdued all tigers; and with the pack of tigers it subdued all lions, thereby expediently becoming king. Having become king, it thought again: 'I am now the king of beasts; I should not take a beast for a wife.' Riding a white elephant, it led the countless beasts to surround the city of Vārāṇasī hundreds and thousands of times. The king sent a messenger to ask: 'Why have your beasts done this?' The wild fox answered: 'I am the king of beasts and ought to marry your daughter. If you give her to me, all will be well; if you do not give her to me, I will destroy your kingdom.' The messenger returned and reported this. The king gathered his ministers to deliberate; except for one minister, all said she should be given. Why? Because what the kingdom relied on was only elephants and horses. 'We have elephants and horses, while they have lions. When our elephants and horses catch their scent, they fall to the ground in terror. In battle we will surely be defeated and destroyed by the beasts. Why spare one girl and lose an entire kingdom?' At that time, one minister, intelligent and far-sighted, said to the king: 'I have examined ancient and modern times and never heard of or seen a human king's daughter given to a lowly beast. Though I am weak and foolish, I will surely kill this fox and cause the beasts to scatter and flee.' The king then asked, 'What plan will you produce?' The minister answered: 'Your Majesty, simply set a date for the battle. First, ask one favor from them: request that the lions fight first and roar later. They will think we are afraid and will surely have the lions roar first and fight later. When the day of battle arrives, Your Majesty should order everyone in the city to stop up their ears.' The king followed his words, sent an envoy to set the date, and asked for the aforementioned favor. When the day of battle arrived, he sent a messenger to ask again, and then deployed the army. Just as the vanguards of the armies were about to clash, the wild fox indeed had the lions roar first. When the wild fox heard it, its heart shattered into seven pieces, and it fell from the elephant to the ground. Thereupon, the pack of beasts scattered and fled all at once. Because of this matter, the Buddha spoke a verse: