法苑珠林 54.56

54.56

如薩婆多論云。波羅提木叉之戒。五道而言。唯人道得戒。餘四不得。如天道以著樂深重不能得戒。如昔一時。大目連以弟子有病。上忉利天以問耆婆。正值諸天入歡喜園。爾時目連在於路側立待。一切諸天無顧看者。唯耆婆後至。顧見目連向舉一手。乘車直過。目連自念。此本人間是我弟子。今受天福以著天樂都失本心。即以神力制車令住。耆婆下車禮目連足。目連種種因緣呵責。耆婆答目連曰。以我人中為大德弟子。是故舉手問訊。頗見諸天有爾者不。時目連勸誡釋提桓因云。佛世難值。何不數數相近諮受正法。帝釋欲解目連意故。遣使勅一天子令來。返覆三喚猶故不來。後不應已而來。帝釋白目連曰。此天子。唯有一天女一伎樂以自娛樂。以染欲情深。雖復命重不能自割。故不肯來。況作天王。種種宮觀無數天女。須食自然百味。百千伎樂以自娛樂。視東忘西。雖知佛世難遇正法難聞。而以染樂纏縛不得自在。知復如何。三塗苦難無緣得戒。人中唯三天下得戒。北欝單越無有佛法不得戒。以福報障并愚癡故不受聖法。

As the *Sarvāstivāda-śāstra* says: Speaking of the precepts of the prātimokṣa across the five destinies, only the human destiny can receive the precepts; the remaining four cannot. For instance, the heavenly destiny is so deeply attached to pleasure that they cannot receive the precepts. As once in the past, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, because a disciple was ill, ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to ask Jīvaka. It happened that the gods were entering the Nandana Grove. At that time, Maudgalyāyana stood by the roadside waiting, but none of the gods looked back at him. Only Jīvaka arrived later; glancing and seeing Maudgalyāyana, he raised one hand toward him and drove his chariot straight past. Maudgalyāyana thought to himself: 'This person was originally in the human realm as my disciple. Now that he receives heavenly blessings, he is attached to heavenly pleasures and has completely lost his original mind.' He immediately used his divine power to stop the chariot. Jīvaka stepped down from the chariot and bowed to Maudgalyāyana's feet. Maudgalyāyana rebuked him with various reasons. Jīvaka replied to Maudgalyāyana, saying: 'Because I was the Venerable One's disciple in the human realm, I raised my hand to greet you. Have you seen any among the gods who did even that?' Then Maudgalyāyana exhorted Śakra Devānām Indra, saying: 'The age of a Buddha is difficult to encounter; why do you not frequently approach him to inquire and receive the saddharma?' Śakra, wishing to make Maudgalyāyana understand, dispatched an envoy commanding a devaputra to come. After calling him back and forth three times, he still did not come; later, after failing to respond, he finally came. Śakra said to Maudgalyāyana: 'This devaputra has only one heavenly maiden and one musical entertainment to amuse himself with. Because his passion of defiling desire is deep, though the order was serious, he could not tear himself away, and therefore was unwilling to come. How much more so for a heavenly king, with various palaces and halls, countless heavenly maidens, spontaneous delicacies of a hundred flavors whenever food is needed, and hundreds of thousands of musical entertainments to amuse himself! Looking east, he forgets the west. Though he knows that the age of a Buddha is difficult to encounter and the saddharma is difficult to hear, being bound by defiling pleasures, he cannot attain freedom. What more can be done?' In the three miserable paths, suffering is severe, with no cause to receive the precepts. Among humans, only in the three continents can one receive the precepts; in Uttarakuru there is no Buddhadharma, so they cannot receive the precepts: because they are hindered by karmic reward and because of their foolishness, they do not receive the noble Dharma.