法苑珠林 6.93

6.93

如菩薩處胎經云。第一大鳥不過金翅鳥。頭尾相去八千由旬高下亦爾。若其飛時從一須彌。至一須彌終不中止。廣如經說。第二獸者不過於龍。如阿含經說。難陀跋難陀二龍。其形最大。繞須彌山七匝。頭猶山頂尾在海中。第三魚身者不過摩竭大魚。如四分律說。摩竭大魚身長。或三百由旬四百由旬。乃至極大者。長七百由旬。故阿含經云。眼如日月。鼻如大山。口如赤谷。若依俗書。莊周說云。有大鵬。其形極大。鴻鵬之背不知幾千里。將欲飛時擊水三千里。翼若垂天之雲。搏扶搖而上。去地九萬。方乃得逝。要從北溟至於南溟。一飛六月。終不中息（此當內典小金翅鳥。俗情不測謂言別有大鵬之鳥）俗書復說。水獸大者。不過巨靈之鼇。其形最大。首冠蓬萊海中游戲。亦不說其高下長短也（此鼇未同小小之摩竭。不可較其優劣也）莊周說。小鳥之微不過於鷦螟之鳥。蚊子鬚上養子。有卵鬚上孚乳。其卵不落（此亦未達。內典眾生受報極小者形如微塵。天眼方覩。故內律云。佛令比丘漉水而飲。舍利弗乃多遍而漉。猶有細蟲。因此七日不飲水。身形枯顇。佛知而故問。汝云何憔悴。答言。佛令漉水而飲。弟子。縱多遍漉。以天眼觀蟲。猶尚而過如器中漂水沙。以護生命不敢飲水。故身憔悴佛告舍利弗。若以天眼觀一切人民無有活者。自今已後但聽肉眼看水清淨。其內無蟲即得開飲。故知眾生微報處處皆遍。小者豈同鷦螟之質大也）。

As the *Bodhisattva-garbhastha-sūtra* states: "Among the greatest birds, none exceeds the garuḍa. From head to tail is a distance of eight thousand yojanas, and its height is also the same. When it flies, it goes from one Mount Sumeru to another Mount Sumeru without ever stopping midway," as broadly explained in the sūtra. Second, among beasts, none exceeds the dragon. As the *Āgama* states, the two dragons Nanda and Upananda have the largest forms, encircling Mount Sumeru seven times, their heads reaching the mountain peak while their tails remain in the ocean. Third, among bodies of fish, none exceeds the great makara fish. As the *Dharmaguptaka-vinaya* states, the length of the great makara fish is either three hundred yojanas or four hundred yojanas, and the very largest is seven hundred yojanas long. Thus the *Āgama* states: "Its eyes are like the sun and moon, its nose is like a great mountain, and its mouth is like a red valley." If one relies on secular books, Zhuang Zhou states that there is the great peng bird, whose form is exceedingly large: the back of the great peng is not known how many thousands of miles across. When it is about to fly, it beats the water for three thousand miles, its wings like clouds suspended from the sky, mounting the whirlwind upward ninety thousand [miles] from the earth before it can travel, journeying from the Northern Ocean to the Southern Ocean, flying for six months without stopping midway. (This corresponds to the small garuḍa in Buddhist scriptures; secular minds, unable to fathom it, claimed there was a separate great peng bird.) Secular books further state that among water beasts, the greatest does not exceed the great spirit turtle (ao), whose form is exceedingly large, bearing Penglai upon its head and sporting in the ocean, without stating its height or length. (This turtle does not yet equal the tiny makara; one cannot compare their superiority and inferiority.) Zhuang Zhou stated that among small birds, the tiniest does not exceed the jiaoming bird, which raises its young on the eyelashes of a mosquito; its eggs hatch on the lashes, and the eggs do not fall off. (This also fails to reach the truth: in the Buddhist scriptures, the sentient beings who receive the smallest retribution have forms like fine dust, visible only to the divine eye. Thus the Vinaya states: "The Buddha commanded the monks to strain water before drinking. Śāriputra strained it many times, yet fine insects remained. Because of this he did not drink water for seven days, and his body became emaciated. The Buddha knew and deliberately asked him, 'Why are you emaciated?' He replied, 'The Buddha commanded us to strain water before drinking. Even though I strained it many times, when observing the insects with the divine eye, they were still passing through like sand drifting in water within a vessel. Out of protecting life I did not dare to drink water, hence my body is emaciated.' The Buddha told Śāriputra: 'If one observes with the divine eye, none of the people would survive. From this day forward, I permit you to look at the water only with the fleshly eye: if it is clean and pure and there are no insects within, you are permitted to drink.'" From this we know that the minute retributions of sentient beings are ubiquitous everywhere; how could those small ones be equated with the large size of the jiaoming?)