[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [法苑珠林](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122) › 64.12 # 法苑珠林 64.12 法苑珠林 64.12 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [64.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64.12) 又菩薩本行經云。波斯匿王有一大臣。名曰師質。財富無量應時得度。時舍利弗為說經法。師質聞法不慕榮貴。求欲出家。便以居業盡以付弟。剃頭鬚髮而著袈裟。便入深山坐禪行道。其婦愁憂思念前夫不順後夫。其弟見嫂思念。恐兄反戒還奪基業便語賊帥。雇汝五百金錢斫彼沙門頭來。賊帥受錢。往到山中見彼沙門。沙門語言。我唯弊衣無有財產。汝何以來。賊即答言汝弟雇我。使來殺汝。沙門語賊。我新作道人不解道法。且莫殺我。須我見佛少解經法殺我不遲。賊語之言。今必殺汝。不得止也。沙門即舉一臂而語賊言。且斫一臂。留我殘命使得見佛。時賊便斫一臂持去與弟。於是沙門便往見佛。佛為說法。汝無數劫來。割截其頭手脚之血。多於四大海水。積身之骨高於須彌。洟泣之淚過於四河。飲親之乳多於江海。一切有身皆受眾苦。皆從習生有斯眾苦。唯當思惟八正之道。聞佛所說霍然意解。即於佛前得阿羅漢道。便放身命而般涅槃。賊擔其臂往持與弟。便持臂著於嫂前。語其婦言。常云思念前婿。此是其臂。其婦悲泣便往白王。王即推校如實不虛。便殺其弟。諸比丘問佛。而此沙門前世之時。作何惡行。今見斫臂。修何德本。今值世尊。得阿羅漢。佛告諸比丘。乃昔過去波羅柰國有王名婆羅達。出行游獵馳逐走獸。迷失徑路不知出處。草木參天。無餘方計而得來出。大用恐悑。遂復前行見一辟支佛。王問其言。迷失徑路從何得出。軍馬人眾在於何所。時辟支佛臂有惡瘡不能舉手。即便持脚示其道徑。王便瞋恚。此是我民。見我不起。及持一脚示我道徑。王便拔刀斫斷其臂。時辟支佛意自念言。王若不自悔責。當受重罪無有出期。於是辟支即於王前。飛昇虛空神足變現。時王見已以身投地。舉聲大哭悔過自謝。唯願下來受我懺悔。時辟支佛即便來下受其懺悔。時辟支佛便入涅槃。王收起塔華香供養。常於塔前懺悔求願。而得度脫。爾時王者。此沙門是。由斫辟支佛臂。五百世中常見斫臂而死。至于今日。由懺悔故不墮地獄。而得度脫成阿羅漢道。佛告比丘。一切殃福終不朽敗。諸比丘聞莫不驚悚。 > Furthermore, the Bodhisattva-jātaka-sūtra says: King Prasenajit had a great minister named Śīla (Shizhi), whose wealth was immeasurable and who was ripe for deliverance. Śāriputra expounded the sūtra teachings for him. Hearing the Dharma, Śīla felt no yearning for glory or high status, and sought to leave the household life. He then turned over all his household estates and business to his younger brother. Having shaved his head and beard and donned the kāṣāya, he went into the deep mountains to sit in meditation and practice the Way. His wife, sorrowful and longing for her former husband, would not submit to the younger brother. Seeing his sister-in-law's yearning, the younger brother feared his elder brother would break his vows, return, and reclaim the estate. He therefore said to a bandit chieftain, "I will hire you for five hundred gold coins to cut off that śramaṇa's head and bring it to me." The bandit chieftain took the money, went into the mountains, and saw the śramaṇa. The śramaṇa said to him, "I have only tattered robes and no property. Why have you come?" The bandit then answered, "Your younger brother hired me to come and kill you." The śramaṇa said to the bandit, "I am newly made a practitioner of the Way and do not yet understand the Dharma of the Way. Do not kill me yet. Wait until I have seen the Buddha and come to understand a little of the sūtras and Dharma; it will not be too late to kill me then." The bandit said to him, "I must kill you today. It cannot be stopped." The śramaṇa then raised an arm and said to the bandit, "Cut off one arm first, and spare the rest of my life so that I may be able to see the Buddha." Thereupon the bandit cut off one arm and took it away to give to the younger brother. At this, the śramaṇa went to see the Buddha. The Buddha expounded the Dharma for him: "Over countless kalpas, the blood from your severed head, hands, and feet has been more than the water in the four great oceans; the piled bones of your bodies have been higher than Mount Sumeru; the tears of your weeping have exceeded the four great rivers; the milk you drank from your mothers has been more than all rivers and seas. All who have a body undergo numerous sufferings; all these numerous sufferings arise from habitual afflictions. You should only contemplate the Eightfold Noble Path (āryāṣṭāṅgamārga)." Hearing what the Buddha expounded, his mind was suddenly opened to understanding. Directly before the Buddha, he attained the fruition of an arhat, and then let go of his bodily life and entered parinirvāṇa. The bandit, carrying the arm, took it to the younger brother. The brother then took the arm and placed it before his sister-in-law, saying to the woman, "You were always saying you longed for your former husband. Here is his arm." The woman wept bitterly and went to inform the king. The king investigated and found it to be completely true; he then put the younger brother to death. The bhikṣus asked the Buddha, "What evil deed did this śramaṇa commit in a past life that he should suffer having his arm cut off now? And what roots of virtue did he cultivate that he now encountered the World-Honoured One and attained the status of an arhat?" The Buddha told the bhikṣus: "Long ago in the past, in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī, there was a king named Brahmadatta. He went out on a hunt, pursuing running beasts, and lost his way, not knowing where to exit. The trees and grasses touched the sky, and there was no other plan by which he could get out. He was seized by great terror. Continuing forward, he saw a pratyekabuddha. The king asked him, 'I have lost the trail. From where may I get out? Where are my soldiers, horses, and men?' At that time, the pratyekabuddha had a malignant sore on his arm and could not raise his hand; he then pointed out the trail with his foot. The king grew enraged: 'This is my subject. Seeing me, he did not stand up, and he pointed out the trail with a single foot!' The king drew his sword and cut off his arm. At that time, the pratyekabuddha thought to himself: 'If the king does not repent and reproach himself, he will undergo severe karmic retribution with no time of release.' Thereupon the pratyekabuddha, right before the king, flew up into empty space and manifested transformations of spiritual power. Seeing this, the king cast himself upon the ground, cried out loudly in lamentation, repented of his error, and apologized, saying, 'I only pray that you descend and receive my repentance (deśanā).' At that time, the pratyekabuddha came down and received his repentance, and then entered nirvāṇa. The king collected his remains, erected a stūpa, and made offerings of flowers and incense. He constantly repented and made vows before the stūpa, and so attained deliverance. The king of that time was this very śramaṇa. Because he cut off the pratyekabuddha's arm, across five hundred lifetimes he has constantly suffered having his arm cut off and dying, right up to the present day. Because of his repentance, he did not fall into hell, and he attained deliverance and realized the path of an arhat." The Buddha told the bhikṣus, "All disasters and blessings never decay or perish." When the bhikṣus heard this, there were none who were not terrified and awestruck. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 64.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64.11) - [Next: 64.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64.13) - [Up: 64](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.64.12) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.64.12) · Pramāṇa