法苑珠林 66.38

66.38

如婦人遇辜經云。佛在世時。有一人無婦。往詣舍衛國娶婦。本國自有兩子。大子七歲。次子孩抱。母復懷軀欲向家產。天竺俗禮婦人歸父母國。時夫婦乘車載二子。當詣舍衛。中路食息并牧牛。時有毒蛇纏繞牛脚。牛遂離絭。其夫取牛欲得嚴發。見牛為毒蛇所殺。蛇復捨牛復纏夫殺。婦遙見之悑懼戰慄。啼哭呼天。無救護者。日遂欲冥。去道不遠有河水。河水對有家居。婦怕日冥懼為賊劫。棄車將二子到水畔。留大子著水邊。抱小子度水。適到水半狼食其子。子噭呼母時還顧見子為狼所噉。驚惶悑懼失抱中子。墮水隨流。母益懊惱迷惑失志。頓躓水中墮所懷子。遂便度水問道行人。我家父母為安隱不。行人答曰。昨夜失火皆燒父母悉盡無餘。又問行人。我夫家姑妐為安隱不。行人答曰。昨有劫賊慯害其家。姑妐皆死無完在者。其母聞之愁憂悑懼。心迷意惑不識東西。脫衣裸形迷惑狂走。道中行人見大怪之。謂邪病鬼神所嬈。佛在舍衛給孤獨精舍。時婦馳走而往趣之。爾時世尊為大會說法。諸佛之法。盲者見佛皆眼明聾者得聽。瘂者得言。疾病除愈。尫劣強健。被毒不行。心亂得定。時婦見佛意即得定不復愁憂。自視裸形慚愧伏地。佛呼阿難。取衣與。著竟稽首佛足。却坐一面。佛即為說經為現罪福。人命無常。合會有別。種種法要心開意解。即發無上正真道意得不退轉地。

As the Furen yugu jing states: When the Buddha was in the world, there was a man without a wife who went to Śrāvastī to take a wife. In his native state he already had two sons: the eldest was seven years old, and the second was a nursing infant. The mother was pregnant again and wished to go home to give birth, as the custom in India was for a woman to return to the state of her parents. At that time, the husband and wife rode in a cart carrying the two sons, heading toward Śrāvastī. Midway, while stopping to eat and graze the ox, a venomous snake coiled around the ox's leg, and the ox broke free of its tether. When the husband went to retrieve the ox in order to set out, he saw that the ox had been killed by the venomous snake. The snake then left the ox, coiled around the husband, and killed him. The woman, watching from afar, was terrified and trembling, weeping and calling upon Heaven, with no one to save or protect her. As the sun was setting, not far from the road there was a river, and opposite the river there were dwellings. Fearing nightfall and terrified of being plundered by bandits, the woman abandoned the cart and took the two sons to the riverbank. Leaving the eldest child on the riverbank, she carried the younger child across the water. Just as she reached the middle of the river, a wolf came to eat the eldest child. The child cried out to the mother; turning to look back, she saw her child being devoured by the wolf. Startled and terrified, she lost hold of the child in her arms, who fell into the water and was swept away by the current. The mother grew even more distraught and bewildered, losing her senses; stumbling in the water, she miscarried the child she was carrying. She then crossed the river and asked travelers on the road: 'Are my parents peaceful and well?' A traveler answered: 'Last night there was a fire that burned your parents completely to ashes.' She further asked a traveler: 'Are my husband's parents-in-law peaceful and well?' The traveler answered: 'Yesterday bandits attacked and harmed their family; both father-in-law and mother-in-law are dead, with none left whole.' Hearing this, the mother was stricken with grief and terror; confused and bewildered in mind, she could not tell east from west. She stripped off her clothes, naked and deranged, running about madly. Travelers on the road saw her and found it extremely strange, thinking she was afflicted by an evil disease or haunted by spirits. The Buddha was at the Jetavana monastery in Śrāvastī, and the woman ran toward it. At that time, the World-Honored One was teaching the Dharma to a great assembly. By the Dharma of all Buddhas: the blind who see the Buddha gain clear sight; the deaf gain hearing; the mute gain speech; illnesses are cured; the feeble become robust; poisons cease to take effect; and the distracted mind attains concentration. When the woman saw the Buddha, her mind immediately attained concentration and she no longer grieved. Looking at her own nakedness, she felt shame and prostrated on the ground. The Buddha called Ānanda to bring clothes and give them to her. Once she had put them on, she bowed her head at the Buddha's feet and sat to one side. The Buddha then expounded the sūtra for her, revealing transgressions and merit, the impermanence of human life, and the inevitable parting of all that unites. Through these various essential Dharmas, her heart opened and her mind understood; she immediately gave rise to the aspiration for unsurpassed true awakening and attained the stage of non-retrogression.