法苑珠林 77.19

77.19

爾時諸人聞是語已。皆悉同心咸言。盧至。汝今云何欲何所為。盧至云。願為我證。我欲見王。并願貸我二張白㲲可使直於四銖金許。當用上王。諸人皆笑言。盧至今乃是大施主。挾二張㲲到於王門。語守門人。為我通王。我欲貢獻。門人驚笑。即入白王。王聞念言。盧至慳悋。將不死到。卒能如是。王即喚入。既到王前。以手挽㲲。用奉於王。其腋急挾挽不能得。便自迴身盡力痛挽。方乃得出。既得出已。帝釋即化作兩束草。盧至見草慚愧坐地。悲噎歔欷不能得言。王見慈愍而語之言。縱令是草亦無所苦。欲有所說隨汝意噵。盧至悲噎向王說言。我見此草羞慚極盛。不能以身陷入於地。不知今者。為有此身。為無此身。知何所告。王聞愍念語傍人言。彼既哀塞不能言者。知其意者當代噵之。傍人答王。不知何人。形貌相似。至其家中。詐稱盧至。家人皆信。散用財物一切蕩盡。家人不識打棒驅出。反如路人。是以懊惱不能得言。王聞遣使喚相似者。並立王前。王見二人。相貌言笑一切相似。王謂後者是其盧至。語前者言。汝今復欲何所論噵。盧至答言。我是盧至彼非盧至。王問後者。盧至慳貪汝好惠施。云何稱言是盧至耶。即答王言。我聞佛說。慳貪之者墮餓鬼中。百千萬歲受飢渴苦。畏悑因緣故捨慳貪。王言實爾。如似垢衣灰浣即淨。煩惱垢心聞法即除。王見是已。即別二人置於異處。各遣條牒親屬頭數種種財物速書將來。二人持盡隱密之事及以書迹。悉皆相似。王不能別。王喚母問。母語王言。此是我兒。彼非我子。是慳鬼也。王復問母。頗見身上瘡瘢黑子私密之事。可識以不。母答王言。兒左脇下有小瘡瘢。猶小豆許。王遣脫衣高舉臂看。見兩瘡瘢大小相似。王見大笑怪未曾有。深自剋責。一切眾生愚暗所覆。不別真偽。如此之事唯佛能了。即以二人置於象上。共至佛所請決所疑。爾時世尊。舉相好臂莊嚴之手。語帝釋言。汝作何事。帝釋即滅盧至身相還復本形。種種光明。合掌向佛。而說偈言。

At that time, when the people heard these words, they all agreed with one accord and said, “Luci, what are you trying to do now?” Luci said, “Please serve as witnesses for me. I wish to see the king, and I also beg you to lend me two bolts of white cotton cloth worth about four grains of gold, so that I may present them to the king.” Everyone laughed and said, “Luci has now become a great donor!” Tucking the two bolts of cotton cloth under his arm, he went to the palace gate and said to the gatekeeper, “Announce me to the king; I wish to make an offering.” The gatekeeper was startled and laughed, then went in to report to the king. When the king heard this, he thought, “Luci is so stingy that he would not part with anything until death. How could he suddenly do this?” The king then summoned him in. Having arrived before the king, he tried to pull out the cotton cloth with his hands to present it to the king. Because his armpit clamped down tightly, he could not pull it out; he then turned his body around and tugged with all his might before it finally came out. Once it came out, Śakra transformed it into two bundles of grass. When Luci saw the grass, he sat on the ground in shame, sobbing and choking with tears, unable to speak. The king felt compassion on seeing him and said to him, “Even if it is grass, there is no harm. Whatever you wish to say, speak according to your mind.” Choking with tears, Luci said to the king, “Seeing this grass, my shame is extreme; I wish I could sink into the ground. I do not know whether I have this body today or have no body. To whom can I appeal?” Hearing this, the king felt pity and said to the bystanders, “Since he is choked with grief and cannot speak, whoever knows his intention should speak on his behalf.” The bystanders answered the king, “We do not know what kind of person, identical in appearance, went to his house and falsely claimed to be Luci. The family all believed him, squandering and exhausting all the wealth and property. The family did not recognise [the real Luci], beat him with clubs, drove him out, and treated him like a stranger on the road. For this reason, he is distressed and cannot speak.” Hearing this, the king sent an envoy to summon the identical man, and both stood before the king. Seeing the two men, their features, words, and smiles were completely identical. The king thought the latter one was the real Luci, and said to the former, “What else do you wish to argue now?” Luci answered, “I am Luci; he is not Luci.” The king asked the latter, “Luci is stingy, but you are fond of giving. How can you claim to be Luci?” He answered the king, “I heard the Buddha say that the stingy fall among the hungry ghosts, enduring the suffering of hunger and thirst for hundreds of thousands of myriad years. Fearing these causes and conditions, I have abandoned stinginess.” The king said, “Indeed it is so. Just as soiled clothing is cleaned as soon as it is washed with lye, so the defilement of afflictions in the mind is eradicated as soon as one hears the Dharma.” Having observed this, the king separated the two men into different places and sent each to list the number of relatives and various properties, and quickly write them down and bring them. The intimate matters and handwriting held by both were completely identical, and the king could not distinguish between them. The king called the mother to question her. The mother said to the king, “This one is my son; that one is not my son—he is the ghost of stinginess.” The king asked the mother again, “Have you seen any scars, moles, or private marks on his body by which he can be recognised?” The mother answered the king, “My son has a small scar under his left flank, about the size of a small bean.” The king ordered them to strip off their clothes and raise their arms high to look; he saw that both scars were identical in size. Seeing this, the king laughed heartily, marvelled at this unprecedented event, and deeply blamed himself: “All sentient beings are covered by ignorance and darkness and cannot distinguish truth from falsehood. Such matters can only be resolved by the Buddha.” He then placed the two men on an elephant and went with them to the Buddha's place to request a resolution of the doubt. At that time, the World-Honoured One raised his arm marked with auspicious signs and his adorned hand, and said to Śakra, “What have you done?” Śakra immediately eliminated the physical appearance of Luci and returned to his original form with various radiances. Joining his palms toward the Buddha, he spoke a verse: