法苑珠林 88.133

88.133

又賢愚經云。昔迦葉佛滅度之後。遺法垂末。有二梵志。到比丘邊俱受八戒。一願生天。一願作國王願生天者。至家為婦逼非時食。由破戒故乃生龍中。願作王者。持戒完具。得生王家。作大國王。其王園中多有甘果。甞遣一人隨時看送。其人後時於園中得一顆柰。色香甚美。持與門監。展轉奉王。王食此柰甚覺甘美。便問夫人。展轉相推到於園監。王即喚來而責之曰。如此美柰何為不送。園監於是具陳本末。王瞋語言。自今以後常送斯柰。園監啟王。此柰無種。何由可辦。王復語言。若不能得當斬汝身。其人還園舉聲大哭。時有一龍從泉而出。變身為人。問其哭由。園監具說。龍聞入水。即以金盤。盛柰與之。遣持奉王。并騰吾意。云吾及王本是親友。乃昔在世時俱為梵志。共受八戒各求所願。汝戒完具得為人王。吾戒不全故生龍中。今欲奉修八關齋法求捨此身。當為吾覓八戒齋文持來與我。若其相違。吾覆汝國。用作大海。園監奉柰。具說龍意。王聞甚憂。良由時世無有佛法。齋法難得。王勅一臣。龍索齋法。仰卿得之。若不得者。吾當殺卿。大臣至家。甚懷憂愁。臣父見子面色不悅。問知委由。其父語言。吾家堂柱每見光明。試破看之儻有異物。尋即破之。得經二卷。一是十二因緣。二是八關齋文。得已奉王。王得歡喜。自送與龍。龍得此經。便用好寶。贈遺於王。王及於龍重修八戒。壽盡生天。同共一處。至釋迦佛出世之時。來至佛所。佛為說法。二天俱得須陀洹果。既得果已。還歸天上。

Furthermore, the Damamūka-nidāna-sūtra states: Formerly, after the extinction of Kāśyapa Buddha, when his bequeathed teaching was drawing to an end, there were two brahmans who went before a bhikṣu and together received the eight precepts. One vowed to be born in heaven, and one vowed to become a king. The one who vowed to be born in heaven, upon arriving home, was forced by his wife to eat at improper times; because he broke the precept, he was born among the dragons. The one who vowed to become a king upheld the precepts completely and was born into a royal family as a great king. In the king's garden there were many sweet fruits, and he once dispatched a person to tend and deliver them at the appropriate seasons. Later, that person obtained a single quince in the garden, whose color and fragrance were extremely fine. He took it and gave it to the gatekeeper, who passed it on to present it to the king. When the king ate this quince, he found it extremely sweet and delicious; he then questioned his consort, and the inquiries passed along until reaching the garden supervisor. The king immediately summoned him and rebuked him, saying, 'Why did you not deliver such a delicious quince?' The garden supervisor thereupon explained the whole story from beginning to end. The king angrily told him, 'From now on, you must regularly deliver this quince.' The garden supervisor addressed the king, 'This quince has no seed; by what means can it be obtained?' The king told him again, 'If you cannot obtain it, I will behead you.' The man returned to the garden and wept aloud. At that time, a dragon emerged from a spring, transformed himself into a human, and asked the reason for his weeping. The garden supervisor explained fully. Upon hearing this, the dragon entered the water, placed quinces on a gold platter, gave them to him, and sent him to present them to the king, adding, 'Convey my intention, saying: The king and I were originally close friends. Formerly, when we were in the world, we were both brahmans and together received the eight precepts, each seeking his own wish. Your precepts were complete, so you became a king of humans; my precepts were incomplete, so I was born among dragons. Now I wish to uphold and practice the teaching of the eightfold fast to seek to cast off this body. You must search for the text of the eight precepts and fast and bring it to me. If you go against this, I will overturn your kingdom and make it into a great sea.' The garden supervisor presented the quinces and related the dragon's intention in full. Hearing this, the king was exceedingly distressed. This was truly because there was no Buddhadharma in that age, and the method of the fast was difficult to obtain. The king ordered a minister, saying, 'The dragon demands the method of the fast. I rely on you to obtain it; if you do not obtain it, I will execute you.' The great minister arrived home deeply grieved. The minister's father, seeing that his son's complexion was unhappy, asked and learned the details. His father said to him, 'A light is always seen at the pillar of our main hall. Try breaking it open to see if there is an extraordinary object.' He broke it open immediately and obtained two scrolls of scripture: one was the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and the second was the text of the eightfold fast. Having obtained them, he presented them to the king. The king was filled with joy and personally delivered them to the dragon. Having received this scripture, the dragon then presented fine jewels as a gift to the king. The king and the dragon again cultivated the eight precepts; when their lifespans ended, they were born in heaven together in the same place. When Śākyamuni Buddha appeared in the world, they came to where the Buddha was; the Buddha preached the Dharma for them, and both devas attained the fruit of srotāpanna. Having attained the fruit, they returned to heaven."