法苑珠林 94.52

94.52

又百緣經云。佛在王舍城迦蘭陀竹林時。尊者舍利弗大目揵連。設欲食時。先觀地獄畜生餓鬼。然後方食。目連見一餓鬼。身如燋柱。腹如太山。咽如細針。髮如錐刀。纏刺其身。諸支節間皆悉火出。呻吟大喚四向馳走。求索𡱁尿以為飲食。疲苦終日而不能得。即問鬼言。汝造何業受如是苦。餓鬼答言。有日之處不煩燈燭。如來世尊今現在世。汝可自問。我今飢渴不能答汝。爾時目連尋往佛所。具問如來。所造業行受如是苦。具以上問。爾時世尊告目連曰。汝今善聽。吾為汝說。此賢劫中。舍衛城中。有一長者。財寶無量。不可稱計。常令僕使壓苷蔗汁。以輸大家。有辟支佛甚患渴病。良醫處藥。教服苷蔗汁病乃可差。時辟支佛往長者家乞苷蔗汁。時彼長者見來歡喜。尋勅其婦富那寄。我有急緣定欲出去。汝今在後取苷蔗汁施辟支佛。時婦答言。汝但出去。我後自與。時夫出已取辟支佛鉢。於其屏處。小便鉢中。以苷蔗汁。蓋覆鉢上。與辟支佛。辟支受已尋知非是投棄於地。空鉢還歸。其後命終墮餓鬼中。常為飢渴所見逼切。以是業緣受如是苦。佛告目連。欲知爾時彼長者婦。今富那寄餓鬼是。佛說是時。諸比丘等捨慳貪緣。厭惡生死。有得四沙門果者。有發辟支佛心者。有發無上菩提心者。爾時諸比丘聞佛所說歡喜奉行。

Furthermore, the Sūtra of a Hundred Avadānas states: When the Buddha was at the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove in Rājagṛha, whenever the Venerable Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana were about to eat, they would first contemplate the hells, animals, and hungry ghosts, and only then would they eat. Maudgalyāyana saw a hungry ghost whose body was like a charred pillar, whose belly was like Mount Tai, whose throat was like a fine needle, and whose hair was like awls and knives, wrapping around and piercing its body. Fire issued forth from all its joints and limbs. Groaning and screaming loudly, it ran about in all four directions, seeking feces and urine to eat and drink. Weary and tormented throughout the entire day, it could not obtain any. He then asked the ghost: 'What karma did you commit to suffer such torment?' The hungry ghost replied: 'Where the sun shines, one does not trouble with lamps and candles. The Tathāgata, the World-Honoured One, is now present in the world. You may ask him yourself. I am now starving and parched and cannot answer you.' At that time Maudgalyāyana went at once to the Buddha's place and asked the Tathāgata in detail about the karma committed that caused it to suffer such torment, inquiring fully as above. At that time the World-Honoured One told Maudgalyāyana: 'Listen closely now; I will explain it for you. In this Bhadrakalpa, in the city of Śrāvastī, there was an elder whose wealth and treasures were boundless and beyond reckoning. He constantly had his servants press sugarcane juice to present to his household. There was a pratyekabuddha who suffered severely from an illness of thirst. A skilled physician prescribed medicine, instructing him to take sugarcane juice so that the illness could be cured. At that time, the pratyekabuddha went to the elder's house to beg for sugarcane juice. When the elder saw him come, he rejoiced and immediately instructed his wife, Puṇyā: 'I have urgent business and must go out. You stay behind, take sugarcane juice, and give it to the pratyekabuddha.' The wife replied: 'Just go out; I will give it myself later.' When the husband had left, she took the pratyekabuddha's bowl, went to a secluded place, urinated into the bowl, covered the top of the bowl with sugarcane juice, and gave it to the pratyekabuddha. When the pratyekabuddha received it, he immediately knew it was foul, threw it out on the ground, and returned with an empty bowl. Later, when her life ended, she fell among the hungry ghosts, constantly pressed by hunger and thirst. Due to this karmic condition, she suffered such torment.' The Buddha told Maudgalyāyana: 'If you wish to know who the elder's wife was at that time, she is this present hungry ghost Puṇyā.' When the Buddha spoke this, the bhikṣus and others relinquished causes of stinginess and greed and felt revulsion toward birth and death. Some attained the four fruits of a śramaṇa, some gave rise to the aspiration for pratyekabuddhahood, and some gave rise to the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi. At that time the bhikṣus, hearing what the Buddha spoke, rejoiced and practiced accordingly.