法苑珠林 26.17

26.17

As the Buddha spoke in the Sūtra on the Past Life of Siṃhacandra Buddha: The Buddha was in Rājagṛha, at the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove, together with a great assembly of bhikṣus numbering one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus and one hundred bodhisattvas. At that time, among the assembly there was a bodhisattva bhikṣu named Vasumitra. He wandered among the bamboo groves, clambering up and down the trees, with a voice like a monkey, or he would set up three bells and perform acrobatics. Then the elders and wayfarers vied with one another to gather and watch him. When the crowd gathered, he would rise into the air, leap to the tops of trees, and make monkey calls. Eighty-four thousand golden monkeys from Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa gathered at the bodhisattva's place. The bodhisattva again performed various transformations to make them rejoice. Then the great multitude each spoke these words: 'The sons of the Śākya śramaṇa are like jugglers, deluding the crowd. Their evil deeds are trusted by no one, and they even engage in unlawful behavior with birds and beasts.' Such ill reports spread throughout Rājagṛha. A brāhmaṇa went up and reported this to the great king. King Bimbisāra, hearing these words, was displeased with the sons of the Śākya. He immediately commanded the elder Kalandaka, saying, 'These sons of the Śākya are gathering many monkeys in your grove. What are they doing? Does the Tathāgata know or not?' The elder reported to the king, 'Vasumitra performs transformations to cause the monkeys all to rejoice at once, and the devas rain down flowers to make offerings. What they are doing, your servant does not know.' Then the great king, led and escorted before and behind, went to the Buddha's place. From afar he saw the World-Honoured One, his body emitting radiance like a mountain of purple gold, causing the entire assembly to take on the same golden color. The venerable Mitra and the eighty-four thousand monkeys likewise became golden. Then, seeing the great king come, the monkeys performed various transformations; among them were those who picked flowers and offered them to the great king. Having seen this, the great king went with the great multitude to the Buddha's place, made obeisance to the Buddha, circumambulated him thrice to the right, sat to one side, and addressed the Buddha, saying: 'What past merit do these monkeys have that their bodies are golden? And what guilt do they have that they are born among animals? What merit did the venerable Mitra cultivate in past lives to be born in an elder's family, leave household life, and study the Path? And what guilt does he have that, though born among humans with all faculties complete, he does not maintain the precepts and conduct, but makes companions of monkeys, singing and speaking entirely like a monkey, making the non-Buddhists laugh? We pray only that the Heavenly Honoured One explain it for me and bring me understanding.' The Buddha told the great king: 'Listen attentively and reflect well on it; I will explain it for you. Boundless kotis of kalpas ago in the past, there was a Buddha who appeared in the world named Dīpaṅkara. After that Buddha's passing, there were bhikṣus who cultivated the Buddha-Dharma in the mountains and marshes, firmly upholding the prohibitive precepts as a person guards their eyes. Because of this, they attained arhatship. At that time in the deserted marsh, there was a monkey who came to an arhat's place. Seeing the arhat sitting in meditation and entering samādhi, he took the arhat's sitting mat, wrapped it around himself as a kāṣāya, in accordance with the rule of a śramaṇa, bared his right shoulder, held an incense burner, and walked around the bhikṣu. Then the bhikṣu, having awakened from samādhi, saw that this monkey had an auspicious, good heart. He snapped his fingers and said to the monkey: "Child of the Dharma, you should now give rise to the mind of the unsurpassed Path." Hearing this, the monkey danced with joy, threw his five limbs to the ground, and reverently paid homage to the bhikṣu. Getting up, he picked flowers and scattered them over the bhikṣu. Then the bhikṣu spoke the three refuges for the monkey. The monkey then stood up, joined his palms, and said: "Venerable One, I now wish to take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṃgha." After the bhikṣu gave him the three refuges, [he said,] "Next, you must repent and recount your sinful deeds in full. Having attained arhatship, I can remove the boundless heavy sins of sentient beings." Having earnestly repented three times in this way, he said to the monkey: "Child of the Dharma, you are now pure; this is called being a bodhisattva. You should now receive the five precepts for the rest of your life and seek anuttarasaṃbodhi." The monkey, having received them according to the teaching and completed his vows, danced with joy, ran up a high mountain, clambered up a tree, fell, and died. Because of receiving the five precepts, which destroyed his animal karma, he was immediately born in the Tuṣita Heaven, where he met a bodhisattva in his last bodily existence before buddhahood, who taught him the mind of the unsurpassed Path. He then took heavenly flowers and descended into the deserted marsh to make offerings to the arhat. When the arhat saw him, he smiled and said: "Deva King, the retribution of good and evil follows like a shadow following the form, never departing from one another." And he spoke a verse:'