法苑珠林 36.112

36.112

Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish states: In ancient times, when the Buddha was in the world, King Prasenajit and his army were passing by the side of Jetavana. They heard a bhikṣu chanting pāṭha with an elegant and exquisite voice. The host of the army stood listening without growing tired of it; the elephants and horses pricked up their ears, stopped, and refused to move forward. The king and his army then entered the monastery to look, and they saw the bhikṣu who had chanted pāṭha. His physical appearance was short, dwarfish, and extremely ugly, such that the king could not bear to look at him. The king then asked the Buddha: 'What karma did this bhikṣu perform in his past lives to obtain such a retribution?' The Buddha told the king: 'Far back in the past, a Buddha appeared in the world named Kāśyapa. After he entered nirvāṇa, King Kṛkī collected his śarīra, wishing to use them to erect a stūpa. Four dragon kings transformed into human shapes and came to the king's dwelling, asking about the construction of the stūpa: "Will you use precious jewels to make it, or will you use earth?" The king then replied: "I wish to make the stūpa large, but lack abundant precious things; I now wish to make it of earth, making it five li square and twenty-five li high." The dragons said to the king: "We are dragon kings and therefore came to ask you. If you make it of jewels, we will assist you." The king was delighted to hear this. The dragons further told the king: "Outside the four city gates there are four springs of water. If you take the water of the eastern gate's spring to make bricks, they will transform into vaidūrya. If you take the water of the southern gate's spring to make bricks, they will transform into yellow gold. If you take the water of the western gate's spring to make bricks, they will transform into white silver. If you take the water of the northern gate's spring to make bricks, they will transform into white jade." Hearing these words, the king was doubly delighted. He then appointed four overseers, each in charge of one side. The three overseers' construction works were nearly completed, but one overseer was indolent and his work alone was not accomplished. The king went to inspect it, saw this, and reprimanded him according to reason. Harboring resentment, that man said to the king: "This stūpa is too big; when will it ever be completed?" The king ordered the workers to labor diligently day and night, and all at once it was entirely completed. The stūpa was extremely tall and steep, adorned with many jewels, and exceedingly extraordinary to behold. Seeing it, that overseer leaped with joy, repented of his past offense, took a golden bell, placed it upon the spire of the stūpa, and made this vow: "May my voice in all my future rebirths be extremely fine, so that there are no sentient beings who do not delight in hearing it! In the future, may there be a Buddha named Śākyamuni, and let me meet him and cross beyond birth and death!" Because in the past he had disliked the stūpa for being too large, he was constantly born ugly. Because he took a bell and hung it on the spire of the stūpa, and vowed to meet the Buddha, from that time onward for five hundred lives he had an extremely fine voice. Now, moreover, he has encountered the Buddha, left the household life, cultivated the Path, and attained the fruit of an arhat. Due to these causes and conditions, when all sentient beings see another person producing merit, they should not slander or mock it, lest they later receive an evil retribution and their regret be of no avail.'