法苑珠林 41.29

41.29

Furthermore, the Sūtra of Old Miscellaneous Parables states: In the past there was a brāhmaṇa who was one hundred and twenty years old. From his youth, he had not taken a wife and had no lustful desires. He dwelled in deep mountains where there were no humans, using thatch for a hut and fleabane for a mat, eating water and fruits, and not accumulating wealth or treasures. When the king of the country invited him, he did not go to fulfill his wishes. Quietly dwelling in non-action in the mountains for several years, he enjoyed the company of birds and beasts, cut off from human roads. In the mountains there were four beasts: the first was a fox, the second a monkey, the third an otter, and the fourth a hare. These four beasts daily listened to sūtras and the exposition of precepts at the renunciant's place. After accumulating much time in this way, the fruits and melons were all exhausted. Later, the renunciant wished to move away. The four beasts were greatly grieved and distressed in mind, and discussed together, saying, 'Let us each go search and seek to make offerings to the renunciant.' The monkey went to another mountain, obtained sweet fruits, and came to offer them up to the renunciant, [saying,] 'We pray you will stay and not depart.' The wild fox went and transformed into a human, sought and obtained a bag of rice and parched grain, and came to offer it up to the renunciant, [saying,] 'This can provide a month's provisions; we pray you will stay and not depart.' The otter also entered the water, caught a large fish, and came to offer it up to the renunciant, [saying,] 'This provides a month's provisions; we pray you will stay and not depart.' The hare thought to itself, 'With what should I make an offering to the renunciant?' It then thought that it should take its own body to make an offering. It then gathered firewood to kindle a fire and make charcoal, went and said to the renunciant, 'Now I am a hare; please let me enter the fire to be roasted, offering my body to the renunciant, which can provide one day's provisions.' It then threw itself into the fire, but the fire did not burn it. The renunciant saw the hare, was moved by its benevolence and righteousness, and took pity and felt grief for it, and then remained and stayed. The Buddha said, 'The brāhmaṇa of that time was the present Dīpaṃkara Buddha. The hare of that time was my own body. The monkey of that time was the present Śāriputra. The wild fox of that time was the present Ānanda. The otter of that time was the present Maudgalyāyana.'