法苑珠林 43.26

43.26

At that time, the cruel warden said to the bhikṣu, "You are certain to die now; what are you grieving about?" The bhikṣu replied again in sorrowful words, saying, "Grant me a short span of life, perhaps for one month." That cruel one would not permit it. In this way the number of days was reduced down to seven days, and he then consented. At that time, this bhikṣu knew that he would soon die; with vigorous zeal he sat in meditation to quiet his mind, yet in the end he could not attain the Path. When it came to the seventh day, a woman of the king's palace committed an offense deserving of death and was sent over to this cruel man to be punished for her crime. The cruel one took this woman and placed her in a mortar, pounding her with a pestle until she was crushed to fine powder. When the bhikṣu saw this matter, he felt extreme revulsion toward this body: "Alas, what suffering! Before long I too shall be like this." And he spoke a verse, saying: