法苑珠林 44.26

44.26

As the *Old Sutra of Miscellaneous Parables* states: In the past, a king returned from going out hunting. Passing a monastery, he circumambulated a stūpa and paid homage to the śramaṇas. The ministers laughed at him together. The king noticed this and asked the ministers, 'If there is gold in a boiling cauldron, can it be retrieved with one's hand?' They answered, 'It cannot.' The king said, 'If you cast cold water into it, can it be retrieved?' The ministers said to the king, 'It can.' The king said, 'When I conduct royal affairs, the deeds of hunting are like boiling water. Burning incense, lighting lamps, circumambulating stūpas, and paying homage to the saṃgha are like pouring cold water into boiling water. Now when one acts as king there are both good and bad deeds; why should there be only bad and no good?'