法苑珠林 52.18

52.18

Furthermore, the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra says: In the country of Śrāvastī, there was a wealthy elder who had no son. He continually prayed and made offerings to the deities, seeking a son. Because of his earnest and sincere devotion, his wife became pregnant. When the months were full, she gave birth to a boy. The child was handsome, rare in the world. The parents and their kin gathered together and went to the bank of a great river to feast and amuse themselves. Standing unsteadily beside the river, they lost the child, who fell into the water. Though they immediately grasped and reached for him, they could not recover him. Overcome with grief and love, the parents swooned and only revived later. Due to the child's past merit, he ultimately did not die; he sank and floated with the current in the river water. At that time, a fish swallowed the child, yet though he was inside the fish's belly, he still did not die. There was a small village downstream where a wealthy family also had no offspring, despite having sought one by various means without success. That wealthy family always sent a servant to catch fish and sell them. The servant caught the fish that had swallowed the small child, cut open its belly to look inside, and found a small child whose face was handsome. Having found him, they were delighted: 'Our family has long prayed and made sacrifices seeking a child; because of our sincere devotion's retribution, heaven has given him to us.' Thereupon they wiped him, nursed him, and raised him. Meanwhile, the parents from the upstream village pursued him, saying: 'This is our child, whom we lost in that river. Now that you have found him, we ask that you return him to us.' The elder downstream replied: 'Our family has long prayed and made sacrifices seeking a child, and now the deities have responded and bestowed a child upon us. Where indeed is your lost child?' Unable to resolve the dispute, they went to the king seeking judgment. The two families each argued their case, and when the king heard their accounts, he was at a loss as to what to do. He then ordered the two families to raise the child together. When the child grew up, each family found him a wife, set him up in their estate, and he lived alternately in the two places. The son born of one wife belonged to that family, and the son born of the other wife belonged to the other family. The two elders complied with the king's instruction. When the child grew up, both took wives for him and provided for his needs without any lack. The child addressed both sets of parents, requesting to leave the household life. Cherishing him, the parents could not refuse him, and so they granted him permission. He went at once to the Buddha's place to seek entry into the path. The Buddha granted it, praising him: 'Welcome!' His hair and beard fell away naturally, and he became a śramaṇa, named Dvikula. The Buddha preached the Dharma for him, enabling him to exhaust all suffering, and right upon his seat, he became an arhat. Ānanda addressed the Buddha: 'We wonder, World-Honoured One: what deeds did this monk Dvikula formerly perform, and what roots of goodness did he plant, that in his present life he fell into the water, was swallowed by a fish, yet still did not die?' The Buddha told Ānanda: 'Listen closely, and I will explain it for you. Long ago in the distant past, there was a Buddha, a World-Honoured One, named Vipaśyin. When he gathered the great assembly to preach the wondrous Dharma, an elder came into the assembly, heard and received the three refuges, and took the precept against killing; furthermore, he offered one coin to that Buddha. Because of this, for lifetime after lifetime he received blessings without any lack.' The Buddha told Ānanda: 'The elder of that time was the present monk Dvikula. Because he gave one coin, he was continually wealthy in goods for ninety-one kalpas, down to the present life where two families provided for him. Because he received the precept against killing, he did not die when he fell into the water and was swallowed by a fish. Because he took refuge in the Two [Treasures], he has now encountered my dispensation and attained the path of an arhat.' Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Elder's Son's Distress in Three Places says: At that time, in the city of Śrāvastī, there was a very wealthy elder with boundless wealth and treasures, but no son of his own. Fearing that after his death his property would be confiscated by the state, the husband and wife prayed, made offerings, and took refuge in the Three Jewels. Through unremitting diligence, she became pregnant. A clever woman should know five things: first, knowing her husband's mind; second, knowing whether her husband longs for her or not; third, knowing the reason for her pregnancy; fourth, distinguishing whether the fetus is male or female; fifth, distinguishing whether it is good or evil. The wife reported to the elder: 'I am pregnant.' The elder was delighted. When the months were full, she gave birth to a boy, and five wet-nurses were engaged to care for and hold him. When he grew up, they found a fine wife for him. The child and his wife were strolling in an orchard where there was a tree called the aśoka, whose blossoms were pure white and as delicate as soft scarlet silk. The wife said to the husband: 'I want to have these flowers.' The husband then climbed the tree to pick the flowers for her. The branches were slender and weak; they broke at once, and the child fell to his death. Hearing this, the parents rushed over, embraced his head, and stroked and gazed at him, but his breath was utterly extinguished and he did not revive. The parents grieved bitterly, their innards torn apart, and the many guests who saw it also wept with sorrow on their behalf. The Buddha and Ānanda, happening to enter the city, saw them and pitied the only child who had fallen from the tree and died. The Buddha told the elder: 'Where there is life, there is death; where things form, they deteriorate. When karmic retribution arrives and life ends, one cannot escape or hide. Cast away your sorrowful thoughts and grieve no more.' The Buddha told the elder: 'Originally, this child came to be born in your home when his life in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven came to an end. When his life in your home ended, he was born among the nāgas, where a king of the suparṇas seized and devoured him. The parents in all three places are weeping at the same time: whose son is he?' The Buddha then spoke a verse: