法苑珠林 54.26

54.26

Also, the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya says: The Buddha addressed the monks: Long ago in the past, there was a young brāhmaṇa in a mountain cave reciting kṣatriya scriptures. A wild fox stayed beside him, intently listening to the recitation and understanding something of it. It thought: 'I understand these scriptures; by these words, I am qualified to be the king of all beasts.' Having thought this, it set off roaming. Encountering an emaciated wild fox, it wanted to kill it. The other asked, 'Why kill me?' It answered, 'I am the king of beasts. You do not submit to me, which is why I will kill you.' The other said, 'Please do not kill me; I will follow you.' The two foxes then roamed together. Meeting another fox, it again wanted to kill it; the questions and answers were as above, and it also agreed to follow. In this manner, one by one, it subdued all foxes; then with the pack of foxes it subdued all elephants; with the herd of elephants it subdued all tigers; and with the pack of tigers it subdued all lions, thereby expediently becoming king. Having become king, it thought again: 'I am now the king of beasts; I should not take a beast for a wife.' Riding a white elephant, it led the countless beasts to surround the city of Vārāṇasī hundreds and thousands of times. The king sent a messenger to ask: 'Why have your beasts done this?' The wild fox answered: 'I am the king of beasts and ought to marry your daughter. If you give her to me, all will be well; if you do not give her to me, I will destroy your kingdom.' The messenger returned and reported this. The king gathered his ministers to deliberate; except for one minister, all said she should be given. Why? Because what the kingdom relied on was only elephants and horses. 'We have elephants and horses, while they have lions. When our elephants and horses catch their scent, they fall to the ground in terror. In battle we will surely be defeated and destroyed by the beasts. Why spare one girl and lose an entire kingdom?' At that time, one minister, intelligent and far-sighted, said to the king: 'I have examined ancient and modern times and never heard of or seen a human king's daughter given to a lowly beast. Though I am weak and foolish, I will surely kill this fox and cause the beasts to scatter and flee.' The king then asked, 'What plan will you produce?' The minister answered: 'Your Majesty, simply set a date for the battle. First, ask one favor from them: request that the lions fight first and roar later. They will think we are afraid and will surely have the lions roar first and fight later. When the day of battle arrives, Your Majesty should order everyone in the city to stop up their ears.' The king followed his words, sent an envoy to set the date, and asked for the aforementioned favor. When the day of battle arrived, he sent a messenger to ask again, and then deployed the army. Just as the vanguards of the armies were about to clash, the wild fox indeed had the lions roar first. When the wild fox heard it, its heart shattered into seven pieces, and it fell from the elephant to the ground. Thereupon, the pack of beasts scattered and fled all at once. Because of this matter, the Buddha spoke a verse: