法苑珠林 54.56

54.56

As the *Sarvāstivāda-śāstra* says: Speaking of the precepts of the prātimokṣa across the five destinies, only the human destiny can receive the precepts; the remaining four cannot. For instance, the heavenly destiny is so deeply attached to pleasure that they cannot receive the precepts. As once in the past, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, because a disciple was ill, ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to ask Jīvaka. It happened that the gods were entering the Nandana Grove. At that time, Maudgalyāyana stood by the roadside waiting, but none of the gods looked back at him. Only Jīvaka arrived later; glancing and seeing Maudgalyāyana, he raised one hand toward him and drove his chariot straight past. Maudgalyāyana thought to himself: 'This person was originally in the human realm as my disciple. Now that he receives heavenly blessings, he is attached to heavenly pleasures and has completely lost his original mind.' He immediately used his divine power to stop the chariot. Jīvaka stepped down from the chariot and bowed to Maudgalyāyana's feet. Maudgalyāyana rebuked him with various reasons. Jīvaka replied to Maudgalyāyana, saying: 'Because I was the Venerable One's disciple in the human realm, I raised my hand to greet you. Have you seen any among the gods who did even that?' Then Maudgalyāyana exhorted Śakra Devānām Indra, saying: 'The age of a Buddha is difficult to encounter; why do you not frequently approach him to inquire and receive the saddharma?' Śakra, wishing to make Maudgalyāyana understand, dispatched an envoy commanding a devaputra to come. After calling him back and forth three times, he still did not come; later, after failing to respond, he finally came. Śakra said to Maudgalyāyana: 'This devaputra has only one heavenly maiden and one musical entertainment to amuse himself with. Because his passion of defiling desire is deep, though the order was serious, he could not tear himself away, and therefore was unwilling to come. How much more so for a heavenly king, with various palaces and halls, countless heavenly maidens, spontaneous delicacies of a hundred flavors whenever food is needed, and hundreds of thousands of musical entertainments to amuse himself! Looking east, he forgets the west. Though he knows that the age of a Buddha is difficult to encounter and the saddharma is difficult to hear, being bound by defiling pleasures, he cannot attain freedom. What more can be done?' In the three miserable paths, suffering is severe, with no cause to receive the precepts. Among humans, only in the three continents can one receive the precepts; in Uttarakuru there is no Buddhadharma, so they cannot receive the precepts: because they are hindered by karmic reward and because of their foolishness, they do not receive the noble Dharma.