法苑珠林 65.49

65.49

As the Mahākāruṇika-sūtra says: The Buddha told Ānanda: In a past age, there was a great caravan leader who, in order to gather jewels, led merchants into the great ocean. The ship they rode was filled with all kinds of jewels. When they reached the middle of the ocean, their ship suddenly broke apart. At that time, those merchants harbored fear and distress in their hearts, and great sorrow and anxiety arose. Among them, some obtained planks of the ship, some floated, and some lost their lives. At that time, I was that caravan leader. In the great ocean, I used a floating bladder to cross over safely. At that time, there were five men who called out to the caravan leader, saying: "Great Being, Caravan Leader, we only pray that you bestow fearlessness upon us!" Having spoken these words, the caravan leader then said to them: "Gentlemen, do not give rise to fear! I will cause you to cross over safely from this great ocean." Ānanda, at that time, the caravan leader carried a sharp sword on his body and had this thought: "The law of the ocean is not to harbor dead corpses. If I now abandon my own physical life, these merchants will certainly be able to cross over the perils of the great ocean." Having had this thought, he immediately called the merchants and placed them upon his body, telling them to hold on firmly. Among those merchants, some rode on his back, some hugged his shoulders, and some grasped his thighs. At that time, the caravan leader, wishing to bestow fearlessness upon them, aroused great compassion and brought forth great courage. He immediately cut off his own life-faculty with the sharp sword and quickly met his death. At that time, the great ocean drifted his corpse and cast it upon the shore. Then the five merchants were able to cross the ocean, experience happiness in safety, and return to Jambudvīpa safely and without peril. Ānanda, could that caravan leader of that time have been someone else? It was my own person. As for the five merchants, they are the present five bhikṣus. These five bhikṣus formerly attained deliverance in the great ocean; now they have again attained deliverance in this ocean of birth and death, and have been established upon the fearless other shore of nirvāṇa.