法苑珠林 66.38

66.38

As the Furen yugu jing states: When the Buddha was in the world, there was a man without a wife who went to Śrāvastī to take a wife. In his native state he already had two sons: the eldest was seven years old, and the second was a nursing infant. The mother was pregnant again and wished to go home to give birth, as the custom in India was for a woman to return to the state of her parents. At that time, the husband and wife rode in a cart carrying the two sons, heading toward Śrāvastī. Midway, while stopping to eat and graze the ox, a venomous snake coiled around the ox's leg, and the ox broke free of its tether. When the husband went to retrieve the ox in order to set out, he saw that the ox had been killed by the venomous snake. The snake then left the ox, coiled around the husband, and killed him. The woman, watching from afar, was terrified and trembling, weeping and calling upon Heaven, with no one to save or protect her. As the sun was setting, not far from the road there was a river, and opposite the river there were dwellings. Fearing nightfall and terrified of being plundered by bandits, the woman abandoned the cart and took the two sons to the riverbank. Leaving the eldest child on the riverbank, she carried the younger child across the water. Just as she reached the middle of the river, a wolf came to eat the eldest child. The child cried out to the mother; turning to look back, she saw her child being devoured by the wolf. Startled and terrified, she lost hold of the child in her arms, who fell into the water and was swept away by the current. The mother grew even more distraught and bewildered, losing her senses; stumbling in the water, she miscarried the child she was carrying. She then crossed the river and asked travelers on the road: 'Are my parents peaceful and well?' A traveler answered: 'Last night there was a fire that burned your parents completely to ashes.' She further asked a traveler: 'Are my husband's parents-in-law peaceful and well?' The traveler answered: 'Yesterday bandits attacked and harmed their family; both father-in-law and mother-in-law are dead, with none left whole.' Hearing this, the mother was stricken with grief and terror; confused and bewildered in mind, she could not tell east from west. She stripped off her clothes, naked and deranged, running about madly. Travelers on the road saw her and found it extremely strange, thinking she was afflicted by an evil disease or haunted by spirits. The Buddha was at the Jetavana monastery in Śrāvastī, and the woman ran toward it. At that time, the World-Honored One was teaching the Dharma to a great assembly. By the Dharma of all Buddhas: the blind who see the Buddha gain clear sight; the deaf gain hearing; the mute gain speech; illnesses are cured; the feeble become robust; poisons cease to take effect; and the distracted mind attains concentration. When the woman saw the Buddha, her mind immediately attained concentration and she no longer grieved. Looking at her own nakedness, she felt shame and prostrated on the ground. The Buddha called Ānanda to bring clothes and give them to her. Once she had put them on, she bowed her head at the Buddha's feet and sat to one side. The Buddha then expounded the sūtra for her, revealing transgressions and merit, the impermanence of human life, and the inevitable parting of all that unites. Through these various essential Dharmas, her heart opened and her mind understood; she immediately gave rise to the aspiration for unsurpassed true awakening and attained the stage of non-retrogression.