法苑珠林 69.34

69.34

Furthermore, the New Vibhāṣā-śāstra states: In the past, there was a cattle slaughterer driving cattle along a road. The men were many and their provisions were exhausted; they were hungry, thirsty, hot, and exhausted. Resting, they conferred: 'These herds of cattle are not our own property anyway; we should cut out their tongues to relieve our hunger and emptiness.' They immediately rubbed salt on the cattle's mouths. The cattle, craving the salty taste, stuck out their tongues to lick it, whereupon they used sharp knives to cut them off all at once, roasted them over fire, and ate them together. After eating, they went to the water to wash and rinse, and together chewed willow twigs to clean their teeth. Having finished, they split the twigs to scrape their tongues. By the power of evil karma, all the men's tongues, like rotten fruit, fell out all at once. (These are all retributions in the present life, because the karma was heavy.)