法苑珠林 77.38

77.38

Furthermore, the Avadānaśataka (Baiyuan jing) states: The Buddha was in the Kalandaka Bamboo Grove at Rājagṛha. At that time, Maudgalyāyana saw a hungry ghost beneath a tree. Its body was like a charred pillar, its belly like a great mountain, its throat like a fine needle, and its hair like awls and knives, wrapping around and piercing its body. All its limbs and joints were blazing with fire. It was dying of thirst, its lips and mouth parched and burnt. Whenever it tried to go toward rivers or springs, they turned into dry wastelands. Even if heaven showered sweet rain, upon falling onto its body it all turned into fire. Maudgalyāyana asked about its karmic causes. The hungry ghost replied: 'I am so exhausted by thirst that I cannot answer. Ask the Buddha yourself.' Maudgalyāyana immediately went to the Buddha's presence and recounted the previous incident in full. He explained it in detail to the Buddha, [asking]: 'What karma did it create in the past to suffer this agony?' At that time, the World-Honoured One said to Maudgalyāyana: 'Listen carefully now; I shall analyze and explain it for you. In this Bhadrakalpa, in the country of Vārāṇasī, a Buddha appeared in the world named Kāśyapa. There was a śramaṇa traveling along the road who suffered severely from heat and thirst. At that time, there was a woman named Durgandhā (Evildoer / Bad View) drawing water beside a well. He went to beg water from her. The woman answered him: "May you die of thirst! I will never give you any, causing my water to decrease; you must not take it away." Thereupon, the śramaṇa, having obtained no water, resumed his journey on the road. That woman was persistently stingy and greedy; whenever any beggar came, she would never give anything. Afterwards, when her life ended, she fell among the hungry ghosts. Due to these karmic causes, she suffers such torment.' The Buddha said to Maudgalyāyana: 'Do you wish to know who the woman was who would not give water at that time? She was this very hungry ghost.' When the Buddha expounded the causes and conditions of this Durgandhā, the bhikṣus abandoned the karma of stinginess and greed; some attained the four fruits of the śramaṇa, while others gave rise to the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi. Hearing what the Buddha had taught, they rejoiced and practiced accordingly.