法苑珠林 83.11

83.11

Furthermore, the Avadāna-sūtra says: At the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, there were two brothers who both became śramaṇas. The elder brother upheld the precepts, sat in meditation, and single-mindedly sought the Way, but did not practice generosity (dāna). The younger brother practiced generosity and cultivated merit, but was fond of breaking the precepts. Under Śākyamuni, the elder brother went forth from the household and attained the fruit of arhatship, but his robes were constantly insufficient and his food was never plentiful. The younger brother was born among elephants; because as an elephant he was very strong and could repel enemies, he was beloved by the king. Gold, silver, and precious jewels adorned his body, and a fiefdom of several hundred households was assigned to supply this elephant with whatever he needed. At that time, the elder brother monk encountered a severe famine in the world; he went about begging for food, but for seven days obtained nothing. At the very end he received a little coarse food, barely sustaining his life. Knowing beforehand that this elephant had been his younger brother in a previous life, he went to the elephant, took the elephant's ear with his hand, and said to him: 'In the past, you and I both committed offenses.' When the elephant contemplated the monk's words, he immediately recognized his past lives, and seeing his former causes and conditions, he grieved and would not eat. The elephant-keeper was terrified and went to inform the king. The king asked the elephant-keeper: 'Did anyone previously offend this elephant?' The elephant-keeper replied: 'There was no other person, only a śramaṇa who came to the elephant's side and departed after a short while.' The king immediately sent men to find and bring the śramaṇa, and asked: 'What did you say when you went to the elephant's side?' The śramaṇa replied: 'I only told the elephant: "You and I both committed offenses."' The śramaṇa explained fully to the king as above. The king's mind awakened, and he immediately released the śramaṇa.