法苑珠林 83.31

83.31

Furthermore, the Sūtra of Parables from the Dharmapada states: In the past, in a foreign land, there was a faithful layman (upāsaka) who made offerings to the Three Jewels without ever growing weary. At that time, there was a śramaṇa who was his close friend, who had attained supernormal powers and ended birth and death. Later, the layman fell gravely ill, and medical treatments could not cure him. At that time, his wife was at his side in bitter sorrow, saying: “Having lived as husband and wife, why must you alone suffer this pain? If you should die, upon whom shall I rely? Our children will be left orphans—whom shall they look up to for support?” Hearing her sorrowful yearning, the husband died immediately, and his spirit was reborn inside his wife's nose, transformed into a maggot. The wife wept bitterly, unable to restrain herself. At that time, the man of the Way came to visit the wife, having perceived that the husband had passed away and turned into a worm in her nose, wishing to advise and admonish her so that she might cast aside her sorrow. When the wife saw the man of the Way arrive, her sorrow only increased: “What can be done, Upādhyāya? My husband has died!” At that moment, the wife blew her nose, and the maggot fell to the ground. Feeling ashamed, the wife was about to step on it with her foot. The man of the Way told her: “Stop, stop! Do not kill it. This is your husband, transformed into this worm.” The wife said to the man of the Way: “My husband upheld the scriptures and kept the precepts; his vigor was hard to match. By what cause, at the end of his life, did he fall into being this worm?” The man of the Way replied: “It was because of your affectionate love, sorrowful cries, and lamentations, which gave rise to affectionate attachment, yearning, and sorrow in him. Because of this, at the end of his life, he fell straight into being a worm.” The man of the Way then expounded the scripture for the worm: “You vigorously upheld the scriptures and maintained the Dharma; by your merit, you ought to have been born in heaven before the Buddhas. Yet merely because of the thought of affectionate longing and yearning, you have fallen into being this worm; is this not shameful?” Hearing these words, the worm's mind opened and understood; it reproached itself, immediately ended its life, and was reborn above. Therefore, nowadays, one should only examine oneself to know the good and evil in the mind, correct faults to create merit, and scrutinize oneself for the sake of others, never being negligent and bringing loss upon one's future retribution.