法苑珠林 85.14

85.14

Śakra heard this, and together with eighty thousand devas came to the side of the well, saying: 'Not having heard the sacred teachings, we have long remained in darkness. What you just spoke is no ordinary matter; we pray you proclaim the Dharma again.' The jackal replied: 'The Heavenly Lord lacks courtesy and does not understand proper propriety: the Dharma master is below, while you place yourself above, asking for the essentials of the Dharma without first showing respect.' Śakra then caught him up with a heavenly robe, bowed his head, and repented, recalling: 'In the past I saw worldly people first set out a high seat and only then invite the Dharma master.' The devas then each took off their precious robes and piled them up into a high seat. The jackal ascended the seat and said: 'There are two great causes and conditions: first, preaching the Dharma transforms devas and humans, yielding immeasurable merit; second, to repay the kindness of offering food.' The Heavenly Lord addressed him: 'To be spared the calamity of the well is a great retribution of merit; how is that kindness not equal to it?' The jackal answered: 'Birth and death each have their propriety: some crave life, while others delight in death. There are foolish people who do not know that after death one is reborn again; transgressing and straying far from the Buddhadharma, never meeting an enlightened teacher, they crave life and fear death, and upon dying fall into the hells. There are wise people who revere and serve the Three Jewels, encounter an enlightened teacher, reform evil, and cultivate good; such people loathe birth and delight in death, and upon dying are born in the heavens.' The Heavenly Lord said: 'As your honor instructed regarding preserving life without merit, we wish to hear of the offering of food and the offering of the Dharma.' He replied: 'Giving food to the hungry saves life for a single day; giving precious gems saves from deprivation for a single lifetime, but increases birth and death. One who preaches the Dharma to teach and transform can lead sentient beings to the supramundane path, to attain the fruits of the three vehicles, escape the three evil destinies, and receive the pleasures of humans and devas. Therefore the Buddha taught that making a gift of the Dharma yields immeasurable merit.' The Heavenly Lord asked: 'Is the Master's present form a karmic retribution, or is it a responsive manifestation?' He replied: 'It is due to sin, not a manifestation.' The Heavenly Lord said: 'I thought you were a sage, but only now hear it is a retribution for sin. I do not know the reason; I wish to hear the cause and condition.' He replied: 'Long ago I was born in the city of Padmumā in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī as the son of a poor family. Of the kṣatriya caste, I was naturally bright from childhood and especially fond of study. At the age of twelve I followed a teacher into the mountains without missing the proper seasons. Over fifty years, there were none among the ninety-six varieties of scriptures that I did not master—all through the kindness of my upādhyāya, whose merit is hard to repay. Because of my former learning and wisdom, I know my past lives. Because I later assumed the royal throne, indulged in luxury, and was attached to pleasure, when my retribution was exhausted and my life ended, I was born into the hells and animal realm (what follows is extensive and is summarized without being related).'