法苑珠林 90.44

90.44

Furthermore, the Sūtra of One Hundred Parables says: In the past, there was a foolish man who raised seven sons. One son died first. At that time, seeing that the son was already dead, this foolish man wished to leave him in his home and abandon him, going away himself. A bystander saw this and spoke to him, saying: 'The paths of life and death are different; you must quickly prepare him and take him far away.' At that time, hearing these words, the foolish man thought to himself: 'If he cannot be kept and must be buried, I need to kill one more son so that a load may be balanced on both ends of the carrying pole; only then can I manage to carry them.' Thereupon he killed another son, shouldered them, and carried them far away to be buried in the wild forest. When people of the time saw this, they laughed deeply in ridicule, marvelling at what was unprecedented. This is like a bhikṣu who secretly violates a precept, fears repentance in his mind, silently conceals it, and claims that he is pure. Or there may be a wise person who speaks to him, saying: 'A renunciant preserves and upholds the prohibitive precepts as if protecting a bright pearl, not letting it be chipped or lost. Why do you now violate what you have received and refuse to repent?' The precept-breaker says: 'If it is required to repent, I will commit another violation and then emerge [through confession] afterwards.' He then went on to commit more precept-violations, doing much evil, and only then suddenly emerged. Just as that foolish man, when one son had already died, killed yet another son, so too is this bhikṣu.