法苑珠林 91.10

91.10

Furthermore, the Mahāsaṃghika-vinaya states: When the Buddha was dwelling in Śrāvastī, there was a settlement in the south called Mahāvana. At that time, a merchant was driving eight oxen toward the northern country of Kuta. Another merchant was grazing cattle with him in the marsh. At that time, a Licchavi was hunting dragons to eat them, and captured a dragon girl. The girl had undertaken the poṣadha precepts and had no thought of harming others, yet the Licchavi pierced her nose and dragged her along. The merchant saw this and gave rise to a mind of compassion. He asked the Licchavi: 'What do you intend to do with this dragon you are dragging?' He replied: 'I want to kill and eat her.' The merchant said: 'Do not kill her; I will exchange one ox with you for her.' The hunter refused, until it reached eight oxen, whereupon he said: 'This meat is very delicious; now for your sake, I will release her.' When the merchant had released the dragon girl, he thought: 'This is an evil man; I fear he will pursue her again and have her caught.' So he released her into a separate pond and followed along watching her. The dragon transformed into a human and said to the merchant: 'Deva, you have bestowed life upon me; now I wish to repay your kindness. You may enter the palace with me, and I will repay the deva's kindness.' The merchant replied: 'The nature of dragons is rash and violent; their anger is unpredictable, and perhaps you will kill me.' She replied: 'It is not so. The previous person bound me, and I had the strength to kill him, but because I had undertaken the poṣadha precepts, I had no thought of killing at all. How much less would I harm the deva who has now bestowed long life upon me? If you will not go, wait a little while here; I will first arrange things.' She then entered. Afterwards, when he entered the palace, he saw beside the dragon gate two dragons bound in one place. The merchant asked: 'For what matter are you bound?' They replied: 'This dragon girl observes the fast three days in a half-month. We brothers did not guard this dragon girl securely, so she was captured by the Licchavi; for this reason we are bound. We only pray the deva in his compassion will speak so that we may be released.' When the dragon girl had finished arranging things, she called him into the palace and had him sit on a jeweled couch. The dragon girl said: 'Among dragons, there is food that takes an entire lifetime to digest, food that takes twenty years to digest, food that takes seven years to digest, and food eaten by the people of Jambudvīpa. I do not know which food the deva wishes to eat now.' He replied: 'I desire the food of Jambudvīpa.' She immediately brought various kinds of food and drink and gave them to him. The merchant asked the dragon girl: 'Why are these dragons bound?' The dragon girl said: 'They have committed an offense; I wish to kill them.' The merchant said: 'Do not kill them.' She said: 'If not, I must kill them.' The merchant said: 'Only if you release them will I eat.' She said: 'They cannot simply be released like that; they must be punished by being banished among humans for six months.' The merchant saw that inside the dragon palace, various precious treasures adorned the halls. The merchant then asked: 'You have such adornments; why do you observe the poṣadha?' She replied: 'Our dragon existence has five kinds of suffering. What are the five? They are at the time of birth, at the time of sleep, at the time of lust, at the time of anger, and at the time of death. Three times in a single day our skin and flesh fall to the ground, and burning sand roasts our bodies.' He asked again: 'What do you seek to obtain?' She replied: 'Rebirth in the human realm. Because of the suffering of animals and our ignorance of the Dharma, I wish to go to the Tathāgata and go forth from the household life.' The dragon girl then gave him eight ingots of gold, saying: 'This gold will be sufficient for your parents and family to use for their entire lives without exhausting it.' She said: 'Close your eyes,' and using her supernatural power, she transported him back to his native country. He took the eight ingots of gold and gave them to his parents. This was dragon gold; when cut, it grew back again, and could be used for their entire lives without ever being exhausted. (Contemplating humaneness and compassion, one cannot fail to practice them; merely saving a dragon girl brought such heavy recompense—how much more so when upholding the great fast, could the blessings received be small?)'