法苑珠林 91.43

91.43

Furthermore, the King Gandhāra Sūtra states: When the Buddha was in the world, there was a king named Gandhāra who served a brāhmaṇa. The brāhmaṇa dwelt in the mountains and planted many fruit trees. At that time, a woodcutter damaged his fruit trees. Seeing this, the brāhmaṇa took him to the king, saying, “This insolent man has destroyed my fruit trees. Your Majesty ought to punish and execute him.” The king revered and served the brāhmaṇa, and did not dare to disobey him; he immediately executed him for it. Not long thereafter, an ox ate a man's rice plants. The owner thereupon beat it and broke one of its horns, so that blood flowed all over its face, causing unbearable pain. The ox also went to the king's place and addressed him, saying, “I was indeed insolent and ate a little of this man's rice, and now he has broken my horn.” The owner of the rice also pursued it to the king's place. The king understood the speech of birds and beasts. The king said to the ox, “I shall kill him for you.” The ox then replied, saying, “Even if you kill this man now, it cannot make me free from pain. Just order him not to do so in the future.” The king was moved to reflect, saying, “I served the brāhmaṇa, and merely on account of fruit trees he caused me to kill a man. He was not as good as this ox! Now, serving this path does not exempt one from birth and death; what use is this path?” He then went to the Buddha's place, threw his five limbs to the ground, paid homage to the Buddha, and vowed to receive the five precepts and ten virtuous deeds. The Buddha said, “Dāna and keeping the precepts bring blessings in the present life; forbearance, vigour, singleness of mind, and wisdom yield immeasurable merit, and one will be reborn in the heavens hereafter.” The king then rejoiced and attained the fruit of a srotāpanna. Ānanda addressed the Buddha, saying, “What were the past causes and conditions of this king and the ox?” The Buddha said, “Long ago, in the time of the Buddha Kanakamuni, the king and the ox were brothers who acted as upāsakas, observing the fast and precepts together for one day and one night. The king guarded the Dharma with vigour and dared not be indolent; when his lifespan ended he ascended to heaven, and when his life in heaven was exhausted he descended to become a king. The ox at that time violated the fast and ate at night; later he suffered the retribution for his transgression. When his retribution was finished, he was reborn as an ox for five hundred lifetimes. Because he still had remembrance of his past lives, he came to awaken the king's mind. Seven days later, the ox's life ended, and he ascended to be reborn in heaven.” The Buddha said, “The disciples of the four classes must receive and uphold the fast and precepts, and must not violate them.”