法苑珠林 92.40

92.40

'The ram you saw was a person in hell. In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, he was a renunciant and abbot of the Saṃgha. When inspecting the fields inside and outside, he did not instruct the disciples and junior monks, so that the ghaṇṭī was not struck according to the Dharma. When the Vinaya masters said to him, "Abbot, why do you not sound the ghaṇṭī at the proper times to assemble the monks?" the monk answered, saying, "I manage monastic affairs with great toil. You monks are just like rams, merely eating and sitting around. Why don't you strike it yourselves?" Therefore, he entered hell, took the body of a ram, and endures the excruciating poison of burning fire, suffering without ceasing down to the present day.'