法苑珠林 95.18

95.18

Furthermore, the Sūtra of Avadāna on the Dharmapada states: In the past there was a country named Śāketa (Xieti). At that time there was an elder bhikṣu who had long been sick, exhausted, emaciated, and filthy, lying in the Śāketa monastery with no one attending to him. The Buddha led five hundred bhikṣus to go to his place, and had the bhikṣus take turns to tend to him and make broth and gruel for him. But the bhikṣus smelled his foulness and all despised him. The Buddha had Śakra take hot water, and the Buddha washed the sick bhikṣu's body with his adamantine hands. The earth immediately shook, and there was suddenly a great radiance; none were not astonished and awed. The king of the country, his ministers and people, heavenly dragons, and ghosts and spirits, countless people, went to the Buddha's place, bowed their heads in obeisance, and said to the Buddha: "The Buddha is the World-Honoured One, peerless in the three realms, his moral power fully perfected. Why do you deign to bend your will to wash a sick bhikṣu?" The Buddha told the king and the great assembly: "The reason why the Tathāgata appears in the world is precisely for these destitute, distressed, and helpless ones. If one provides for sick and emaciated śramaṇas and practitioners, as well as the poor, solitary, and elderly, the merit is boundless, what is wished for will be fulfilled, and one will certainly attain the Path." The king addressed the Buddha: "What past sin did this bhikṣu commit, such that he has been afflicted for years on end and medical treatment does not cure him?" The Buddha told the king: "In the past there was a king named Wicked Conduct (Durgati), whose rule was severe and cruel. He employed a man of great strength, a commander of five hundred, to whip people. The commander of five hundred made use of the king's awe and wrath to privately bring about cold or warmth (severity or leniency). If he was about to whip someone, they would bring him a price. For those who gave goods, the whipping was light; for those who did not, the whipping was heavy. The whole country suffered from him. There was a worthy man who was plotted against by others and was due to receive a whipping. He told the commander of five hundred, 'I am a disciple of the Buddha; I am usually without fault and have been wronged by others. I pray you show a little mercy.' The commander of five hundred, hearing that he was a disciple of the Buddha, whipped lightly, not letting it touch the body. When the life of the commander of five hundred ended, he fell into hell, where he was tortured with ten thousand poisons. When his penalty was exhausted, he came out again and fell among animals, where he was constantly beaten with staves. For more than five hundred lifetimes, when his penalties were finished, he became a human, but he was always afflicted with grave illnesses and pains that never left his body. The king at that time is now Devadatta; the commander of five hundred is now this sick bhikṣu; the worthy man at that time is now myself. Because in a past life he spared me the whip and did not let it touch my body, therefore the World-Honoured One personally washes him. When a person performs good or evil, calamity or blessing follows the person; though one traverses births and deaths, one cannot escape it." Thereupon the World-Honoured One spoke a verse: