諸經要集 16.25

16.25

又五分律云。佛告諸比丘。乃往古昔。有一摩納。在山窟中誦剎利書。有一野狐住其左右。專聽誦書心有所解。作是念言。我解此書語。足堪作諸獸中王。作是念已。便起遊行。逢羸瘦野狐。便欲殺之。彼言。何故殺我。答言。我是獸王。汝不伏我是以相殺。彼言。願莫殺我。我當隨從。於是二狐便共遊行。復逢一狐。又欲殺之。問答如上。亦言隨從。如是展轉伏一切狐。便以群狐伏一切象。復以眾象伏一切虎。復以眾虎伏一切師子。遂權得為王。既作王已。復作是念。我今為獸中王不應以獸為婦。便乘白象。率諸群獸不可稱數。圍迦夷城數千匝。王遣使問。汝諸群獸。何故如是。野狐答言。我是獸王。應娶汝女。與我者善。若不與我當滅汝國。還白如此。王集群臣共議唯除一臣。皆云應與。所以者何。國之所恃。唯賴象馬。我有象馬。彼有師子。象馬聞氣惶怖伏地。戰必不如為獸所滅。何惜一女而喪一國。時一大臣聰叡遠略。而白王言。臣觀古今。未曾聞見人王之女與下賤獸。臣雖闇昧。要殺此狐。使諸群獸各各散走。王即問言。計將焉出。大臣答言。王但尅期戰日。先當從彼求索一願。願令師子先戰後吼。彼謂吾畏。必令師子先吼後戰。王至戰日。當勅城內人畜皆令塞耳。王用其語。還使剋期并求上願。至于戰日復遣信求。然後出軍。軍鋒欲交。野狐果令師子先吼。野狐聞之心破七分。便於象上墜落于地。於是群獸一時散走。佛以是事。而說偈言。

Moreover, the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya says: The Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: In ancient times, there was a māṇava who recited kṣatriya texts in a mountain cave. A wild fox stayed beside him, intently listening to the recitation of the texts, and understood something in its mind. It had this thought: "I understand the words of these texts; I am fully worthy of being the king among all beasts." Having had this thought, it rose and wandered about. Meeting an emaciated wild fox, it wanted to kill it. That fox said, "Why do you kill me?" It answered, "I am the king of beasts. Because you do not submit to me, I kill you." That fox said, "Please do not kill me; I will follow you." Thereupon the two foxes wandered together.
Meeting another fox, it again wanted to kill it. The question and answer were as above, and it also agreed to follow. In this manner, it successively subdued all foxes; with the pack of foxes, it subdued all elephants; with the herd of elephants, it subdued all tigers; and with the pack of tigers, it subdued all lions. Thus it opportunistically became king. Having become king, it had this thought: "Now that I am the king among beasts, I should not take a beast as my wife." It then mounted a white elephant and, leading countless beasts, surrounded the city of Kāśī thousands of times.
The king sent an envoy to ask, "Why are all you beasts acting like this?" The wild fox answered, "I am the king of beasts. I ought to marry your daughter. If you give her to me, it will be well; if you do not give her to me, I will destroy your kingdom." [The envoy] returned and reported this. The king assembled his ministers to deliberate together. With the exception of one minister, all said that she should be given. Why? "What the kingdom relies upon is only elephants and horses. We have elephants and horses, while they have lions. When elephants and horses smell their scent, they fall prostrate in terror. In battle we will certainly be no match and will be destroyed by the beasts. Why spare one daughter and lose an entire kingdom?"
At that time, a minister of keen wisdom and far-reaching foresight said to the king: "Your servant has observed past and present, and has never heard or seen the daughter of a human king given to a lowly beast. Though your servant is unenlightened, I must kill this fox and cause the beasts to disperse and flee in all directions." The king asked, "What plan will you use?" The minister answered, "Your Majesty need only fix the date for the battle, and first request one wish from him: wish that the lions fight first and roar afterward. He will think we are afraid, and will definitely order the lions to roar first and fight afterward. When the day of battle arrives, Your Majesty should command that all humans and animals within the city plug their ears."
The king followed his words, sent the envoy back to fix the date, and requested the aforementioned wish. When the day of battle arrived, he sent a messenger again to make the request, and only then deployed the army. As the vanguards were about to clash, the wild fox indeed commanded the lions to roar first. Hearing it, the wild fox's heart split into seven pieces, and it fell from the elephant to the ground. Thereupon, the beasts dispersed and fled all at once. Because of this matter, the Buddha spoke a verse: