諸經要集 6.53

6.53

又菩薩本行經云。初時須達長者。家貧燋煎。蒙佛說法。身心清淨得阿那含道。唯有五金錢。一日持一錢施佛。一錢施法。一錢施僧。一錢自食。一錢作本。日日如是。常有一錢終無有盡。即受五戒欲心已斷。婦女各各隨其所樂。有一婦人炒穀作[麩-夫+少]。失火廣燒人畜。波斯匿王。勅臣作限。自今以去。夜不得然火及於燈燭。其有犯者罰金千兩。爾時須達得道。在家晝夜坐禪入定。夜半雞鳴。然燈坐禪。伺捕得之。提燈白王。當輸罰負。須達白王。今我貧窮無百錢產。當用何輸。王瞋勅使閉著獄中。即將須達付獄執守。四天王見。初夜四天王來下。語須達言。我與汝錢。用輸王罰可得來出。為四天王說經便去。到中夜天帝復來見之。須達為說法竟。帝釋便去比。到後夜梵天復下見。為說法。梵天復去。時王夜於觀上。見獄上火光。時王明日。即便遣人往語須達。坐火被閉而無慚羞。續後然火。須達答言。我不然火。若然火者當有煙灰。復語須達。初夜有四火。中夜有一火。倍大前火。後夜復有一火。隨倍於前。言不然火。為是何等。須達答言。此非是火。初夜四天王來見我。中夜天帝來見我。後夜梵天來見我。是天神上光明之焰。非是火也。使聞其語即往白王。王聞如是心驚毛竪。王言。此人福德殊特乃爾。我今云何而毀辱之。即勅使言。促放出去。勿使稽遲。便放令去。須達得出往至佛所。禮佛聽法。波斯匿王即便嚴駕。尋至佛所。人民見王皆悉避起。唯有須達心存法味。見王不起。王心微恨。此是我民。懷於輕慢見我不起。遂懷慍心。佛知其意止不說法。王白佛言。願說經法。佛告王言。今非是時。云何是人起瞋恚。忿結不解。貪婬女色。自大無敬。其心垢濁。聞於妙法而不能解。以是之故。今非是時為王說法。王聞佛語。意自念言。坐此人故。令我今日有二析減。又起瞋恚不得聞法。為佛作禮而去。出到於外勅語左右。此人若出直斫頭取。作是語已。應時四面。虎狼師子。毒害之狩。悉來圍遶於王。王見恐怖還至佛所。佛問大王何以來還。王白佛言。見怖來還。佛告王曰。識此人不。王曰。不識。佛言。此人已得阿那含道。坐起惡意向此人故。是故使爾。若不還者。王必當危不得全濟。王聞佛語即大恐怖。即向須達懺悔作禮。羊皮四布。於須達前王言。此是我人而。向屈辱。實為甚難。須達復言。而我貧窮行於布施。亦復甚難。尸羅師質。為國平正。為賊所捉。臨命不犯妄語。賊便放之。實為甚。難。復有天名曰尸迦梨。於高樓上臥。有天王女來。以持禁戒而不受之。實為甚難。於是四人。即於佛前各說頌曰。

Furthermore, the Pusa benxing jing says: In the beginning, the elder Sudatta's family was poor and distressed. Receiving the Buddha's preaching of the Dharma, his body and mind became pure, and he attained the path of an anāgāmin. He had only five gold coins. Each day, he took one coin to give to the Buddha, one coin to give to the Dharma, one coin to give to the Saṅgha, one coin for his own food, and one coin as working capital. Day after day it was like this; he always had one coin, never coming to an end. He then received the five precepts, his sensual desires already severed. His wives and women each went according to what they enjoyed. There was one woman who roasted grain to make parched flour; a fire broke out accidentally, widely burning people and livestock. King Prasenajit ordered his ministers to set a restriction: "From this day forward, one must not light fires or lamps and candles at night. Anyone who violates this shall be fined a thousand ounces of gold." At that time, Sudatta, having attained the Path, sat in meditation and entered samādhi day and night in his home. At midnight, when the rooster crowed, he lit a lamp and sat in meditation. The watchmen caught him, carried the lamp, and reported to the king, [saying] he should pay the fine. Sudatta said to the king: "Now I am poor, without property worth even a hundred coins. What should I use to pay?" The king in anger ordered an envoy to lock him in prison. They then took Sudatta and handed him over to the prison guards. The Four Heavenly Kings saw this. In the first watch of the night, the Four Heavenly Kings came down and spoke to Sudatta, saying: "We will give you money to pay the king's fine so that you may come out." He preached a sūtra for the Four Heavenly Kings, and then they departed. When it reached the middle watch of the night, the Heavenly Sovereign [Śakra] came again to see him. After Sudatta finished preaching the Dharma for him, Śakra departed. By the time it reached the final watch of the night, Brahmā came down again to see [him]. He preached the Dharma for him, and Brahmā departed as well. At that time, the king from his high tower saw firelight above the prison. The next day, the king immediately sent someone to go and say to Sudatta: "For the fault of fire you were confined, yet without shame you continued to light fires afterwards." Sudatta answered, saying: "I did not light a fire. If I had lit a fire, there would be smoke and ashes." [The envoy] again said to Sudatta: "In the first watch of the night there were four fires; in the middle watch of the night there was one fire, twice as large as the former fires; in the final watch of the night there was another fire, following to be twice as large as the previous. You say you did not light a fire—what then were these?" Sudatta answered, saying: "These were not fires. In the first watch of the night, the Four Heavenly Kings came to see me; in the middle watch of the night, the Heavenly Sovereign came to see me; in the final watch of the night, Brahmā came to see me. These were the blazing radiance of the heavenly gods, not fires." The envoy, hearing these words, went at once to report to the king. When the king heard this, his heart was astonished and his hair stood on end. The king said: "This man's merit is so extraordinary as this! How can I now insult and humiliate him?" He immediately ordered the envoy, saying: "Hasten to release him to go outside; do not let him be delayed!" So they released him and let him go. Having gotten out, Sudatta went to the Buddha's place, made obeisance to the Buddha, and listened to the Dharma. King Prasenajit then prepared his carriage and soon arrived at the Buddha's place. When the people saw the king, they all avoided him and rose, but Sudatta alone, his mind resting in the flavor of the Dharma, saw the king and did not rise. The king felt slight resentment: "This is my subject, yet harboring disdain, he sees me and does not rise." He then harbored an indignant mind. The Buddha, knowing his intention, stopped and did not preach the Dharma. The king said to the Buddha: "I pray that you preach the sūtra-dharma." The Buddha told the king, saying: "Now is not the time. Why? This man gives rise to anger; his resentment is knotted and unrelaxed. He is greedy for lustful womanly beauty, arrogant, and without respect. His mind is defiled and turbid; hearing the marvelous Dharma, he would be unable to understand it. For this reason, now is not the time to preach the Dharma for the king." The king, hearing the Buddha's words, thought to himself: "Because of this person, I have today suffered two reductions: I gave rise to anger, and I am unable to hear the Dharma." He made obeisance to the Buddha and departed. Going outside, he gave orders to his attendants: "If this man comes out, straightaway cut off his head and take it!" Having said this, immediately on four sides tigers, wolves, lions, and noxious beasts all came and surrounded the king. Seeing this, the king was terrified and returned to the Buddha's place. The Buddha asked the great king: "Why have you come back?" The king said to the Buddha: "Seeing something terrifying, I have come back." The Buddha told the king: "Do you recognize this person?" The king said: "I do not recognize him." The Buddha said: "This person has already attained the path of an anāgāmin. Because you gave rise to an evil thought toward this person, it has caused this to happen. If you had not returned, you, O King, would certainly have been in danger and unable to be saved whole." Hearing the Buddha's words, the king was greatly terrified. He immediately repented and made obeisance toward Sudatta. Spreading sheepskins in the four directions before Sudatta, the king said: "He was my subject, yet I humbled myself before him; this was indeed extremely difficult." Sudatta again said: "Yet I, being poor, practiced giving; that also was extremely difficult." Śīlāśikṣita was an arbitrator for a kingdom; captured by bandits, facing death, he would not commit false speech, and the bandits then released him; this was indeed extremely difficult. Furthermore, there was a deva named Śikhārin sleeping in a high chamber; a devakanyā came, but because he maintained the prohibitive precepts, he did not accept her; this was indeed extremely difficult. Thereupon the four people spoke verses before the Buddha, saying: