諸經要集 7.32

7.32

如須摩提長者經云。佛在世時。舍衛城有大長者子。名須摩提。是人命終。父母宗親及諸知識。一時號哭哀悼躄踊。稱怨大喚。悶絕于地。或有喚父母兄弟者。或有呼夫。主大家者。如是種種號叫啼哭。又有把土而自坌者。又有持刀斷其髮者。譬如有人毒箭入心苦惱無量。或有以衣自覆而悲泣者。譬如大風鼓扇林樹枝柯相𭣝。又如失水之魚宛轉在地。又如斬截大樹崩倒狼藉。以如是楚毒而加其身。爾時世尊。知而故問。阿難。彼諸大眾。何故哀號悲泣如是。阿難具以白佛。唯願世尊。為度一切可往至彼。諸佛世尊。不以無請而有所說。我今為彼諸人。勸請於佛世尊。以大慈悲願往至彼。

As the Sūtra of the Elder Sumati says: When the Buddha was in the world, in the city of Śrāvastī there was the son of a great elder named Sumati. When this person passed away, his parents, clan relatives, and acquaintances wailed together in mournful grief, beating their breasts and jumping, shouting grievances, and falling senseless to the ground. Some called out for father, mother, or brothers; some cried for their husband, master, or elder; in such diverse manners did they wail and weep. Some grabbed dirt and threw it upon themselves; some held knives and severed their hair, like someone pierced through the heart with a poisoned arrow undergoing boundless distress. Some covered themselves with their garments and wept sorrowfully, like trees in a forest blown and swayed by a great wind with branches crashing against one another; or like fish deprived of water writhing on the ground; or like a great tree chopped down, collapsing in utter ruin. Such cruel afflictions were inflicted upon their bodies. At that time, the World-Honoured One, knowing this already, deliberately asked: 'Ānanda, why is that great assembly wailing and weeping like this?' Ānanda reported everything to the Buddha: 'I only pray, World-Honoured One, that to deliver all beings you will go there. The Buddhas, World-Honoured Ones, do not expound anything without being invited; I now exhort and invite the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, on behalf of those people: out of great maitrī-karuṇā, may you go there.'