諸經要集 16.25

16.25

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: