諸經要集 7.36

7.36

Also, the Fajubiyu jing says: In the past, the Buddha was in the state of Śrāvastī, expounding the Dharma for devas and humans. At that time in the city there was a brāhmaṇa elder of countless wealth. As a person, he was stingy and greedy, disliking generosity. When eating, he always closed the door and took no pleasure in guests. Whenever it was time to eat, he would order the doorkeeper to shut the gates tightly so that no one would enter by mistake to beg or ask for anything. At that time the elder suddenly craved delicious food, so he ordered his wife to prepare a meal: he told her to slaughter a fat chicken and cook it thoroughly, seasoned with ginger and pepper. The food was arranged on platters and ready at once. He ordered the gates outside to be closed. The husband and wife sat together with a small child seated between them, and began to eat. The parents took chicken meat and put it into the child's mouth, doing so repeatedly without ceasing. The Buddha knew that this elder's past merits made him ready for liberation, so he transformed himself into a śramaṇa. Watching for the time he sat eating, he appeared before his seat, pronounced a blessing, and said: ‘A little giving can bring great merit.’ The elder raised his head, saw the transformed śramaṇa, and immediately cursed him, saying: ‘You are a man of the way, yet have no shame! When my family sits eating, why do you intrude so insolently?’ The śramaṇa replied: ‘You yourself are foolish and know no shame. Why should I, a mendicant, be ashamed?’ The elder asked: ‘My family and I are amusing ourselves together; why should I be ashamed?’ The śramaṇa replied: ‘You kill your father, take your mother as wife, and nourish your enemy, without knowing shame; yet you turn on the mendicant and ask why he is not ashamed!’ Thereupon the Bhagavat spoke a gāthā: