諸經要集 8.66

8.66

Furthermore, as the Duxigouzi jing says: Formerly, in a certain kingdom, grain prices soared and the people starved. At that time a śramaṇa entered the city on almsround, going around from door to door without obtaining anything. Next he came to the gate of an eminent and wealthy elder, where he received some coarse food. Just as he was about to leave the city, at the gate he met a hunter-butcher holding a puppy, taking it home to kill. Seeing the śramaṇa, he rejoiced, came forward, and bowed. The śramaṇa offered a blessing for long life. The śramaṇa knew there was a puppy and suspected he wished to kill it, so he asked the man: 'What are you carrying now?' He replied: 'I walk empty-handed, having obtained nothing.' The śramaṇa asked again: 'I have already seen it; why hide it? The sin of killing living beings is exceedingly unwholesome. I wish to trade my food for this puppy to let its life be saved, and your merit will be immeasurable.' The man replied: 'I cannot give it to you. I went out seeking it so my household could eat together. How could this little food of yours be enough?' The śramaṇa earnestly admonished and explained to him, but the man was obstinate and refused to comply. The śramaṇa said again: 'If you refuse, you may show it to me.' The man then brought it out and showed it to the śramaṇa. The śramaṇa raised the food to feed the puppy, stroked it with his hand, made a wish, and wept tears: 'Because of your sins you received this dog body, lacking freedom and facing slaughter and being eaten. May your sins be extinguished and merit arise life after life; leaving behind the body of a dog, may you be born as a human, encountering the Dharma wherever you are, with the Triratna naturally present.' Having received the food, wholesome thoughts arose in the puppy; leaping for joy, it knew to take refuge on its own. The man took it home, butchered it, and shared it for food. When the puppy's life ended, it was reborn in the household of an eminent and wealthy great elder. Right when born onto the ground, it already possessed a compassionate mind. At that time, that śramaṇa's almsround sequence arrived at the elder's doorway to beg for alms. At that time, the elder's son, seeing that śramaṇa, remembered his past conditions, and immediately went forward, bowed down, prostrated at the śramaṇa's feet, and invited him forward to offer a feast of a hundred delicacies. He went forward and said to his parents: 'Now I wish to follow this great upādhyāya, receive the scriptures and precepts, and become his disciple.' His parents, cherishing him, would not permit it: 'Our household has only you as a son to succeed as master of the household. For what reason do you wish to abandon home and go away?' The young child wept and would not eat: 'If you do not permit me, I shall embrace death.' Seeing this, the parents permitted him to go. He followed the master to study the Way, shaved his hair and beard, put on the three Dharma robes, chanted the Buddhist scriptures, deeply comprehended their meaning, attained samādhi, and became established in non-retrogression, converting everyone to generate the great aspiration for bodhi. A Buddha era is hard to meet, and the scriptural Way is hard to hear; those able to meet it are all delivered. Even beasts can attain the Way, how much more humans—how could they fail to obtain the fruit? Even if one commits infractions, if shame and remorse arise, once pure and white [deeds] arrive, the black defilements will naturally vanish.