諸經要集 9.82

9.82

As it is said in the "Chapter on Saving Nāgas" of the Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra: At that time, among the assembly there was a blind nāga named Phalakileśa. Raising its voice, it wept aloud and said: "Great Holy World-Honoured One! Please rescue me, please rescue me! I am now undergoing great suffering and affliction in my body. Day and night I am constantly gnawed and eaten by various kinds of worms. Dwelling in boiling water, there is not a moment of ease." The Buddha said, "Kileśa! In your past lives, you were once a bhikṣu within the Buddha's teaching. You broke and violated the prohibitive precepts; within you harboured deceit and fraud, while externally presenting a virtuous appearance. You were widely covetous of retainers and had many disciples; your fame spread far in the four directions, known to everyone. [You said,] 'My preceptor has attained the fruit of an arhat.' Because of this, you obtained abundant offerings and consumed them alone. When seeing those who upheld the precepts, you falsely slandered and abused them. That person was anguished and thought: 'In life after life, birth after birth, may I wherever I am eat the flesh of your body!' Due to such evil karma, after dying you were born among nāgas. It is because of the vow of that person from your former life that they devour your body. Due to the conditions of your evil karma, you received this retribution of blindness. Furthermore, throughout immeasurable kalpas in the past, in the molten red-copper hell, you were constantly eaten and devoured by worms." Hearing these words, the nāga wept with grief and said: "All of us now, with sincere hearts, together repent! May we be swiftly liberated from this suffering!" Within that host of nāgas, twenty-six hundred million hungry nāgas shed tears like rain as they remembered their former lives. Remembering their former bodies, [they thought:] "Although we were able to renounce the household life in the Buddha's teaching, we committed all manner of evil deeds; we passed through immeasurable lifetimes in the three evil destinies, and because of the residual retribution, we still suffer extreme torment among nāgas. Just as with the blue-coloured nāga, we are also like this." At that time, the World-Honoured One said to the nāgas: "You may take water and wash the Tathāgata's feet; this will cause your calamitous offenses to be gradually extinguished." Then all the nāgas cupped water with their hands, but the water all turned into fire and transformed into large stones, filling their hands and generating great, fierce blazes. When discarded, they arose again, up to seven times. When all the nāga assembly saw this, they were terrified, anguished, wept, and shed tears like rain. The Buddha taught them to make great vows; thereupon the blazing fires were all extinguished. Then, for an eighth time, they held water with their hands and washed the Tathāgata's feet, repenting with sincere hearts. The Buddha prophesied to the nāgas: "At the time of Maitreya Buddha, you shall obtain human bodies, meet the Buddha, renounce the household life, vigorously uphold the precepts, and attain the fruit of an arhat." At that time, the nāgas attained knowledge of past lives and remembered their past karma: within the Buddha's teaching, either because of kinship with laypeople, or through various occasions of coming and going to hear the Dharma, whatever faithful devotees had given as offerings of various flowers, fruits, food, and drink, they had eaten sequentially together with the bhikṣus. Some said: "I constantly ate the flowers, fruits, food, and drink of the saṅgha of the four directions." Some said: "I went to monasteries to give alms to the saṅgha, or to pay homage, and thus ate in this way." Some further said: "From the Dharma of Vipaśyin Tathāgata, I was once a layperson..." up to some saying: "Within the Dharma of Śākyamuni Buddha, I was once a layperson. Either on visits to relatives and old acquaintances, or through coming and going to hear the Dharma, I frequented monasteries. Because faithful people made offerings to the saṅgha, giving flowers, fruits, and various kinds of food and drink, after the bhikṣus received them, they redirected and gave them to me; I received them and straightaway ate them. Due to the conditions of that karma, I spent immeasurable kalpas in hell, burned or boiled in great, fierce fires, drinking molten copper or swallowing iron balls. Emerging from hell, I fell among the animals; shedding the animal body, I was born among hungry ghosts. In such various ways, I underwent all manner of toil and bitter torment. Since my evil karma was not yet exhausted, I was born among these nāgas, constantly suffering affliction." The Buddha told the nāgas: "This evil karma is no different from stealing the Buddha's property. The offense of this karma is half that of the five heinous deeds. You must now all fully accept the three refuges and cultivate the good with single-mindedness. Due to this cause, during the Bhadrakalpa you will encounter the final Buddha, named Ruci; in that Buddha's era, your offenses will be extinguished." When the nāgas heard these words, they all with sincere hearts took the three refuges for as long as their lives would last. At that time, among the assembly there was a blind nāga woman. Her mouth was rotting and swollen, filled with various kinds of vermin resembling feces and urine, repulsive and foul, like the impurities in a woman's genital organ, putrid, stinking, and dreadful to behold. They devoured her in various ways, with pus and blood flowing forth. All parts of her body were constantly gnawed and eaten by mosquitoes, gadflies, and various venomous flies. The stench of her body was such that none could bear to see or smell it. At that time, the World-Honoured One, with a mind of great compassion, saw that the nāga woman was blind and distressed in this way, and asked: "Sister, due to what conditions did you obtain this wretched body? What karma did you commit in past lives?" The nāga woman replied: "World-Honoured One, my present body is oppressed by numerous sufferings without a moment's respite. Even if I wish to speak, I am unable to tell it. I recall that for thirty-six hundred million, for hundreds of thousands of years in the past, I have been born among evil nāgas and undergone such suffering, day and night without ceasing for a single kṣaṇa. Because ninety-one kalpas ago, in the Dharma of Vipaśyin Buddha, I was a bhikṣuṇī. My thoughts of sensual desire were worse than those of a drunken person. Although I had renounced the household life, I could not live according to the Dharma; within the saṅghārāma I violated the vinaya rules. I have constantly undergone the three evil destinies, undergoing burning and boiling." Having said this, [she pleaded,] "May you rescue my body!" Then the World-Honoured One, having spoken words of truth, immediately poured a little water into the nāga's mouth. The fire, vermin, and pus were all completely extinguished, and the nāga's mouth became cool and refreshed. She said: "Great Holy Tathāgata! I recall that in the past, at the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, I was once a layperson plowing the fields. A bhikṣu came to beg fifty coins from me. At that time I replied, 'Wait until the grain is ripe, and then I will give you food.' The bhikṣu said again, 'If fifty cannot be obtained, I beg for ten coins.' At that time, I became angry at the bhikṣu and said to him, 'I will not give you even ten coins!' Then that bhikṣu felt deep anguish in his heart. Furthermore, at another time, I went to a monastery, entered a grove of trees, and straightaway stole ten āmra fruits that were present property of the saṅgha and ate them in secret. Due to the conditions of that karma, I suffered torment in hell. When that evil karma was not yet exhausted, I was born in a wild swamp with the body of a hungry nāga, constantly eaten and devoured by various vermin, overflowing with pus and blood, afflicted by hunger and thirst. Moreover, that bhikṣu, due to the evil karma of his hateful and resentful mind, immediately became a small venomous nāga upon dying, born under my armpit to drink my blood. The heat scorching my body is unbearable; for this reason, my body is full of burning heat, pus, and blood." The nāga said to the Buddha: "Great Compassionate World-Honoured One! I only pray that in your mercy and pity you will rescue me, enabling me to be freed from this enemy, the venomous nāga!" At that time, the World-Honoured One scooped up water with his hand and, uttering true and sincere words, spoke thus: "Once in the past, during an age of famine, I made a vow to become a being with a vast body of immeasurable length and breadth. By supernormal power, I proclaimed in the open air: 'In that wild swamp there is a great-bodied creature named Inconsolable to Anger. You may go and take its flesh for food and drink, so that you will not starve!' Then the humans and non-humans in that world, upon hearing this voice, all went competing to take and eat it." When he spoke these true and trustworthy words, the small nāga under the nāga's armpit immediately emerged. At that time, both nāgas together addressed the Buddha: "World-Honoured One! How long until we leave these nāga bodies and are liberated from our calamitous offenses?" The Buddha told the nāgas: "This karma is extremely heavy, second only to the five uninterrupted deeds. Why? If there are permanent possessions of the saṅgha of the four directions, or possessions of the present saṅgha, items offered with deep respect by devoted dānapatis, or flower and fruit orchards, food, drink, and necessities of life, mattresses and bedding, medicines for illness—everything that is needed—and one uses them privately for personal expense, or takes them outside to give to acquaintances, relatives, and white-clad laypeople: the retribution for this offense is heavier than that suffered in the Avīci hell. Therefore, you should receive the three refuges. Only after taking refuge in the Triratna will you be able to enter cool water." Reciting it three times and receiving them three times, their bodies became at peace and they were able to enter the water. At that time, the World-Honoured One spoke verses for the nāgas: