藥師經疏 1.9

1.9

經。即於至人道　五咸蒙願遂由念佛力故便捨惡趣生天人中　問暫念佛名有何勝利乃拔如是鬼畜重殃。答那先比丘經說。如人在世百年為惡。臨命終時聞佛名者。如放小石水中即沒。若持大石置於船上即浮不沒。雖一生作惡。以一時中聞佛名故尚不受苦。況當專念更復受彼餓鬼畜生。

Sūtra: “Right in […] up to: the human realm.” / Fifth: all receiving the fulfillment of their vows. By the power of recollecting the Buddha, they immediately abandon the bad destinies and are born among devas and humans. / Question: What superior benefit is there in momentarily recollecting the Buddha's name, such that it uproots such severe misfortunes of ghosts and animals? / Answer: The Milindapañha (Nāgasena-bhikṣu Sūtra) states: “Just as when a person in the world has done evil for a hundred years, yet hears the Buddha's name at the point of death—like dropping a small stone into water, it immediately sinks; but if a large stone is placed upon a boat, it floats and does not sink. Although one has done evil all one's life, because one hears the Buddha's name at one moment, one does not even suffer pain; how much less, when one mindfully focuses on it, would one again suffer [rebirth as] those hungry ghosts and animals?”