藥師經疏 1.9

1.9

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?”