Lay Followers
This page carries Ru-Yi's complete translation of fascicle 37 of the Jīng Lǜ Yì Xiàng (經律異相): "Lay Followers" (優婆塞部) — fourteen entries on men who took the five precepts without ordaining. Almost all of them turn on one premise: that precepts held by an ordinary householder constitute a real and enforceable protection, which ghosts, kings, elephants, and the officers of hell are obliged to respect. Among them: a merchant's son left behind by his own caravan who walks alone into a landscape where the dead are serving their sentences in front of him, including two men blissful by night and eaten alive by day because they took the precepts for only half of each; a man-eating ghost who fetches the lethal flowers a king has sent an innocent man to gather; a cook sentenced to be trampled by five hundred elephants for refusing to slaughter; a bride who turns her own parents' image against them to keep her precepts; a man of exemplary practice reborn as a worm in his wife's nose through nothing but affection; and a man who lies dead ten days and comes back with a report of an argument in hell about whether the arresting officers had any jurisdiction over him at all.
Translation Method
Fascicle 37 collects the lay followers, and it is the most thematically unified fascicle we have translated so far. Ghosts appear in eight of the fourteen entries, and in most of them they are the ones testing, enforcing, or conceding the power of the precepts. The precepts here are treated less as an ethical programme than as a standing that other beings can read and must honour: the killing-ghost in entry 6 cannot find an opening, the ghost in entry 9 says the sound of the Buddha's name gives it a headache, and the officers of hell in entry 14 are made to look up the registers and admit they had no warrant.
Several of these entries survive only in Chinese and only here. Three cite parable collections by fascicle number alone; two cite sūtras whose titles are plain descriptions of their contents — the Sūtra of the Fallen Lay Follower, the Sūtra of the Householder Who Died and Became a Worm in His Wife's Nose — and we render those titles descriptively rather than attempt a Sanskrit reconstruction.
On names: Bakkula, Mahākātyāyana, Ānanda, Aśmaka, Avanti, Śrāvastī, Gṛdhrakūṭa, the Jetavana, and Jambudvīpa are given in their standard forms. The protagonist of entry 1 is Śroṇa Koṭikarṇa, but the Chinese stops to explain his name — Śramaṇa because he had gone forth in a former life, Hundred-Million-Ear for the ring he was born wearing — and we have translated it as the text explains it rather than substitute the reconstructed form. Where a transliteration has no confident correspondence — Sàbáo, Jiāluónài, the yīlè wind, the pāra tree — we keep the Chinese in pinyin, with the compendium's own bracketed glosses preserved.
Entry 10 contains an extended catalogue of bodily torments, and entry 1 a series of nightly dismemberments. Both are translated in full. Entry 14 carries a bracketed editorial note inside the text — this too is in the sūtra text — which we keep where the Chinese puts it.
Entry 1 quotes a verse from the sūtras, which we set off in italics with slashes for the line breaks of the Chinese; the Chinese column keeps it running on within the paragraph, as the source has it.
Fascicle Contents
- 1. The Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear Goes to Sea and Sees the Hells 沙門億耳入海見地獄一
- 2. A Lay Follower Keeps the Precepts and a Ghost Fetches the Flowers in His Place 優婆塞持戒鬼代取華二
- 3. A Lay Follower, a King's Cook, Is Forced to Kill, and His Fingers Bring Forth a Lion 優婆塞為王厨吏被逼殺害指現師子三
- 4. A Lay Follower Is Tested by Māra 優婆塞被魔試四
- 5. A Believing Layman Marries His Daughter into a Household That Serves Ghosts 清信士嫁女與事鬼家五
- 6. A Believing Layman, Diligent at First and Then Slack, Later Grows Ashamed, and a Ghost Cannot Harm Him 清信士始精進未懈後生慚愧鬼不能害六
- 7. A Believing Layman at the Point of Death, Husband and Wife Loving Each Other, Is Born as a Worm in His Wife's Nose 清信士臨亡夫妻相愛生為婦鼻中虫七
- 8. Bakkula Keeps One Precept and Obtains Five Rewards of Not Dying 薄拘羅持戒得五不死報八
- 9. Keeping the Precepts, Reciting Sūtras, and Keeping a Lamp Burning as an Offering, Ghosts Cannot Harm Him 持戒誦經續明供養鬼不能害九
- 10. Firm-Holding Asks to Give the Buddha's Precepts Back, and Ghosts Come Out of His Mouth and Beat His Body 執持求還佛戒口中諸鬼出打其身十
- 11. A Man Who Did Not Believe in Offense and Merit Dreams a Ghost Comes for Him, Takes the Precepts, and Lives a Hundred Years 人不信罪福夢鬼取之令其受戒後壽百年十一
- 12. A Household of Six Cut Short Their Own Meals to Give to the Saṅgha and All Receive Wealth and Joy 家有六人割口施僧同受富樂十二
- 13. A Traveller on the Road Meets Three Transformations and Takes Up Diligent Practice 有人路行遇見三變身行精進十三
- 14. A Man Dies and Comes Back After Ten Days and Tells What He Passed Through 有人命終十日還生述所經見十四
1. The Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear Goes to Sea and Sees the Hells
A merchant's son who has never known hardship is left behind by his own caravan in a rainstorm and walks alone into a landscape where the dead are living out their sentences in front of him — a city of hungry ghosts, two men eaten nightly by dogs and centipedes, and a woman in a jeweled hall whose husband and son are tied to her couch legs.
阿濕摩伽阿槃地國。有聚落王。名薩薄。中有大富居士。財寶豐盈唯無兒息。從諸神祇求不能得。有子時到婦覺有身。此女利根有四不共智。一知男愛。二知男不愛。三知妊身時。四知所從得。以語居士。居士歡喜。月滿生男耳有金鐶。是兒端正見者歡喜。集婆羅門。相之言。是兒實有福德威力。為作二字。宿世出家。即名曰沙門耳環。非世所作可直一億。字為沙門億耳。五種養視。一者治身母。二者除垢母。三者乳母。四者吉母。五者戲笑母。是兒福力而疾長大。便教書數算印。善知諸物價相貴賤。是王聚落商客所集。時四方人來詣聚落。問言。是中阿誰有好德可與寄言示我利害。諸人示沙門億耳。是諸商客即往詣之。接為主人。是諸商客見大威力。如是思惟。若作薩薄將多人入海必安隱歸。諸人言。沙門億耳。汝何以不入大海。答言。我入大海作何等。是中多諸恐怖。百千人去時一得還。是諸商客激厲之言。何等人仰他活命。沙門億耳信受欲去。到父母所辭欲入海。時父母說諸怖事欲令變悔以制留之。時不隨父母語。父母語貴人佐我留億耳。時諸大官長者居士皆助留之。終不隨從。父母知其意正則聽令去。於是乘象振鈴遍告令聚落言。沙門億耳欲入大海。我作薩薄誰欲共去。是人福德五百商客皆悉樂從。莊船下水日斷一繩。至第七日得伊勒風(梁言隨好風)斷第七繩。船疾勝箭逕到寶渚。語賈客言。取寶滿船莫令大重。得伊勒風是時船去疾勝箭。還閻浮提向薩薄王聚落。有二道。沙門億耳語諸商人。欲從何道。諸人咸言。陸道去好。夜住空澤。語諸商人。我曾聞賊來劫諸賈客。若前殺薩薄。則諸賈客無所成辦。若不殺薩薄。則以錢物力若自身力。若以他力必能得賊。我當餘處宿。去時當喚我。諸人言爾。億耳驅驢往別處宿。是諸賈客夜半發去。人人相覺竟不喚億耳。後夜天大風雨。億耳覺喚無應者。即時馳逐道多沙土。風雨流漫仰驢嗅蹤而前。億耳飢極前行見有一城。念想得食立於城門。隨念失聲唱言。食食。時無數百千餓鬼來出。皆言。何等食阿誰與億耳言。無食。我行飢極念想得食。因出此言我無食也。諸餓鬼言。此是餓鬼城。我百千萬歲今日乃聞唱食聲。我等不布施。慳悋多故墮餓鬼中。汝欲那去。億耳言。欲至薩薄王聚落。鬼言。從是道去。於是前行復見一城。隨念唱水其事如前。前行不久復見一樹。名波羅。夜於下宿。搖樹落葉細者自食麁者與驢。如是日暮。即有床出男女。顏貌端正著天寶冠共相娛樂。作是思惟。我不應爾看他。私事。時夜過晝來。即時床滅有狗來噉是男子肉盡骨在。億耳念言。是人先作何行今得此報。夜善晝惡。我待問之。至夜更有好床。男女娛樂。即往問之。男言。汝識阿濕摩伽阿槃地中薩薄王聚落某甲屠兒不。有長老迦旃延。常出入我家。我常供給飲食衣藥。彼常語我言。莫作惡行後得大苦。我時答言。先世已來以此為業。今若不作那得自活。旃延復言。汝作此惡為晝多夜多。我言晝多。即語我言。汝夜受五戒可獲微善。我即從受。今得此報。前行不久復見二樹。名波羅。住下止宿食葉如前。男女晝來相娛。暮則床女皆滅。百足蟲出噉是男子肉。盡骨在。億耳問言。汝作何行今獲此報。男言。阿濕摩伽阿槃地國中。薩薄王聚落。某甲男子婬犯他婦。有長老迦旃延出入我家。彼教我言。莫作惡行後得苦報。我答言。不能自抑當可如何。復語我言。汝於此事何時偏多。我言夜時多。迦栴延即語我言。受晝五戒可獲微善。我用其言故獲斯報。復見樹林池水清淨。億耳於中洗浴飲驢。是池邊有堂眾寶莊嚴。億耳仰視。即作是念。我飢渴欲死當何所在。即便上堂。說佛經偈。飢為第一病 行為第一苦如是知法實 涅槃第一樂見女人坐象牙床。床脚繫二餓鬼。是女識億耳。因問訊言。沙門億耳道路不極不渴飢耶。億耳答言。貴女乞我食。女言相與。但莫與是二餓鬼耳。女即與水洗手與食。是女欲令億耳知此因緣故小出堂外。時二餓鬼伸手言。乞我一口。乞我半口。我即腹中飢如火燒。億耳好施各與一口。變成膿血多咽還吐出滿臭穢。女言。我語汝莫與。何以與之。億耳言。姊妹。我不知故與。時更有一女來語。貴女。與我食。女言。食汝常食。作是語已。即有三奇鑊火湯沸。是女脫衣入鑊中皮肉爛盡。唯有骨髓冷風來吹出鑊還活。著衣噉其爛肉。噉已而去。更有女來言。貴人。與我食。女言。食汝常食。作是語竟。女變成羖羊噉草。億耳語女。是何等事。女言。汝識阿濕摩伽阿槃地國中薩薄王聚落不。億耳言識。是一鬼繫我頭邊床脚者。是我夫某甲居士。繫我脚邊床脚者。是我兒。有長老迦旃延出入我舍。受我供養衣服湯藥。是二人瞋我言。我覓時辛苦。而汝持與他空自疲勞。以是慳貪不喜布施墮餓鬼中。惡口業故與食變為膿血。億耳言。是女何以自噉其肉。女言。是我兒婦。與物令舉。或自噉或與人噉。我問覓。答言。我不噉亦不與他。若我自噉及與他者。當自噉我肉故自噉肉。第二女是我婢。我使舂磨。或自噉或與他。若問時言。我不自噉不與他。若自噉與他者我後世當作羊噉草。以是因緣今作羖羊噉草。億耳言。汝作何行。女言。我有少罪來生是中。當不久住生四天王天。汝能少為我往薩薄王聚落中。為語我女云。見汝父母兄婦及婢。唯汝母獨受福。餘者受罪。汝母因我語汝。莫作惡事後世多受苦報。汝若不信是汝母言。某處有藏大有錢財。取為我作福。供養眾僧及迦旃延。殘餘可以自活。問億耳言。汝欲去耶。答言欲去。女言。汝眠閉眼。須臾至薩薄王聚落。是諸賈客先到。諸人問不。見沙門億耳不。答言。海中失之。舉邑皆哭如喪父母。億耳聞之。若今見我必復擾動不須復歸。漸漸到女舍。共相問訊。以母言語女。女言。咄男子。汝癡狂人。我父母布施作福死必生天。何以在餓鬼中。億耳即語女言。汝母言。某處有藏大有錢物。使汝取供養。女聞開藏大得錢財。得以生信。如其母勅。請迦旃延隨從說法。即於坐上得諸法清淨無垢法眼得無所畏。禮迦旃延言。大德。我歸依三寶作優婆塞。欲於善勝法中出家受具足。迦旃延言。父母聽汝出家不。答言未聽。迦旃延言。我法父母不聽不得出家受具足。即便歸家禮拜父母。先由愁苦故並失明。聞億耳從大海中安隱還歸。悲喜淚出眼便還明。過五六日。白父母言。聽我出家。父母言。我本至心求願得汝。汝入海得死消息愁憂故眼盲。汝今來還我大歡喜眼得開視。汝今便為更生。汝受我語則為供養我。我壽命能過幾時。若能畢我等壽。不出家者我死不恨。億耳答言諾(出十誦律四誦第四卷)。
In the countries of Aśmaka and Avanti there was a village whose king was named Sàbáo. In it there was a very rich householder, abundant in wealth and treasure, but without a child. He sought one from every kind of spirit and could not get one.
When the time came for a child, his wife knew she was with child. This woman was sharp-faculted and had four uncommon kinds of knowledge: first, she knew when a man loved her; second, when a man did not; third, when she was with child; fourth, from whom she had conceived. She told the householder, and the householder was delighted.
When the months were full she bore a son with a golden ring in his ear. This boy was handsome and whoever saw him was glad. Brahmins were assembled and observed him and said: this boy truly has merit and power. Two names were given him. In a former life he had gone forth, and so he was named Śramaṇa; and the ear-ring, not being of human make, was worth a hundred million — so his full name was Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear. He was looked after by five nurses: first, one to care for his body; second, one to remove his dirt; third, a wet-nurse; fourth, an auspicious nurse; fifth, a nurse for play.
By the power of this boy’s merit he grew up quickly, and he was taught writing, numbers, reckoning, and seals, and knew well the relative worth of all goods, high and low. This king’s village was a place where merchants gathered. When people came there from the four directions, they would ask: who here has good qualities, that I may put a matter to him and be shown my profit and loss? People pointed out Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear, and the merchants went to him and took him as their principal.
Seeing his great power, the merchants thought: if he acts as caravan leader and takes a large party to sea, we shall surely come home safely. And they said: Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear, why do you not go to sea? He answered: what should I do at sea? There are many terrors there; of a hundred thousand who go, one comes back. The merchants urged him: what sort of man lives at another’s expense?
Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear was persuaded and wished to go, and went to his parents to take leave for the sea. Then his parents told him of all the terrors, hoping to make him change his mind and stop him; but he would not follow his parents’ words. His parents asked the notables to help them keep him back, and all the great officials, elders, and householders helped to keep him, and he would not follow any of them. His parents, knowing that his intention was fixed, then let him go.
So he rode an elephant and shook a bell and proclaimed throughout the village: Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear wishes to go to the great sea. I shall be the caravan leader — who wishes to come? Such was this man’s merit that five hundred merchants were all glad to follow him.
They fitted out the ship and put it in the water, cutting one cable a day; and on the seventh day they got the yīlè wind (which in the language of Liang is “the wind that follows what is good”), cut the seventh cable, and the ship ran faster than an arrow straight to the isle of treasure. He said to the merchants: load the ship with treasure, but do not make it too heavy. They got the yīlè wind, and the ship went faster than an arrow, and they came back to Jambudvīpa toward King Sàbáo’s village.
There were two roads. Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear said to the merchants: which road do you wish to take? They all said: the land road is better. At night they stayed in an empty marsh, and he said to the merchants: I have heard that bandits come to rob merchants. If they kill the caravan leader first, then the merchants can accomplish nothing; if they do not kill the caravan leader, then with money and goods, or with his own strength, or with the strength of others, he can certainly deal with the bandits. I shall sleep elsewhere. When you go, call me. They said they would.
Hundred-Million-Ear drove his donkey off to lodge apart, and the merchants set out in the middle of the night. Each thought the others had roused him, and in the end no one called Hundred-Million-Ear. In the last watch of the night there was a great wind and rain. Hundred-Million-Ear woke and called out, and no one answered; so he set off in pursuit at once. The road was much sand and earth, and the wind and rain had washed it away, and he went on relying on his donkey’s nose for the trail.
Hundred-Million-Ear, extremely hungry, went on and saw a city, and, thinking of getting food, stood at the city gate. Following his thought, the words escaped him aloud: food, food.
At once countless hundreds of thousands of hungry ghosts came out, all saying: what food? who is giving it? Hundred-Million-Ear said: there is no food. I am travelling and extremely hungry, and thinking of getting food I said those words. I have no food. The hungry ghosts said: this is the city of hungry ghosts. In a hundred thousand ten-thousands of years, only today have we heard the word “food” cried out. Because we did not give, and because of our great miserliness, we have fallen among hungry ghosts. Where do you wish to go? Hundred-Million-Ear said: to King Sàbáo’s village. The ghosts said: go by that road.
Going on, he saw another city, and following his thought he cried out for water, and the same thing happened as before.
Going on not far, he saw a tree named pāra, and lodged for the night beneath it, shaking the tree so that the leaves fell, eating the fine ones himself and giving the coarse to his donkey. At dusk there appeared a couch, and a man and a woman of upright and handsome appearance wearing heavenly jeweled crowns, who enjoyed each other together. He thought: I should not look at another’s private affairs. When night passed and day came, the couch vanished at once and dogs came and ate the man’s flesh until only the bones remained.
Hundred-Million-Ear thought: what did this man do before, to get this reward — good by night and evil by day? I shall wait and ask him. At night there was again a fine couch and the man and woman enjoying themselves, and he went and asked. The man said: do you know a certain butcher in King Sàbáo’s village in Aśmaka and Avanti? There was a venerable named Kātyāyana who used to come and go at my house, and I always supplied him with food, drink, clothing, and medicine. He always said to me: do not do evil deeds, or afterward you will get great suffering. I answered him: this has been my trade since former generations; if I do not do it now, how am I to live? Kātyāyana said again: in doing this evil, is it more by day or by night? I said: more by day. And he said to me: take the five precepts by night, and you may gain a little good. I received them from him, and now I get this reward.
Going on not far, he saw two trees, also named pāra, and stayed and lodged beneath them and ate leaves as before. A man and a woman came in the daytime and enjoyed each other, and at dusk the couch and the woman vanished, and centipedes came out and ate the man’s flesh until only the bones remained. Hundred-Million-Ear asked: what did you do, to get this reward? The man said: in King Sàbáo’s village in the country of Aśmaka and Avanti there was a certain man who committed adultery with others’ wives. The venerable Kātyāyana came and went at my house, and he taught me: do not do evil deeds, or afterward you will get a painful reward. I answered: I cannot restrain myself; what is to be done? He said again: in this matter, at what time is it more? I said: at night, more. And Kātyāyana said to me: take the five precepts by day, and you may gain a little good. Because I did as he said, I get this reward.
Going on, he saw a grove and a pool of clean water, and Hundred-Million-Ear bathed in it and watered his donkey. Beside the pool there was a hall adorned with many jewels. Hundred-Million-Ear looked up and thought: I am dying of hunger and thirst — where can I turn? And he went up into the hall and spoke a verse from the Buddha’s sūtras:
“Hunger is the first among diseases; / the constructed is the first among sufferings. / Knowing this as the truth of the Dharma, / nirvāṇa is the first among joys.”
He saw a woman sitting on an ivory couch, with two hungry ghosts bound to the couch legs. This woman recognized Hundred-Million-Ear, and greeted him: Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear, are you not worn out from the road, and thirsty and hungry? Hundred-Million-Ear answered: noble lady, give me food. The woman said: I shall — only do not give any to these two hungry ghosts. And she gave him water to wash his hands, and gave him food.
This woman, wishing Hundred-Million-Ear to know the causes of this, went a little way out of the hall; and the two hungry ghosts stretched out their hands and said: give me one mouthful, give me half a mouthful — my belly burns with hunger like fire. Hundred-Million-Ear, being fond of giving, gave each of them one mouthful, and it turned into pus and blood, and the more they swallowed the more they vomited it up again, full of foul stench.
The woman said: I told you not to give them any. Why did you? Hundred-Million-Ear said: sister, I did not know, and so I gave.
Then another woman came and said: noble lady, give me food. The woman said: eat your usual food. As soon as she had said this, there appeared a strange cauldron with fire and boiling water, and this woman took off her clothes and got into the cauldron, and her skin and flesh boiled away entirely until only bone and marrow were left; and a cold wind came and blew, and she came out of the cauldron and lived again, put on her clothes, and ate her own boiled flesh, and having eaten it went away.
Another woman came and said: noble one, give me food. The woman said: eat your usual food. When she had said this, the woman turned into a black ewe eating grass.
Hundred-Million-Ear said to the woman: what are these things? The woman said: do you know King Sàbáo’s village in the country of Aśmaka and Avanti? Hundred-Million-Ear said: I know it. She said: this ghost tied to the couch-leg by my head is a certain householder, my husband; the one tied to the couch-leg by my feet is my son. The venerable Kātyāyana used to come and go at my house and received my offerings of clothing and medicine, and these two were angry with me and said: what we seek costs us bitter labor, and you take it and give it to others, and tire yourself out for nothing. Because of that miserliness and unwillingness to give they fell among hungry ghosts; and because of the evil speech, food given to them turns into pus and blood.
Hundred-Million-Ear said: and why does that woman eat her own flesh? The woman said: she is my son’s wife. I gave her things to put away, and she either ate them herself or gave them to others to eat. When I asked after them she said: I did not eat them and did not give them to anyone; and if I have eaten them myself or given them to others, may I eat my own flesh. And so she eats her own flesh.
The second woman was my maidservant. I set her to pound and grind, and she either ate some herself or gave it to others; and when asked she said: I did not eat it myself and did not give it to others; and if I have eaten it or given it away, may I in a later life be a sheep eating grass. By that cause she is now a black ewe eating grass.
Hundred-Million-Ear said: and what did you do? The woman said: I have some slight offense and have come to be born here; but I shall not stay long and shall be born in the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings. Could you do a small thing for me and go to King Sàbáo’s village and tell my daughter: you have seen your father, your mother, your brother’s wife, and the maidservant; your mother alone receives blessing and the rest receive punishment. Tell her, because of what I say to you, not to do evil deeds, or she will receive much suffering in a later life. And if she does not believe that these are her mother’s words — in such and such a place there is a hoard with a great deal of money in it. Let her take it and make merit for me, making offerings to the community of monks and to Kātyāyana, and live on what is left over.
She asked Hundred-Million-Ear: do you wish to go? He answered: I do. The woman said: close your eyes and sleep. In a moment he was in King Sàbáo’s village.
The merchants had arrived first, and the people had asked them whether they had not seen Śramaṇa Hundred-Million-Ear, and they had answered: we lost him at sea. The whole town wept as though for a father and mother. Hundred-Million-Ear heard of it and thought: if they see me now they will be thrown into commotion again; I need not go home yet. Little by little he came to the daughter’s house, and they greeted each other, and he gave the daughter her mother’s words.
The daughter said: you there — you are a mad fool. My father and mother gave alms and made merit; when they died they must surely have been born in heaven. How should they be among hungry ghosts? Hundred-Million-Ear then said to her: your mother says that in such and such a place there is a hoard with a great deal of money, and that you are to take it and make offerings. The daughter, hearing this, opened the hoard and obtained much money, and by this came to faith. As her mother had directed, she invited Kātyāyana and followed his teaching; and on her seat she obtained the pure, stainless Dharma-eye with regard to all things, and obtained fearlessness.
He bowed to Kātyāyana and said: great one, I take refuge in the Three Jewels and become a lay follower; and I wish to go forth in this good and excellent Dharma and receive the full precepts. Kātyāyana said: have your parents given you leave to go forth? He answered: they have not. Kātyāyana said: in my Dharma, one whose parents have not given leave may not go forth and receive the full precepts.
So he went home and bowed to his parents. Both of them had gone blind from grief before; hearing that Hundred-Million-Ear had come safely back from the great sea, they wept for sorrow and joy, and their eyes saw again.
Five or six days later he said to his parents: let me go forth. His parents said: we sought you with all our hearts and obtained you. When you went to sea and news of your death came, we went blind with grief. Now you have come back and we are greatly delighted and our eyes have opened. You are now as one born again. If you accept our words, that is to serve us. How long can our lives last? If you will see out our lives and not go forth, we shall die without regret. Hundred-Million-Ear answered: yes (Source: Sarvāstivāda Vinaya, fourth recitation, fascicle 4).
This is the story of Śroṇa Koṭikarṇa, the disciple of Mahākātyāyana in Avanti whose ordination there occasioned the Buddha's relaxation of several rules for outlying regions. The Chinese here spells out the etymology of the name: he was called Śramaṇa because he had gone forth in a former life, and Hundred-Million-Ear because the ring he was born wearing was worth a hundred million. We have translated the name as the Chinese explains it rather than substituting the reconstructed Sanskrit.
The heart of the entry is the sequence of six tableaux he walks through, and every one of them is a case of partial observance. Two men were told by Kātyāyana to stop doing what they were doing; each said he could not, was asked at which time of day he did it most, and was given the precepts for the other half. So each is now blissful for half the day and eaten alive for the other half. The arrangement is stated without irony and is treated as a genuine gain: they gained a little good.
The woman in the jeweled hall is the counter-case. She gave; her husband and son resented the giving, and are tied to her couch legs, unable to eat anything but pus and blood. Her daughter-in-law swore falsely about eating what she had been given to store, specifying the punishment herself — may I eat my own flesh — and does so nightly. The maidservant swore the same kind of oath and is now a black ewe. Note that in both cases what damns them is not the theft but the oath they attached to it.
The entry ends without resolution. Hundred-Million-Ear asks to ordain, is told he needs his parents' permission, goes home, restores his parents' sight simply by arriving, and is asked to wait until they die. His answer is one word.
2. A Lay Follower Keeps the Precepts and a Ghost Fetches the Flowers in His Place
A king who wants another man's wife sends the husband on an errand designed to kill him. The man-eating ghost he meets on the road turns out to have a keener sense of justice than the king does.
昔有優婆塞。僑居舍衛國。婦形端正一國同聞。朋友欲觀終不肯示。人以白王。王思欲見不知何由。一臣啟言。夫婦並持五戒供養道士手自斟酌。王可詐作道士持鉢詣門。必得見之。即隨臣言。權變形服竊到其家。婦見道士頭面作禮。王覩察已還語臣等。此婦實好入我心中。不知何從得之。眾臣白言。此雖僑士應覲於王。憍慢不來可以為罪。去舍衛城千有餘里。大池水中生五色蓮華。聞有三難。蝮蛇鬼神惡狩。罪應死者使往取華。輒沒於彼。王便呼問言。卿何等人再拜答曰大王民也。王言。何以不來。答曰。愚癡不及耳。自知有罪。王言。罰卿詣池取華七日當還。若違期至當重治卿。受教辭退。還具告婦。婦語夫言。君今有罪由我美色。君識佛明教三界無怙唯戒可恃。上道之日心念三尊口誦十善莫忘須臾。若君不還吾當出家以戒自樂不經二男。給夫資糧。辭決進路行至半道。有啖人鬼問曰。何人答言。是佛弟子。鬼言。諸犯罪者遣付吾等。詐言取華。賢者實犯罪。為惡人所讒。答鬼言。人命難得唯在大神耳。鬼言。卿是佛弟子又復無罪。我不相害也。餘有二難恐卿不免當如之何。鬼復言曰。相代取花以濟卿身。使我長夜得福無量。卿急住此間鬼於是去。須臾便還。五色好華以與賢者。賢者重不能舉。鬼便取華并扶賢者。屈申臂頃已到宮門。辭別而去。賢者詣門自通。王怪還速。具問本末。如實自陳。王大驚慚曰。鬼無人義害於眾生。今濟善人我乃無義。不別善惡不如鬼魅。即自責過稽首歸命。願為弟子。奉受五戒廣行六度。國致太平。賢者夫婦并加精進。得不退轉(出譬喻經第五卷)。
Long ago there was a lay follower living as a sojourner in the kingdom of Śrāvastī. His wife’s form was beautiful and the whole kingdom had heard of it, and his friends wished to see her and he would never show her. Someone reported it to the king, and the king longed to see her but did not know how.
One minister said: the husband and wife both keep the five precepts and make offerings to religious men, ladling out the food with their own hands. The king might disguise himself as a religious and go to the door with a bowl, and would certainly get to see her. So he did as the minister said, changed his form and dress, and came secretly to the house; and the wife, seeing the religious, bowed her head and face to him. When the king had looked his fill he went back and told his ministers: this woman is truly fine and has entered into my heart. I do not know how to get her.
The ministers said: although he is a sojourner, he ought to attend upon the king; his arrogance in not coming may be made an offense. More than a thousand li from the city of Śrāvastī there is a great pool in whose waters grow lotuses of five colors, and it is said there are three perils there — the viper, the ghosts and spirits, and savage beasts. Those whose offense deserves death are sent to fetch the flowers, and they always perish there.
The king then summoned him and asked: what sort of man are you? He bowed twice and answered: a subject of the great king. The king said: why have you not come? He answered: I am foolish and did not think of it; I know I am at fault. The king said: I punish you by sending you to the pool to fetch flowers; you are to be back in seven days. If you exceed the term, you shall be punished heavily.
He received the order and withdrew, and went back and told his wife everything. His wife said to her husband: your offense now comes from my beauty. You know the Buddha’s clear teaching, that in the three realms there is nothing to rely on and only the precepts can be depended upon. On the day you take the road, keep the Three Honored Ones in mind, recite the ten wholesome deeds with your mouth, and do not forget them for a moment. If you do not come back, I shall go forth and take my joy in the precepts, and shall not know a second man. And she gave her husband provisions, and they parted and he took the road.
Halfway along, a man-eating ghost asked: who are you? He answered: a disciple of the Buddha. The ghost said: offenders are sent over to us. Under pretense of fetching flowers — worthy sir, have you really offended? He answered: I was slandered by an evil man. He said to the ghost: a human life is hard to obtain, and it rests with the great spirit.
The ghost said: you are a disciple of the Buddha and moreover you have not offended; I shall not harm you. But there are two more perils, and I fear you will not escape them — what is to be done? And the ghost said further: let me fetch the flowers in your place and so save your body, and let me thereby gain measureless merit through the long night. Stay here — and the ghost went off.
In a moment he was back with fine five-colored flowers, and gave them to the worthy man; but they were too heavy for him to lift. So the ghost took the flowers and supported the worthy man as well, and in the time it takes to bend and stretch an arm they were at the palace gate; and the ghost took his leave and went.
The worthy man went to the gate and announced himself, and the king, surprised at how quickly he had returned, asked him about the whole matter, and he told it truthfully. The king was greatly startled and ashamed, and said: a ghost has no human sense of duty and harms living beings, and yet it has saved a good man — while I have no sense of duty at all, and, unable to tell good from evil, am worse than a ghost or a goblin. And he reproached himself for his fault and bowed his head and took refuge, and asked to be a disciple, and received the five precepts and widely practiced the six perfections; and the kingdom came to great peace. The worthy man and his wife also increased their diligence and attained non-retrogression (Source: Parables Sūtra, fascicle 5).
The moral turn of this story is placed in the king's own mouth, and it is unusually sharp: a ghost has no human sense of duty and harms living beings, and yet it has saved a good man — while I have no sense of duty at all, and, unable to tell good from evil, am worse than a ghost or a goblin. The man-eating ghost, for its part, gives two reasons for sparing him and helping him, and the second is self-interested: let me gain measureless merit by it.
Note the wife's speech, which is the practical center of the story. She does not ask him to stay, does not petition the king, and does not blame anyone but herself for the beauty that caused it. What she gives him is provisions and an instruction — recite, and do not forget for a moment — and a statement of what she will do if he does not come back.
3. A Lay Follower, a King's Cook, Is Forced to Kill, and His Fingers Bring Forth a Lion
A cook ordered to slaughter five hundred animals for a state sacrifice refuses, is sentenced to be trampled by elephants, and states his arithmetic plainly before the sentence is carried out.
佛泥洹後百年。國王奉事天神。大祠祀用牛羊猪犬雞等各百頭。皆使厨士殺之。時厨士言。我受佛戒不得殺生。厨監大恚白王治之。王言。違教者死。厨士對曰。我是佛弟子受持五戒。寧自殺身不違佛教而當殺生。若當從王教犯殺者。死入地獄罪竟乃出常當短命。持戒死者。即生天上天上福樂所願自然。假令當死轉此人身當受天形。我以是故死不殺耳。王言。與汝七日期。當以象蹈殺汝。若不死者。汝語有實。七日以後王看是優婆塞身如佛身。驅五百象往蹈殺之。優婆塞如佛法則舉五指。化為五山。一山間有一師子出。象見師子惶怖伏地。如佛在時。王時信佛。便廢祠祀。即從此士受佛五戒。吏民內外皆亦受法。遂為國師(出譬喻經第六卷)。
A hundred years after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, a king served the gods, and at a great sacrifice used a hundred head each of oxen, sheep, pigs, dogs, and chickens, and had his cooks kill them all. Then one cook said: I have received the Buddha’s precepts and may not kill living beings. The kitchen overseer was enraged and reported him to the king to be punished. The king said: one who goes against the order dies.
The cook answered: I am a disciple of the Buddha and hold the five precepts. I would sooner kill myself than go against the Buddha’s teaching and kill living beings. If I obey the king’s order and offend by killing, I shall die and enter hell, and only when the offense is done with shall I come out, and then always be short-lived. One who dies keeping the precepts is at once born in heaven, where the blessings and joys of heaven come of themselves as one wishes. Even if I must die, this human body will be exchanged for a heavenly form. That is why I would die and not kill.
The king said: I give you seven days’ term, and then I shall have you trampled to death by elephants. If you do not die, your words are true.
After the seven days the king looked upon this lay follower and his body was like the Buddha’s body. He drove five hundred elephants forward to trample him. The lay follower, following the Buddha’s method, raised his five fingers, and they turned into five mountains, and from between the mountains a lion came out; and the elephants, seeing the lion, were terrified and lay flat on the ground, as when the Buddha was in the world.
The king then had faith in the Buddha and abolished the sacrifices, and received the Buddha’s five precepts from this man; and the officials and people, within and without, all received the teaching, and he became the teacher of the kingdom (Source: Parables Sūtra, fascicle 6).
The cook's argument, delivered to a king who has just told him that disobedience means death, is a piece of plain calculation and worth setting out. If I kill on your order I go to hell, and when the sentence is served I shall be short-lived ever after; if I die keeping the precept I am born in heaven at once. Even if I must die, this human body is exchanged for a heavenly one. He is not choosing martyrdom over life; he is comparing two outcomes and choosing the better.
The entry is explicitly dated a hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, which places it in the compendium's small class of post-canonical stories.
4. A Lay Follower Is Tested by Māra
Four sentences of dialogue in a stone chamber in the snow, and one of the more abrupt rescues in the compendium.
有一優婆塞。與眾估客遠出治生。遇天寒雪。夜行失伴住一石室。時有山神變為女像。來試之曰。白雪覆天地鳥獸皆隱藏。我獨無所恃。唯願見愍傷。優婆塞兩手掩耳曰。無羞弊惡人說此不淨語。水漂火焚之不欲見聞汝。有婦心不欲。何況作邪婬。欲樂情淺薄大苦可畏深。山神聞之。兩手擎捧送至伴中(出大智論第十七卷)。
There was a lay follower who went far out to trade with a company of merchants, and met with cold weather and snow; travelling by night he lost his companions and stopped in a stone chamber.
Then a mountain spirit changed into the form of a woman and came to test him, saying: white snow covers heaven and earth and the birds and beasts are all in hiding. I alone have nothing to depend on; I ask only that you pity me.
The lay follower covered his ears with both hands and said: shameless, corrupt creature, to speak such impure words. Let water wash them away and fire burn them; I do not wish to see or hear you. I have a wife and have no wish for her — how much less to commit adultery. The joy of desire is shallow and thin; the great suffering is deep and to be feared.
The mountain spirit, hearing this, lifted him up in both hands and carried him to where his companions were (Source: Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, fascicle 17).
5. A Believing Layman Marries His Daughter into a Household That Serves Ghosts
A bride's parents suggest she give up her precepts on the grounds that marrying her off is already like throwing gold into cow dung. Her reply uses their own image against them.
優婆塞嫁女與世間人。臨遣女時。父母欲奪女戒。女言。云何奪戒。父母言。法嫁女與世俗人。如黃金擲牛屎中。復用戒為。女言。如人遠行大空澤中無有人民。應益裝糧食。世家事鬼恐鬼儻得我便。應益持戒令志堅固。黃金在牛屎中。洗自可用。豈便與牛屎同耶。父母感其言。以佛像與之。女致嚴器中。朝暮向器作禮。婿問。婦答。是佛能令頭不白顏色常好。婿同供養。後同生天不更三塗(出十卷譬喻經第五卷)。
A lay follower married his daughter to a worldly man, and as he was sending her off her parents wished to take her precepts from her. The daughter said: why take my precepts away? Her parents said: it is the rule to marry a daughter to a worldly man, like throwing yellow gold into cow dung. What further use are the precepts?
The daughter said: it is as when a person travels far into a great empty waste where there are no people — they should add to their provisions. In a worldly household they serve ghosts, and I fear the ghosts may get the better of me; so I should hold the precepts all the more firmly, to make my resolve strong. As for the yellow gold in the cow dung — wash it and it can be used. Would it become the same thing as the cow dung?
Her parents were moved by her words and gave her an image of the Buddha. The daughter put it in a covered vessel and bowed toward the vessel morning and evening. Her husband asked about it and his wife answered: this is the Buddha; he can keep the head from turning white and the complexion always fine. Her husband made offerings with her, and afterward they were born in heaven together and did not pass again through the three evil destinies (Source: Ten-Fascicle Parables Sūtra, fascicle 5).
The parents' image — marrying a daughter to a worldly man is like throwing yellow gold into cow dung — is a striking thing for parents to say while arranging the marriage, and the daughter takes it up rather than disputing it: wash the gold and it can still be used; it does not become dung. Her other argument is the practical one, that a household which serves ghosts is exactly where one needs the precepts most, as a traveller entering an empty waste adds to their provisions rather than lightening the load.
What she then does with the image of the Buddha her parents give her is worth noticing. She keeps it in a covered vessel and bows toward the vessel, and when her husband asks, she says it keeps the hair from turning white and the complexion fine. The story does not treat this as a lie or as a compromise; the husband joins her, and they are born in heaven together.
6. A Believing Layman, Diligent at First and Then Slack, Later Grows Ashamed, and a Ghost Cannot Harm Him
A lapsed layman is marked for death by a brahmin who can command ghosts. An arhat gives him one night's instruction, and the law governing ghosts does the rest.
昔有清信士。始受戒時精進少雙。後年衰老違遠賢眾。獨處山岨志更陵遲。荒于田園忘佛廢法。更成凡夫。其山中有梵志道士。渴欲求飲。田家事遑無與之者。梵志有怨遂爾恨去。梵志能起死人并使鬼神。即召殺鬼勅之曰。彼人辱我爾往殺之。山中有羅漢知之往至田家。田家見沙門欣然稽首。為設一食。沙門曰。汝今日夕早燃燈勤三自歸誦守口攝意偈。慈念眾生可長安隱。沙門去後主人如教。通曉念佛誦戒不廢。殺鬼至曉伺其微便欲以殺之。覩彼慈心無緣殺焉。鬼神之法人令己殺己使欲殺。但彼有不可殺之德。法當還殺便已。殺者鬼乃恚欲害梵志。羅漢以威神蔽之。令鬼不見。田家悟道。梵志得活。鬼遂不獲殺生之罪。田家一時受三自歸。念佛不懈。全一門之命(出墮落優婆塞經又出十卷譬喻經第五卷)。
Long ago there was a lay follower who, when he first received the precepts, was almost without equal in diligence. In later years he grew old and weak, went far from the community of the worthy, and dwelt alone in a rugged place in the mountains, and his resolve declined further. He let his fields and gardens run to waste, forgot the Buddha and abandoned the Dharma, and became an ordinary man again.
In those mountains there was a brahmin religious who was parched and wanted a drink; the farmer’s household was in a bustle and no one gave him any, and the brahmin bore a grudge and went away in resentment. This brahmin could raise the dead and could command ghosts and spirits, and he summoned a killing-ghost and ordered it: that man has insulted me — go and kill him.
In the mountains there was an arhat who knew of it and went to the farmer’s house, and the farmer, seeing a śramaṇa, was glad and bowed his head, and set out a meal for him. The śramaṇa said: today, at nightfall, light your lamp early and diligently take the three refuges, and recite the verse on guarding the mouth and collecting the mind, and think with loving-kindness of all beings, and you may long be at peace.
After the śramaṇa had gone, the householder did as he had been taught, and through the whole night kept the Buddha in mind and recited the precepts without stopping. The killing-ghost came and watched until dawn for the slightest opening in which to kill him, and, seeing that heart of loving-kindness, had no occasion by which to kill him.
It is the law of ghosts and spirits that when a man makes one kill and one is thereby made to wish to kill, but the intended victim has the virtue of not being killable, then the law is that the killer is killed instead. So the ghost then wished in anger to harm the brahmin, but the arhat by his majestic power screened him, so that the ghost could not see him.
The farmer awoke to the path; the brahmin kept his life; the ghost did not incur the offense of taking life; and the farmer at one stroke received the three refuges, kept the Buddha in mind without slackening, and preserved the lives of a whole household (Source: Sūtra of the Fallen Lay Follower; also Ten-Fascicle Parables Sūtra, fascicle 5).
7. A Believing Layman at the Point of Death, Husband and Wife Loving Each Other, Is Born as a Worm in His Wife's Nose
A man of exemplary practice is asked by his dying wife's side what she is to do without him, and the affection that answer produces is enough to lodge his consciousness in her nose.
有清信士。持戒精進不懈。有一沙門已棄重擔。生死永盡逮得神通。與共親友。時清信士卒得困疾。醫藥不治婦大悲苦。謂其夫言。共為夫婦卿獨受苦。以何方便分病令輕。設卿無常我何所依。兒子孤單復何恃怙。夫聞益懷愛戀。大命將至應時即死。魂神即還在婦鼻中。化作一蟲。婦大啼哭不能自止。時道人往與婦相見。故欲諫喻令捐愁憂。婦見道人來益用悲慟。奈何和上夫婿已死。蟲從鼻涕忽然墮地。婦即慚愧欲以脚踏。道人告曰。止止莫殺。是卿夫婿化作此蟲。婦曰道人。我夫奉經持戒精進難及。何緣壽終轉形作此。道人答曰。過起愛戀今生為蟲。道人為蟲說經。卿精進奉經持戒福應生天見諸佛。但坐恩愛戀慕之想。墮此蟲中。即可慚愧。蟲聞意解。便自剋責。俄而命終。即得生天(出居士物故為婦鼻中蟲經)。
There was a lay follower who kept the precepts with unremitting diligence. There was a śramaṇa who had already put down the heavy burden, whose birth and death were forever ended and who had attained the supernormal powers, and the two were friends.
Then the lay follower suddenly fell gravely ill, and medicine did not cure him, and his wife grieved bitterly and said to her husband: we have been husband and wife together, and you alone suffer. By what means may I share the illness and lighten it? If you are gone, on what shall I depend? Our son will be left alone — on what shall he rely?
Her husband, hearing this, was the more filled with love and attachment, and his great end came upon him and at that moment he died. His spirit came back at once into his wife’s nose and became a worm there.
His wife wept bitterly and could not stop. Then the religious came to see the wife, meaning to admonish and console her and get her to set her grief aside; but the wife, seeing him come, grew the more violent in her grief: alas, reverend, my husband is dead. And the worm came out with her mucus and suddenly fell to the ground, and the wife, ashamed, was about to tread on it with her foot.
The religious told her: stop, stop, do not kill it. This is your husband, who has become this worm. The wife said: reverend, my husband upheld the sūtras and kept the precepts with a diligence hard to match. How is it that at the end of his life he was changed into this?
The religious answered: love and attachment arose in him, and so he is now born a worm. And the religious taught the sūtra to the worm: you kept the sūtras and the precepts with diligence, and the merit of it should have brought you birth in heaven to see the buddhas; but simply through the thought of affection and longing you have fallen into this worm. You may well be ashamed.
The worm, hearing, understood in mind and reproached itself; and in a moment its life ended, and it was born in heaven (Source: Sūtra of the Householder Who Died and Became a Worm in His Wife’s Nose).
The wife's speech is the mechanism of the whole story and it is entirely well meant: how shall I share your illness and lighten it, what shall I depend on, what will our son rely on. It is the affection this produces in the dying man — not any fault of practice, which the text is careful to say was exemplary — that lodges him in her nose as a worm.
The detail that gives the entry its force is the wife's reflex when the worm falls out of her nose onto the floor: she is ashamed, and lifts her foot to crush it. The monk's first words are to stop her.
8. Bakkula Keeps One Precept and Obtains Five Rewards of Not Dying
Bakkula's childhood in four attempts: the steamer, the griddle, the river, and the fish — the last of which is bought at market by his own father.
昔有一人。唯有一兒。名薄拘羅。年始七歲。其婦命終更取後室。憎前婦子甑中蒸䴵。兒問母索。母抱放甑中。以瓫合頭欲令兒死。兒於甑中食䴵不死。後復抱置熱鐵鏊上。於鏊食䴵不以為災。後詣河邊浣衣。擲深水中為魚所吞。經于七日。父請眾僧為設大會。買得一魚車載歸家。欲破魚腹。兒言。徐徐莫傷兒頭。此兒先受不殺一戒。今得五種不死(出譬喻經)。
Long ago there was a man who had only one son, named Bakkula, who was just seven years old. His wife died and he took a second wife, who hated the son of the first wife.
She was steaming cakes in a steamer, and the boy asked his mother for one; and the mother took him and put him in the steamer and covered the top with a basin, meaning to kill him. In the steamer the boy ate the cakes and did not die.
Afterward she took him and set him on a hot iron griddle, and on the griddle he ate cakes and took no harm from it. Afterward, going to the riverside to wash clothes, she threw him into deep water and he was swallowed by a fish.
Seven days went by, and his father invited the community of monks and set out a great gathering, and bought a fish and carted it home; and when they were about to cut open the fish’s belly, the boy said: gently, gently — do not hurt the boy’s head. This boy had earlier taken the one precept against killing, and now obtained five kinds of not dying (Source: Parables Sūtra).
9. Keeping the Precepts, Reciting Sūtras, and Keeping a Lamp Burning as an Offering, Ghosts Cannot Harm Him
A man told by a fortune-teller that he has thirteen days to live goes to the Buddha for a second opinion, and gets a practical countermeasure.
昔有兄弟五人。父教持戒。大兒獨不肯持戒。齎五枚錢至相師許求。相師言。年可百歲當大富貴。又言定惡。復言不好。剋後十三日。卿當死亡。其人大怖言。非是世間常師所能療治。唯有佛豫知未然。近在耆闍崛山中。可往問之。於是即往問佛。佛言。卿有宿命對怨家欲來取卿。卿若欲得免者。當持五戒乃可得脫。卿歸益辦脂燭焚之過十三日。即受歸戒燃燈續明。終日竟夜諷誦經偈。言南無佛。歸命佛慎莫休息。過十三日便自得脫。其夜即有二鬼往共殺之。一鬼住百步外。使一鬼往殺。見燈火光明。但聞呼南無佛歸命佛聲。不敢前逆語一鬼言。此人不可復得。但呼南無佛歸命佛。我惡聞是聲令我頭痛。於是二鬼便相持走去不復近之。從是以後長得安隱(出諸經中要事)。
Long ago there were five brothers whose father taught them to keep the precepts. The eldest son alone would not keep them, and took five coins to a physiognomist and asked him. The physiognomist said: you may live a hundred years and become very rich and noble. Then he said: it is decidedly bad. Then he said again: it is not good. He fixed a date thirteen days off: you are to die then.
The man was greatly frightened and said: this is not something the ordinary teachers of the world can cure. Only the Buddha knows what has not yet come, and he is near, on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa; I may go and ask him. So he went at once and asked the Buddha.
The Buddha said: you have an enemy from a former life who is coming to take you. If you wish to escape, you must keep the five precepts, and then you may get free. Go home and prepare a good supply of tallow candles and burn them for the thirteen days.
So he received the refuges and the precepts and lit lamps and kept the light going, and all day and all night recited sūtra verses, saying: homage to the Buddha; I take refuge in the Buddha — and did not rest.
That night two ghosts came to kill him. One ghost stopped a hundred paces off and sent the other to do the killing. It saw the light of the lamps and heard nothing but the cry of homage to the Buddha, I take refuge in the Buddha, and dared not go forward, and turned back and said to the other ghost: this man cannot be got at any more; he only cries homage to the Buddha, I take refuge in the Buddha, and I hate to hear that sound — it makes my head ache. At this the two ghosts took hold of one another and ran off and did not come near him again; and from then on he was long at peace (Source: Essential Matters from the Sūtras).
10. Firm-Holding Asks to Give the Buddha's Precepts Back, and Ghosts Come Out of His Mouth and Beat His Body
A brahmin's son travels abroad, acquires a taste for everything the precepts forbid, and goes to the Buddha to hand them back. The Buddha says nothing at all.
昔迦羅奈國。有婆羅門子。名曰執持。受佛禁戒無所違犯。執持久後到他國中。見人殺盜婬便貪愛之。見人好惡便論道之。見飲酒者便欲追之。無一時定。便自念言。悔受戒誓當以還佛。即詣佛所言。前受五戒多所禁制不得從意。佛法尊重非我凡類所能恭事。罷可得不。佛默然不應。言已未絕。口中便有自然鬼神。持鐵椎拍執持頭。復有鬼神脫其衣裳鉤其舌者。有婬女鬼刀割其陰。有鬼洋銅澆其口。前後左右皆諸鬼神。競來分裂取其血肉。而噉食之。又有自然之火焚燒其身。求生不得求死不得。諸鬼急持不令得動。佛見問曰。汝今云何執持口噤不能復言。但手自搏。佛以威神救度長者。諸鬼神王見佛世尊。各立一面。於是得蘇。便起叩頭前白佛言。我身有五賊。掔我入三惡道。坐欲作罪違負所受。願佛愍我。從今改往修來奉受戒法。持月六齋歲三長齋。燒香散華懸雜幡蓋。供事三寶不敢復犯。佛言。汝今所言是為大善。汝若眼見自作自得罪非天授與(出大灌頂經第三卷)。
Long ago in the kingdom of Jiāluónài there was a brahmin’s son named Firm-Holding, who received the Buddha’s precepts and transgressed none of them.
Long afterward Firm-Holding went to another country, and, seeing people kill, steal, and commit adultery, he came to covet these things; seeing people’s good and bad points, he discussed them; and seeing people drinking, he wished to join them. There was not a moment’s steadiness in him, and he thought: I regret taking the precepts and vow to give them back to the Buddha.
So he went to where the Buddha was and said: the five precepts I received before restrain me in many ways and I cannot follow my own inclination. The Buddha’s Dharma is honored and weighty and is not what an ordinary person like me can serve. May I be released from it?
The Buddha was silent and did not answer. The words were hardly out of his mouth when there appeared of themselves ghosts and spirits in his mouth, who took iron mallets and struck Firm-Holding’s head; and other spirits stripped off his clothes and hooked his tongue; and a lustful female ghost cut his genitals with a knife; and a ghost poured molten copper into his mouth. Before and behind, left and right, spirits vied to come and tear him apart and take his blood and flesh and eat it; and a spontaneous fire burned his body, so that he could neither find life nor find death; and the ghosts held him fast and would not let him move.
The Buddha saw it and asked: how is it with you now, Firm-Holding? His mouth was shut and he could not speak, and only beat himself with his hands.
The Buddha with his majestic power rescued and delivered the elder, and the ghost-spirit kings, seeing the Buddha, the World-Honored One, each stood to one side, and so he revived.
He rose and knocked his head on the ground and came forward and said to the Buddha: in my body there are five thieves who drag me into the three evil destinies, and out of desire I would have committed an offense and gone back on what I received. I ask the Buddha to pity me. From now on I shall reform the past and cultivate the future, and receive and uphold the precepts, keeping the six fast days each month and the three long fasts each year, burning incense, scattering flowers, hanging up banners and canopies of many kinds, and serving the Three Jewels, and shall not dare to transgress again.
The Buddha said: what you now say is very good. If your own eyes have seen it — you do it yourself and you get the offense yourself; it is not conferred on you by heaven (Source: Great Abhiṣeka Sūtra, fascicle 3).
The Buddha's response to the request is silence, and the punishment begins before the request is even finished — the ghosts come out of the man's own mouth, which is the organ the request was made with. The catalogue that follows is graphic and we have not abridged it.
The line the entry closes on is doing real work, and it is not about the precepts at all: you do it yourself and you get the offense yourself; it is not conferred on you by heaven. The ghosts, the mallets, the molten copper, and the fire are all being attributed to the man rather than to any external agency, including the Buddha, who did not answer him.
The source, the Great Abhiṣeka Sūtra, is a Chinese compilation with a strong ritual and apotropaic cast, and several of this fascicle's other entries — the lamps against the killing-ghost in entry 9, the banners and incense in entry 11 — belong to the same devotional register.
11. A Man Who Did Not Believe in Offense and Merit Dreams a Ghost Comes for Him, Takes the Precepts, and Lives a Hundred Years
A short piece: a dream, a diviner, ten days of lamps and banners, and a ghost that turns around at the gate.
昔人不信罪福。年已五十。夢見殺鬼欲來取之。眠覺惶怖求師占夢。師作卦兆云。有殺鬼必欲相害不過十日。若欲攘此。從今已去十日中間。受佛五戒燒香燃燈懸繒幡蓋。信向三寶可免此死。即依此法專心信向。殺鬼到門見作功德不能得害。鬼即走去。其人緣斯壽滿百歲。死得生天(出雜譬喻經)。
Long ago there was a man who did not believe in offense and merit. He was already fifty when he dreamed that a killing-ghost was coming to take him. He woke in terror and sought a master to interpret the dream. The master cast the signs and said: there is a killing-ghost that certainly means to harm you, and it will not be more than ten days. If you wish to avert this, then within these ten days from now, receive the Buddha’s five precepts, burn incense and light lamps, hang up silk banners and canopies, and put your faith in the Three Jewels, and you may escape this death.
He followed this method and put his faith in them with a concentrated mind. The killing-ghost came to the gate and, seeing the works of merit being done, could not harm him, and ran away. By this the man lived out a full hundred years, and when he died was born in heaven (Source: Miscellaneous Parables Sūtra).
12. A Household of Six Cut Short Their Own Meals to Give to the Saṅgha and All Receive Wealth and Joy
Six people in a starving household give away the same pot of soup six times over in a single instant, and are still being born together as a result.
昔有大富家。食口六人奴婢。金銀珍寶不可稱數。佛與阿難街里分衛。佛到其門。父母兒子妻婦孫息。踊躍歡喜請佛入坐。以氍毺布地食器皆以金銀。佛言。此人前生值飢餓世。家中窮乏。唯採諸菜用自繫命。作羹適熟。外有道人分衛出見沙門。父母便言。我分與之。兒子孫息各自以分與之。讓母令食。六人一時發意各一日不食。唯恨家貧無好供養緣此之福得生天上人中。常得安隱豐饒財物。以其發意同等之故。世世共作因緣。今重相值。父母兒子大小一時皆持五戒。命終生天受福無量。今若值佛皆得羅漢(出雜譬喻經第一卷)。
Long ago there was a very rich household of six mouths, with servants and maids and gold, silver, and treasures beyond counting. The Buddha and Ānanda went begging along the streets and the Buddha came to their gate; and the father and mother, the son, the wife, and the grandchildren leapt for joy and invited the Buddha in to sit, spreading woolen rugs on the ground, and all the eating vessels were of gold and silver.
The Buddha said: these people, in a former life, met with an age of famine. Their household was destitute and they gathered only wild greens to keep themselves alive. Their soup was just done when a religious came begging outside, and, going out and seeing the śramaṇa, the father and mother said: we give him our portion. The son and the grandchildren each gave their own portion too, and gave way to the mother that she might eat; and the six of them, forming the intention at one and the same moment, each went without food for a day, regretting only that their household was poor and they had nothing good to offer. By the merit of this they were born in heaven and among humans, and always found peace and abundance of goods; and because they formed the intention as equals, they have been born together, life after life, by that cause, and are met together again now.
Father, mother, son, and the rest, great and small, at one and the same time all took the five precepts; and when their lives ended they were born in heaven and received measureless blessings. And now, meeting the Buddha, they all attained arhatship (Source: Miscellaneous Parables Sūtra, fascicle 1).
13. A Traveller on the Road Meets Three Transformations and Takes Up Diligent Practice
Three encounters in one day: a ghost whipping its own corpse, a god strewing flowers on its own corpse, and a god by the roadside eating sour jujubes.
有人在道上行。見道邊有一死人。鬼神以杖鞭之。行人言。此人已死何故鞭之。鬼神言。是我先身。生在之日不孝父母事君不忠。不奉敬三寶。不隨師父之言。今令我隨罪而行。苦痛難言。瞋故鞭之。稍稍前行。復見一死人。天人來下。散花於死屍以手摩娑之。行人問言。觀君似是天人。何故摩娑是死人耶。答云。是我故身。生在之日孝從父母。忠信事君。奉事三尊。承受師父之教。令我神得生天。皆是故身之恩。是故以來報之耳。小復前行。又見一天人。衣服鮮好端正香潔。道邊摘酸棗噉之。行人問曰。覩君似是天人。何噉酸棗。天人答曰。我在世時孝從父母。忠信事君奉事三尊。種種作諸功德。唯不喜飲飴人客。今作天人恒食不充。是以食酸棗耳。行人一日見此三變。便還奉持五戒修行十善。孝從父母忠信事君。示語後世罪福追人(出諸經中要事)。
A man was travelling along a road and saw a dead man by the roadside, and a ghost-spirit whipping him with a rod. The traveller said: this man is already dead — why whip him? The ghost-spirit said: this is my own former body. In the days when it was alive it was not filial to its parents and not loyal in serving its lord; it did not revere the Three Jewels and did not follow the words of teachers and elders; and now it makes me travel according to my offenses, in pain hard to describe. It is out of anger that I whip it.
Going on a little further, he saw another dead man, and a god came down and scattered flowers on the corpse and stroked it with his hand. The traveller asked: you look like a god — why do you stroke this dead man? He answered: this is my own former body. In the days when it was alive it was filial and obedient to its parents, loyal and trustworthy in serving its lord, served the Three Honored Ones, and received the teaching of teachers and elders; and it has made it possible for my spirit to be born in heaven. All this is the kindness of that former body, and so I have come to repay it.
Going on a little further again, he saw another god, whose clothing was fresh and fine and whose person was upright and fragrant and clean, picking sour jujubes by the roadside and eating them. The traveller asked: you look like a god — why are you eating sour jujubes? The god answered: when I was in the world I was filial and obedient to my parents, loyal and trustworthy in serving my lord, served the Three Honored Ones, and made merit of every kind — only I did not like giving food and drink to guests. Now that I am a god my food is never enough, and that is why I eat sour jujubes.
In one day the traveller saw these three transformations, and he went home and upheld the five precepts, practiced the ten wholesome deeds, was filial and obedient to his parents and loyal and trustworthy in serving his lord, and showed later generations that offense and merit follow a person (Source: Essential Matters from the Sūtras).
Three encounters, and the third is the one the entry exists for. The first two are a straightforward pair — a ghost beating the corpse that earned it its punishment, a god stroking the corpse that earned it its heaven. The third breaks the symmetry: a god, correctly rewarded for filial piety, loyalty, service to the Three Jewels, and merit of every kind, who is nonetheless picking sour jujubes by the roadside because he never fed a guest.
The proposition is that merit is not fungible. Heaven can be earned by one set of practices while the specific comfort of having enough to eat has to be earned separately, by the specific act of feeding people.
14. A Man Dies and Comes Back After Ten Days and Tells What He Passed Through
A man lies dead for ten days and comes back with a report of an argument in hell — between the officers who arrested him and the king of the prison, about whether they had any jurisdiction over him at all.
有優婆塞本事外道厭苦禱祠。委捨入法奉戒精進。懃誦經好布施責。意忍辱常有慈心。暴疾命過臨當死時囑父母言。我病若不諱七日莫殯。奄忽如死停屍八日。親屬皆言。急當殯斂。父母言。不膖臭欲留至十日。當此語時便見眼開。未能動搖。父母歡喜守至十日。便自起坐善能語言。問所從來盡何所見。答言。有吏兵來將到一大城。城中有獄。獄正黑四面鐵城。城門悉燒鐵正赤。獄中繫人身坐火中。上下洞燒青煙上出。或有人以刀割其肉而噉食之。獄王問我言。汝何等人。犯坐何等乃來到此。此中治五逆不孝父母不忠信事君。答言。我少為惡人所惑。奉事外道愚癡。又飲酒殺生祀天地。又於市里採取財利。升斗尺寸欲以自饒。後與善師相值。牽我入佛道。見沙門道人。授我五戒奉行十善。自爾以來至于今日。不復犯惡。仰由明王哀我不及。我便叩頭。王即起叉手謂我言。止止。清信之人不應當爾。便與我坐。呼吏問之。此乃無上正真弟子。汝輩皆當從是人得度。以其人壽命自盡時。乃當死耳。魂神追行。若生天上天神迎之。若生人中人中迎之。何得將此人來。入是五逆之處。吏答王言。世間多有是種人。不畏王法。不畏四時。五行不拘。天地鬼神橫行天下。不可不問也。有師名沙門。既剃頭髮被服疎陋。以是自大。多將弟子東西南北。復大劇是應當治之。王言。止止法服之人人所貴敬他所畏難。諸釋梵日月中王。下及帝王臣民。尊奉是人得福無量。輕慢是者自求罪苦。急案名錄壽應盡未。吏言。未應死也。尚有餘算二十。以其先有所犯罪是以取之。使其黨輩小小自下耳。王言。佛子有戒精進天神所貴。佛以大慈救護一切蜎飛蠕動。天神地祇諸鬼龍等皆敬貴之。豈拘王相四時五行耶。佛恩如四海不得限量。吏言大王。奉佛戒耶。王曰。坐我不奉佛故追罪作此獄王。若人已入正法。後悔還外道。雖壽千歲當逢九橫。若持戒比丘及諸弟子。當懃行六度六衰斷絕二十事(亦在經文)觀佛功德猶若巨海不可當也。吏言。誠如王言。不別真偽。速發遣之辭謝使去。從高墮下㸌然而蘇。與其父母共至祇桓。自惟自剋。奉受五戒修行十善(出弟子死復生經)。
There was a lay follower who had originally served the heterodox teachings, wearied of suffering and offered sacrifices; then he gave that up and entered the Dharma, upheld the precepts with diligence, recited the sūtras assiduously, was glad to give and to lend, was patient in intention, and always had a compassionate heart.
He died of a sudden illness, and at the point of death he charged his parents: if I do not recover from this sickness, do not bury me for seven days. He passed away as if dead, and the body lay eight days, and the relatives all said that he ought to be coffined at once. His parents said: he is not swollen or stinking; we wish to keep him until the tenth day. As they said this they saw his eyes open, though he could not yet move. His parents rejoiced and watched over him until the tenth day, when he sat up of himself and was well able to speak.
They asked where he had come from and all that he had seen. He answered: officers and soldiers came and brought me to a great city, and in the city there was a prison. The prison was pitch black, with iron walls on four sides, and the gates of the walls were all burning iron, glowing red. The people bound in the prison sat in the fire, burning through above and below, with blue smoke rising; and some people cut their flesh with knives and ate it.
The king of that prison asked me: what sort of person are you? What have you offended in, that you have come here? This place punishes the five heinous crimes, the unfilial, and the disloyal.
I answered: when I was young I was misled by evil men and served the heterodox teachings in my folly; and I drank liquor and killed living things in sacrifice to heaven and earth; and in the markets I took profit, using measures and rules to enrich myself. Afterward I met with a good teacher who drew me into the buddha-path; I saw śramaṇas and religious men who gave me the five precepts, and I practiced the ten wholesome deeds; and from then until today I have not offended again. I look to the enlightened king to pity my shortcomings. And I knocked my head on the ground.
The king then rose and joined his hands and said to me: stop, stop. A person of pure faith ought not to do so. And he gave me a seat, and called the officers and questioned them: this is a disciple of the unsurpassed and truly real. All of you should be delivered through such a person. When such a man’s allotted lifespan is exhausted, only then should he die, and his spirit goes on: if he is born in heaven the gods come to receive him; if among humans, humans come to receive him. How is it that you have brought this man in, into this place of the five heinous crimes?
The officers answered the king: the world has many people of this kind who do not fear the king’s law, do not fear the four seasons, are not bound by the five phases, and go about the world defying heaven, earth, ghosts, and spirits; they cannot be left unquestioned. There are teachers called śramaṇas who shave their heads and wear shabby clothing and are proud of themselves on that account, and lead many disciples east, west, south, and north; and this is even worse, and ought to be dealt with.
The king said: stop, stop. Those who wear the Dharma robe are honored and respected by people and feared by others. Śakra, Brahmā, the sun and the moon and the kings among them, and below them kings, ministers, and people — those who honor and serve these persons obtain measureless merit, and those who slight them bring suffering on themselves. Look up the registers at once: is his lifespan exhausted or not?
The officers said: he is not yet due to die; he has twenty years of reckoning left. It is because he had earlier committed offenses that we took him, so as to bring his sort down a little.
The king said: a son of the Buddha who has the precepts and diligence is honored by the gods. The Buddha with his great compassion protects all things, down to what crawls and creeps and flies; the gods, the earth deities, the ghosts and nāgas all honor and respect him. How should he be bound by the king’s aspects and the four seasons and the five phases? The Buddha’s grace is like the four seas and cannot be measured.
The officers said: great king, do you serve the Buddha’s precepts? The king said: it is because I did not serve the Buddha that I incurred punishment and became the king of this prison. If a person has entered the right Dharma and then regrets it and returns to the heterodox teachings, though he live a thousand years he will meet with the nine untimely deaths. As for monks who keep the precepts and the disciples, they should diligently practice the six perfections, and cut off the six declines and the twenty matters (this too is in the sūtra text). To contemplate the Buddha’s merit is like a vast sea and cannot be withstood.
The officers said: it is truly as the king says; we did not distinguish the true from the false. And they hurried him out, and apologized and let him go; and he fell from a height and revived with a start.
And he went with his parents to the Jetavana, reflecting on himself and reproaching himself, and received the five precepts and practiced the ten wholesome deeds (Source: Sūtra of the Disciple Who Died and Came Back to Life).
The most unusual thing in this entry is that the argument in hell is a jurisdictional one, and the lay follower stands there listening to it. The arresting officers do not dispute his account; they argue a general point of policy, that there are many people of this sort who defy the king's law and the four seasons and the five phases and go about the world unaccountable, and that śramaṇas leading disciples in all four directions are worse still and ought to be dealt with. The prison king overrules them on the law and orders the registers checked, and the officers concede that he has twenty years left and admit they took him to bring his sort down a little.
The king's own answer, when the officers ask whether he serves the Buddha's precepts, is the sharpest line in the fascicle: it is because I did not serve the Buddha that I incurred punishment and became the king of this prison. He then delivers, from the throne of a hell, a short sermon on the six perfections and on the nine untimely deaths that await one who enters the right Dharma and afterward turns back.
The text contains a bracketed editorial note at that point — this too is in the sūtra text — which we have kept. This closes fascicle 37, the section on lay followers. Almost every entry in it turns on the same premise: that precepts held by an ordinary householder, without ordination and often without much understanding, constitute a real and enforceable protection, which ghosts, kings, elephants, and the officers of hell are all obliged to respect.