时间：06/27/2026 06/28/2026
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
珠宝商与谛舍长老
「有人生于(母)胎中：作恶者则(堕)地狱，
正直之人升天界，漏尽者证入涅槃。」
【恶品第(126 偈颂)】
这一偈颂是佛陀于祇树给孤独园的时候，因为一个珠宝商诬赖谛舍长老的事而说的：
给孤独园附近有位证果的谛舍长老，十二年来一直都到一个珠宝商的人家去托钵，珠宝商的太太照顾谛舍长老如自己的儿子一般。有一天，谛舍长老又到珠宝商的家里去托钵，此时珠宝商正在切肉，适巧波斯匿王派人送来一颗大宝石要请珠宝商做修饰，珠宝商诚惶诚恐，赶忙放下手上的刀子，用沾满腥肉味儿的双手接过宝石放别盘子里，方才进入里面洗手，准备立刻工作。此时珠宝商家里养了一只漂亮的白鹭鸶，闻到肉的味道，就把那颗染着腥肉味的宝石当作肉，一口吞到肚子里去了──谛舍长老一个人在店里头看得仔细。
珠宝商洗完手出来不见了宝石，很着急，家里上上下下，老老少少都问过了，没有人看见那颗宝石，也没有人拿过那宝石；于是，珠宝商很生气的告诉太太：「一定是长老偷了那颗宝石。」太太赶紧道：「你千万不要怀疑长老，他在我们家出入十二年，我从未发现他有任何缺点。」
可是宝石还是遍寻不着，珠宝商情急之下，直截了当质问长老：「你有没有拿我的宝石？」「居士：我没有拿。」「这里除了你，没有人来过，你没拿会是谁拿的呢？还给我吧！」
谛舍长老始终否认他拿了宝石，也不说出宝石的下落。珠宝商告诉太太：「店里除了他没有别人，一定是他拿的，我看不拷打他，他是不会承认的。」太太很着急地为长老辩白，她始终相信长老不会犯戒，也一再阻止丈夫对长老做出不恭敬甚至是逼迫性的行为。
但是国王的宝石丢了，如何对国王交待呢？想到国王一定会治他重罪 ──甚至是死罪，他就不寒而栗。珠宝商心乱如麻，急得丧失了理智，他一意认定除了长老，不会有人拿走宝石，因为当时只有他在。于是他将谛舍长老吊起，拿一根棍子打得长老身上遍体鳞伤，鲜血溢流。此时白鹭鸶闻到鲜血的味道又赶过来要啄长老，珠宝商余怒未消，一脚将白鹭鸶踢开，一时用力过猛，白鹭鸶跌跌撞撞地倒在一旁，拍了几下翅膀就不动了。
此时谛舍长老才说道：「居士：请将我松绑，看看白鹭鸶是否死了？」「你也会跟他一起死的。」「喔！居士，请息怒！宝石实际上是白鹭鸶吞下去的，我怕说了牠就没命，所以一直忍着不说，现在他既然死了，我可以说实话了。」
珠宝商切开鸟腹，果然找到了宝石，惭愧万分地跪到长老面前忏悔，请求原谅。谛舍长老说道：「这不是你的错，也不是我的错，都是轮回之错；人们因为不能彻见缘起，而循着既有的思考模式行事，因此一错再错，不断造业。如果你真需要我原谅，我当然可以原谅你。」「如果您真的原谅我的话，就请您明天以后照常到家里来接受我的供养。」「喔！居士，从今以后我不会到任何一个人的家里接受供养了，我因为进了你家里而发生这样的事；所以，今后我只要站在每一户人家的门口托钵，坚守一条头陀行的戒律，我还有足够的脚力，可以挨家挨户的乞讨。」
谛舍长老离开珠宝商家里，因为流血过多，不久就涅槃了。而这只死去的白鹭鸶，也投胎到珠宝商太太的肚子里，转生做了他们的儿子，珠宝商因为毒打证果的阿罗汉，于福报享尽后下地狱受罪。珠宝商的太太一向礼敬三宝、照顾出家人，死后上升天界。比丘们为了证实这件事，于是去请示佛陀，佛陀开示道：「有些人投胎到人间：做坏事的下地狱受苦，为善的上升天界享福报，漏尽(注一)的阿罗汉证得涅槃。」佛陀为重宣此义而说偈言：「有人生于(母)胎中：作恶者则(堕)地狱，正直之人升天界，漏尽者证入涅槃。」
佛说偈已，很多比丘立即证得初果须陀洹。
Date: 06/27/2026 06/28/2026
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Jeweler and Elder Tissa
“Some are born in a womb; evil-doers are reborn in hell.
The righteous go to the heavenly realms;
Those whose defilements are exhausted enter Nirvana.”
— Dhammapada, Chapter on Evil (Verse 126)
This verse was spoken by the Buddha while he was staying at Jetavana Monastery, in connection with an incident in which a jeweler falsely accused Elder Tissa.
Near Jetavana Monastery lived Elder Tissa, an enlightened arahant. For twelve years, he regularly went to the home of a jeweler on his alms round. The jeweler’s wife cared for Elder Tissa as though he were her own son.
One day, Elder Tissa again came to the jeweler’s house for alms. At that moment, the jeweler was cutting meat when a messenger from King Pasenadi arrived with a precious gemstone, asking him to polish and refine it. Filled with respect for the king’s commission, the jeweler immediately put down his knife and accepted the gem with hands still carrying the smell of raw meat. He placed the gem on a tray and went inside to wash his hands before beginning the work.
The jeweler kept a beautiful white heron in his house. Smelling the scent of meat on the gemstone, the bird mistook it for food and swallowed it whole. Elder Tissa, who was alone in the shop, clearly witnessed the entire event.
When the jeweler returned and discovered that the gemstone was missing, he became anxious. He questioned everyone in the household, young and old alike, but no one had seen or touched the gem.
Finally, the jeweler angrily told his wife:
“It must have been the elder who took it!”
His wife quickly replied:
“Do not suspect the elder. He has come to our house for twelve years, and I have never seen him commit even the slightest fault.”
Yet the gemstone could not be found. In desperation, the jeweler confronted Elder Tissa directly:
“Did you take my gemstone?”
“Layman, I did not.”
“There was no one else here except you. If you did not take it, then who did? Please return it to me!”
Elder Tissa continued to deny taking the gem, but he did not reveal what had happened to it.
The jeweler told his wife:
“There was no one else in the shop. He must have taken it. Unless I beat him, he will never confess.”
His wife desperately defended the elder. She firmly believed he would never break a precept and repeatedly tried to stop her husband from treating him disrespectfully or using force.
However, the gemstone belonged to the king. How could he explain its disappearance? The thought of the king’s punishment—even execution—filled him with terror. Confused and frightened, the jeweler lost his reason. Convinced that only the elder could have taken the gem, he tied Elder Tissa up and beat him with a stick until his body was covered with wounds and blood flowed freely.
At that moment, the white heron smelled the blood and approached, intending to peck at the elder. Still furious, the jeweler kicked the bird away. He struck it so hard that the heron stumbled to the ground, flapped its wings a few times, and died.
Only then did Elder Tissa speak:
“Layman, please untie me and see whether the heron is dead.”
“You will die along with it!”
“Layman, please calm yourself. In truth, the gemstone was swallowed by the heron. I remained silent because I feared that if I spoke, the bird would lose its life. Now that it has already died, I can tell you the truth.”
The jeweler cut open the bird’s stomach and indeed found the gemstone inside. Overcome with shame, he knelt before Elder Tissa, confessed his wrongdoing, and begged forgiveness.
Elder Tissa replied:
“This is not your fault, nor is it mine. It is the fault of samsara. Because people cannot fully perceive dependent origination, they act according to habitual patterns of thought and repeatedly create karma. If you truly seek my forgiveness, I forgive you.”
The jeweler then said:
“If you truly forgive me, please continue coming to my house for alms beginning tomorrow.”
Elder Tissa answered:
“Layman, from now on I shall not accept offerings in any particular home. Because of entering your house, this event occurred. From now on I will simply stand at the door of each household on my alms round, observing an ascetic practice. I still have enough strength to go from house to house for alms.”
After leaving the jeweler’s home, Elder Tissa soon entered Parinirvana because of the severe loss of blood.
The white heron was reborn in the womb of the jeweler’s wife and became their son.
The jeweler, because he had violently beaten an arahant, exhausted his merit and later fell into hell to suffer the consequences of his actions.
The jeweler’s wife, however, had always respected the Triple Gem and cared for members of the Sangha. After her death, she was reborn in a heavenly realm.
The monks later asked the Buddha to confirm these events. The Buddha explained:
“Some are reborn among humans. Those who perform evil deeds fall into hell and suffer. Those who perform wholesome deeds are reborn in heavenly realms and enjoy happiness. Those whose defilements have been completely exhausted—the arahants—attain Nirvana.”
To emphasize this truth, the Buddha recited the verse:
“Some are born in a womb; evil-doers are reborn in hell.
The righteous go to the heavenly realms;
Those whose defilements are exhausted enter Nirvana.”
After the Buddha spoke this verse, many monks immediately attained the first stage of enlightenment, the fruit of Stream-Entry (Sotāpanna).
