Prevod

Long ago, when the venerable Nichizō of Mount Yoshino was practicing austerities deep in the mountains, he encountered a demon some seven feet tall. Its body was indigo blue, its hair red as fire. It had a slender neck, ribs that jutted out sharply, a swollen belly, and thin shins. On meeting the holy man, it clasped its hands and wept without end. “What sort of demon are you, and why do you weep?” he asked. Choking back its tears, the demon replied, “Four or five hundred years ago, I was a human being. But I bore a grudge against someone, and so I have become the demon you see before you. I killed my enemy, just as I had wished. Then I killed every one of his descendants, down to his great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, until at last there was no one left to kill. I thought I would seek them out even after they had been reborn and kill them again, but I do not know where they are born from one life to the next, and so I have no way to do it. The flames of my wrath burn as fiercely as ever, yet my enemy’s descendants have all perished. I alone remain, scorched by the unending flames of my anger, enduring nothing but torment from which there is no escape. Had I never harbored such feelings, I might have been born in the Pure Land or among the heavenly beings. Instead, I clung to my resentment and took this form, and now I must suffer for countless billions of kalpas. The thought fills me with helpless sorrow. To bear a grudge against another is, in truth, to bring suffering upon oneself. My enemy’s descendants have come to an end, but my own life knows no limit. Had I known beforehand that it would be like this, I would never have held on to such hatred.” As it spoke, its tears flowed and it wept without cease. Meanwhile, flames began to rise little by little from its head. Then it walked away into the depths of the mountains. Moved to pity, the venerable Nichizō is said to have performed various rites on its behalf to purge its sins.