Once upon a time, two friends were walking in the wilderness. On the way, one of them wearing a woolen coat was robbed of it by a thief. The other successfully escaped into a thicket. The loser of the coat had a piece of gold concealed in the collar. To the thief, he said, "This coat is worth one piece of gold. Now I beg you to let me redeem it at that value."
The thief asked, "Where's the gold?"
Opening up the collar, the man showed it to him and said, "Here's the pure gold. If you don't trust my words, you can go and ask a goldsmith who is hiding in the thicket now?"
After seeing the second man, the thief also took his clothing from him. Such a stupid man thus lost his woolen coat, gold and everything. Not only had he lost his own belongings, he also made his friend lose them.
This is also held to be true with the common people.
Pious, having monastic grades and possessing other merits, people are robbed by the thief of temptation. They lose their good teachings and their merit as well. They lose not only the gain of their own, but also make others lose their Karma leading to Buddhahood. They will fall into the Three Evil Paths of Transmigration on the dissolution of the body after death, like the two losing everything they had.
昔有二人為伴共行曠野，一人被一領氊，中路為賊所剝，一人逃避走入草中。其失氊者先於氊頭裹一金錢，便語賊言：「此衣適可直一枚金錢，我今求以一枚金錢而用贖之。」賊言：「金錢今在何處？」即便氊頭解取示之，而語賊言：「此是真金，若不信我語，今此草中有好金師，可往問之。」賊既見之，復取其衣。如是愚人氊與金錢一切都失，自失其利復使彼失。
凡夫之人亦復如是，修行道品作諸功德，為煩惱賊之所劫掠，失其善法喪諸功德，不但自失其利復使餘人失其道業，身壞命終墮三惡道，如彼愚人彼此俱失。
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