陀羅尼雜集 9.35

9.35

爾時佛告諸大眾言：「吾本無數劫中，處於凡夫時，字遮他陀。在伽倫羅國作於商客，販賣治業虛妄無實，造諸惡行不可稱計，婬曠無道不可具說。是時愚癡，害父愛母，逕由數年，舉國人民一皆知之，稱聲唱言：『是遮他陀，害父愛母，今逕數年。』吾時思念，與六畜無異，更無人事。時於伽倫羅國，夜跳城奔走，趣於深澤。時此國王名毘闍羅，告令國中人民：『此遮他陀，婬曠無道，致為此事。其有能得此人者，當重賜寶物。』時此國人各各受募欲捕吾身。是時驚怖，即出國作沙門，在於他國修行十善，坐禪學道晝夜泣淚，經三十七年。以五逆罪障故，心不得定，憂悲叵處。以三十七年中在於山窟，常舉聲泣哭苦哉苦哉，當以何心去此苦也。悲嘆下窟乞食時，道中地得一大鉢，中有一函經，更無餘經，唯有集法悅捨苦陀羅尼，說過去恒河沙諸佛臨泥洹時，常在毘悅羅國說此陀羅尼付諸大菩薩。後有人得聞此陀羅尼者，此人過去世時，修持五戒十善，當令得聞。有人雖聞而不在心，不修習者，是名無緣。此陀羅尼能除去百億劫生死五逆大罪，若有人受持讀誦者，終不墮於三塗地獄餓鬼畜生。何以故？過去諸佛以欲泥洹時專當說之，尊重歎仰，稱其功德不可計量，付諸菩薩。後有眾生得聞此陀羅尼者，修習著心，福報難計，猶如須彌寶海，凡夫不能得量。若有人作諸惡行，竊聞此陀羅尼名不及修習，一用在懷，墮於地獄中，一切地獄中蒙此人恩，苦痛不行。有人能行，現身精勤修習得者，覩見百千萬佛剎土，得福無量不可具說，唯有諸佛與諸菩薩乃能究盡，聲聞二乘人者不能得知。何以故？此陀羅尼非一佛二佛所說，過去恒河沙諸佛所說。是時吾得此經已，即不乞食，歡喜向窟。到於窟中，燒香禮拜，悲淚讚仰，於窟中修習讀誦，經一年始得，以罪業障故，不能得入心懷。是時吾即以秋月夜，洗浴修行經一七日，如童子初學憒憒者不少，便更行於七日，亦如是憒憒無異，心中愁惱不知云何。意中思惟此陀羅尼字書，經於數反心中忽定。時吾欣悅，如人地得百千斤金，人無知者，內欣不止。吾時亦然。修行數年，飛行無礙，覩見十方三世諸佛。後有行者，如法行之。」

At that time the Buddha addressed the great assembly, saying: “In countless past kalpas, when I was an ordinary mortal, my name was *Zhetatuo. I was a merchant in the kingdom of *Gālunluo. Engaged in trade and commerce, I was deceitful and dishonest, committing countless evil deeds; my lustful depravity and unruliness were beyond description. In my foolishness at that time, I killed my father and engaged in illicit passion with my mother. After several years had passed, all the people throughout the state came to know of it, proclaiming aloud: ‘This *Zhetatuo killed his father and loved his mother; several years have now passed.’ At that time I thought to myself: ‘I am no different from brute beasts; I have no human conduct left.’ Thereupon, in the night, I leapt over the city wall of the kingdom of *Gālunluo and fled, heading toward a deep marsh. At that time the king of this kingdom, named *Vījara, issued an order to the people of the state: ‘This *Zhetatuo was lustful, depraved, and lawless, bringing about this deed. Whoever can capture this man shall be rewarded handsomely with treasures.’ Thereupon the people of this state were enlisted to seize me. Filled with fright and dread, I fled the state and became a śramaṇa. In another kingdom I cultivated the ten virtuous deeds, practicing seated meditation and studying the path, weeping day and night for thirty-seven years. Because of the obstacle of the five heinous sins, my mind could not achieve samādhi, and I was overwhelmed by boundless sorrow and grief. During those thirty-seven years in a mountain cave, I constantly wept aloud, crying, ‘Woe is me! Woe is me! With what state of mind can I be rid of this suffering?’ Sighing with sorrow, I came down from the cave to beg for food, and on the road found a large bowl on the ground. Inside it was a case containing a scripture; there was no other text, but only the *Dharmaprīti-duḥkhotsarga-dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇī for Gathering the Joy of the Dharma and Renouncing Suffering). It explained that past Buddhas, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, when approaching nirvāṇa, regularly spoke this dhāraṇī in the realm of *Piyueluo and entrusted it to the great bodhisattvas. If anyone in the future should come to hear this dhāraṇī, it is because that person observed the five precepts and ten virtuous deeds in past lives that they are enabled to hear it. If someone hears it yet does not take it to heart and does not cultivate it, they are termed ‘lacking affinity.’ This dhāraṇī can eradicate the great sins of the five heinous acts and samsāra of a hundred billion kalpas. If anyone receives, upholds, reads, and recites it, they will never fall into the three wretched realms—hell, hungry ghosts, or animals. Why is this? When the Buddhas of the past were about to enter nirvāṇa, they exclusively taught it, revering, praising, and extolling its immeasurable merit, and entrusted it to the bodhisattvas. If there are sentient beings in the future who hear this dhāraṇī, cultivate it, and set their minds on it, their karmic rewards will be difficult to calculate, like Mount Sumeru or an ocean of jewels, beyond the reckoning of ordinary mortals. If someone has committed evil deeds and, having overheard the name of this dhāraṇī, does not have time to practice it but holds it in mind even once, should they fall into hell, all those in hell will receive this person’s grace and their torment will cease. If someone can practice it, exerting vigorous effort in their present life to cultivate and attain it, they will behold hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddha lands and obtain immeasurable merit beyond full description; only the Buddhas and bodhisattvas can fathom it completely, while voice-hearers (śrāvakas) of the two vehicles cannot comprehend it. Why is this? This dhāraṇī was not spoken by one Buddha or two Buddhas; it was spoken by the Buddhas of the past, numerous as the sands of the Ganges. When I obtained this scripture at that time, I ceased begging for food and returned with joy toward the cave. Arriving in the cave, I burned incense, paid homage, and with tears of sorrow praised and revered it, cultivating, reading, and reciting it in the cave. Only after a full year did I begin to attain it; because of the obscuration of my sinful karma, it had not been able to enter my mind and heart. Thereupon, on an autumn night, having bathed, I cultivated for a period of seven days. Like a child first learning, I was not a little confused and unsettled. I then practiced for another seven days, yet remained equally confused and unsettled without difference. In my mind I was distressed and troubled, not knowing what to do. Contemplating the characters and text of this dhāraṇī in my mind, after several repetitions, my mind suddenly attained samādhi. At that time I was filled with delight, just as a person who finds a hundred thousand catties of gold on the ground without anyone knowing feels ceaseless internal joy; so it was with me at that time. Having cultivated for several years, I flew through the air without hindrance and beheld the Buddhas of the ten directions and three periods of time. Let future practitioners practice it in accordance with the Dharma.”