分別功德論 2.9

2.9

云千二百五十者，舉其常侍從者。或云五百人者，佛受阿耨達請時，簡五百人可者尋從至龍王宮。何者？此阿耨達泉，非有漏閡形所可周旋也。阿難出經時集八萬四千羅漢，以是言之，數不可計也。此經今正出百人，第一通四部眾，二百二十各第一。其餘者，豈復可計耶！其人云：此經本有百事，阿難囑優多羅。《增一阿鋡》出，經後十二年，阿難便般涅槃。時諸比丘各習坐禪，不復誦習，云佛有三業坐禪第一，遂各廢諷誦。經十二年，優多羅比丘復般涅槃，由是此經失九十事。外國法師徒相傳，以口授相付不聽載文。時所傳者盡十一事而已。自爾相承正有今現文耳。雖然薩婆多家無序及後十一事，經流浪經久，所遺轉多。所以偏囑累此弟子增一者，以其人乃從七佛以來偏綜習《增一阿鋡》，前聖亦皆囑及此經，是以能仁時轉復勤及此比丘。時優多羅弟子名善覺，從師受誦《增一》，正得十一事，優多羅便般涅槃。外國今現三藏者，盡善覺所傳，師徒相授于今不替。所以迦葉每謂阿難為小兒者，故以累世已來父意相加故也。於時阿難妹為比丘尼，聞迦葉語大用嫌恨：「阿難者聰明博達，眾人所瞻望。而尊謂為小兒耶？」迦葉謂比丘尼曰：「大妹！阿難有二事可恥。何所為恨也？正坐阿難勸佛度母人，使佛法減千年，是一也。阿難有六十弟子，近日三十比丘還為白衣。佛教度弟子法，若在家有信來求道者，當試之七日。若外學來求道者，當試之四月。何以不等也？以外道家或以惡心欲求長短，是以先試知為至誠。不然，阿難來便度之，是可恥二。此三十比丘所以還者，聞阿難於九十六種道中等智第一，從阿難求度者欲請等智。然阿難不與說等智，是以不合本心，於是而還。還必誹謗阿難，謂無等智。度弟子喻若魚生子千億萬，若心念者便生，不念者即爛壞。弟子亦如是，若留心教詔者便成就，不留心者即退還。此豈非可恥耶！」此比丘尼以恚心向迦葉故，即現身入地獄。以阿難有此闕故，迦葉謂為小兒耳。阿難自引往昔為轉輪聖王，名曰長壽。受父大王之遺教，登位治化。將欲出家，復囑太子善觀，委以國政。展轉相授未曾暫替。昔以父子相承，今以師徒相紹。昔尚不失有漏之教，況今當失至真妙法耶。故引自證，明其必堪受遺典也。

When it speaks of 'one thousand two hundred and fifty', it cites those who constantly attended [the Buddha]. When it is said 'five hundred people', it was when the Buddha accepted the invitation of Anavatapta: he selected five hundred suitable people to follow him directly to the dragon king's palace. Why? This Lake Anavatapta cannot be reached by those with defiled, obstructed physical forms. When Ānanda brought forth the sūtras, he assembled eighty-four thousand arhats; from this perspective, the number is beyond calculation. This sūtra now brings forth exactly one hundred people; their foremost qualities encompass the four assemblies, and two hundred and twenty are each foremost. How could the remainder be counted? It is said: 'This sūtra originally had one hundred topics, which Ānanda entrusted to Uttara.' Twelve years after the compilation of the Ekottarāgama, Ānanda entered parinirvāṇa. At that time, the monks each practiced seated meditation and no longer recited and practiced [the texts], saying that of the Buddha's three activities, seated meditation is foremost, and thus each neglected chanting and recitation. After twelve years, the monk Uttara also entered parinirvāṇa, and because of this, ninety topics of this sūtra were lost. Foreign masters transmission from master to disciple was by oral transmission, not permitting the recording in written text. What was transmitted at that time was only eleven topics. From then on down through the lineage, there was only the present text. Even so, the Sarvāstivāda school lacks the preface and the last eleven topics; through drifting over a long time, more and more was lost. The reason he specifically entrusted this disciple with the Ekottar[āgama] was that since the time of the seven Buddhas, he had specifically mastered and practiced the Ekottarāgama, and the previous sages had also all entrusted this sūtra [to him]; therefore, Śākyamuni again diligently reached out to this monk. At that time, Uttara's disciple named Kalyāṇabuddhi received and recited the Ekottar[āgama] from his master, obtaining only eleven topics, when Uttara entered parinirvāṇa. What is currently present in the Tripiṭaka abroad was completely transmitted by Kalyāṇabuddhi, handed down from master to disciple until now without interruption. The reason Kāśyapa always called Ānanda a child was because for successive lifetimes, he had treated him with paternal affection. At that time, Ānanda's sister was a nun; hearing Kāśyapa's words, she was deeply resentful: 'Ānanda is intelligent, broadly learned, and looked up to by the masses. How can the Venerable One call him a child?' Kāśyapa said to the nun: 'Elder sister! Ānanda has two shameful matters. What is there to resent? Precisely because Ānanda urged the Buddha to ordain women, he caused the Buddha's Dharma to decrease by a thousand years; this is the first. Ānanda had sixty disciples, and recently thirty monks returned to lay life. In the Buddha's teaching on the method for ordaining disciples, if a householder with faith comes seeking the path, one must test him for seven days. If one from an external teaching comes seeking the path, one must test him for four months. Why are they not equal? Because those from non-Buddhist traditions might come with bad intentions seeking faults, therefore one first tests them to know if they are completely sincere. Otherwise, Ānanda ordaining them as soon as they arrived is the second shameful matter. The reason these thirty monks returned is that they heard Ānanda was foremost in equal knowledge among the ninety-six paths; when seeking ordination from Ānanda, they wished to request equal knowledge. However, Ānanda did not explain equal knowledge to them, and thus it did not match their original intention, whereupon they returned. Upon returning, they will surely slander Ānanda, saying he lacks equal knowledge. Ordaining disciples is like a fish laying billions of eggs: if she keeps her mind on them, they hatch; if she does not keep her mind on them, they rot away. Disciples are also like this: if one attends to teaching them, they are accomplished; if one does not attend to them, they fall back. Is this not shameful!' Because this nun directed anger toward Kāśyapa, she fell into hell in her present body. Because Ānanda had these deficiencies, Kāśyapa merely called him a child. Ānanda himself cited that in the past he had been a cakravartin named Dīrghāyus. Receiving the bequest of his father the great king, he ascended the throne and governed. When he was about to leave household life, he again entrusted Crown Prince Sudarśana, handing over the state governance to him. Transmitted successively, it was never suspended for a moment. Formerly there was succession from father to son; now there is succession from master to disciple. If in the past he did not lose even defiled teachings, how could he lose the supreme, true, wondrous Dharma now? Therefore, he cited his own experience to show that he was certainly capable of receiving the bequeathed scriptures.