分別功德論 5.11

5.11

As for why the monk Mahākātyāyana is praised as foremost in ānāpāna: among the one thousand two hundred disciples, only this monk and Rāhula were capable of practicing ānāpāna foremost. How is this known? Formerly, when Rāhula was walking behind the Buddha, the Buddha, by skillful means, revealed the calves of his legs for Rāhula to see. Having seen them, Rāhula thought to himself: "This old man, bearing such an appearance, renounced the position of a wheel-turning king to practice the Path and go begging? Why does he feel no shame? I can no longer go begging; I had better return. My grandfather, King Śuddhodana, is still living; why should I endure such toil and suffering?" The Buddha immediately knew what Rāhula was thinking and said to Rāhula: "Do you not know? Even heaven and earth are impermanent, how much more so your wheel-turning holy king—could that last long? You should understand impermanence: everything that has form is suffering; the body is not my own; all must wear away and perish, unable to remain for long." Rāhula contemplated the four impermanences, but his mind was not yet awakened, so the Buddha taught him to practice mindfulness of ānāpāna. Ānāpāna is the inhalation and exhalation of the breath: knowing when the breath is long, knowing when the breath is short. A short breath returns from the heart; a long breath comes from the heels. He also knew cold and warmth: the in-breath is cold, the out-breath is warm. The reason for knowing length and cold or warmth is that one wishes to discern the depth or shallowness to which the five aggregates tend, and by tracing the origin and end of where the breath enters and leaves, to know the source of afflictions. If upon inhalation one does not know where it comes from, and upon exhalation one does not know where it goes, one realizes there is neither coming nor going; the afflictions are likewise so. Contemplating in this way, he then attained arhatship. Mahākātyāyana's practice of ānāpāna was not the same as Rāhula's; he had mastery over his breath. If he wished it to pass through his eyes or ears, it entered and exited as he willed. If he further closed his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, it would exit from the nine hundred thousand pores. How is it known that it exited from the pores? This monk originally belonged to a royal lineage. There were two brothers, and the younger brother was upright and handsome. When the king died, the elder brother was due to succeed to the throne, but the younger brother considered himself superior and secretly hoped people would elevate him. However, the custom of the country did not allow passing over the proper order, and so they elevated the elder brother as king. The younger brother was unreconciled in his heart, refused to call himself a subject, and personally requested to leave the kingdom; the king granted it. He asked for troops, and the king gave him as many as he wished. He then selected eighty thousand tusked elephants armored and fitted with nasal blades. Having completed preparations, he thought: "Which country is the finest? I wish to attack and seize it. The country of Vaiśālī is the most superior among all kingdoms; I should go and conquer it to take for my own use." He then led his troops and set out. Just midway, there were five hundred merchants returning from gathering jewels who wished to go to Magadha, and they met on the road. He asked the merchants: "Among the people of the world, is there anyone whose form and appearance surpass mine?" The merchants laughed. The king asked: "Why do you laugh?" They answered: "We are merely laughing to ourselves." He asked again: "A laugh must have a reason. Why do you not speak?" They replied: "If the king will not be angry, we shall speak." The king said: "Only speak; I will never be angry with you." The merchants said: "We have heard that the son of the Pure-Rice King, named Siddhārtha, has a colossal body sixteen feet tall of refined purple-gold color, possessing the thirty-two marks and eighty secondary signs." When Kātyāyana heard the merchants' words, fear arose in his heart: "If Siddhārtha knows I am coming, he will certainly raise an army to come against and smite me." He halted midway, not daring to advance further. When the people of Vaiśālī heard that he had raised an army intending to attack and smite them, they could not remain at peace and went to ask the Buddha: "How can this be averted?" The Buddha said: "Do not be distressed; I shall transform him myself." That night, the World-Honoured One went and manifested transformations, sitting cross-legged in the open air, glittering like a golden mountain illuminating the great assembly. He raised his head and looked, saying: "What kind of person is this?" The answer came: "I am the one spoken of by the merchants." He then said: "The merchants deceived me. Just now they did not say he could fly, yet now he manifests flying!" Terrified in his heart, fearing harm, he clasped his hands and asked: "I wonder for what purpose you have come here with instructions?" The World-Honoured One answered: "Do not harbor fear; I will not harm you. My name is the Buddha, who delivers all. The sublime Dharma of the deathless—do you wish to hear it?" He replied: "I wish to hear it." The Buddha observed that his capacity should be delivered through ānāpāna, and immediately explained mindfulness of the in-breath and out-breath, knowing the length of the breath and knowing cold and warmth. Hearing what the Buddha said, his mind opened in realization and he attained the path of a srotāpanna. He then renounced his army and sought to become a śramaṇa. The Buddha accepted him at once: "Welcome, monk!" and he became a śramaṇa. Re-contemplating ānāpāna, discerning the four great elements and the thirty-six impure substances, he directly penetrated the most sublime and attained the anāsrava fruit. Therefore, he is praised as foremost in ānāpāna among the monks.