金剛經纂要刊定記 3.11

3.11

"The bowl of the Heavenly Kings": the Sanskrit word *pātra* is translated here as vessel of appropriate measure. This was the bowl of the past Buddha Vipaśyin; after he entered nirvāṇa, the dragon king took it into his palace to make offerings to it. When Śākyamuni attained the Way, the dragon king brought it to the surface of the sea water; the Four Heavenly Kings wished to take it, and it transformed into four bowls, each obtaining one bowl to present to the Tathāgata. After the Tathāgata received them, he stacked the four bowls in his left hand and pressed them with his right hand, joining them into a single bowl. This was a dark lapis lazuli stone bowl, held and used for begging food. That the Buddha, when going out to transform beings, had to wear the robe and carry the bowl was in order to depart from the two extremes of suffering and pleasure. Householders esteem brocades, fine silks, splendid clean clothing, and precious vessels, increasing heedlessness and being overly attached to the extreme of pleasure. Non-Buddhist home-leavers practicing austerities, like the Nirgranthas, go naked and hold food in their hands, incurring scolding and ugliness, being overly attached to the extreme of suffering. The Buddha abides in the middle practice, and therefore wore the robe and held the bowl.