妙法蓮華經文句 1.63

1.63

「王舍城」者，天竺稱羅閱祇伽羅，羅閱祇此云王舍，伽羅此云城，國名摩伽陀，此云不害，無刑殺法也；亦云摩竭提，此云天羅，天羅者王名也，以王名國，此王即駁足之父。昔久遠劫，此王主千小國，王巡山值牸師子，眾人迸散，仍共王交。後月滿來殿上生，王知是己子，訛言我既無兒，此乃天賜，養為太子，足上斑駁，時人號為駁足。後紹王位，喜噉肉，勅厨人無令肉少，一時遽闕，乃取城西新死小兒為膳。王言大美，勅之常辦此肉，厨人日捕一人，舉國愁恐，千小國興兵廢王，置耆闍山中，諸羅剎輔之為鬼王，因與山神誓，誓取千王祭山。捕得九百九十九，唯少普明王，後時伺執得之。大啼哭，恨生來實語，而今乖信。駁足放之還國，作大施，立太子，仍就死，形悅心安。駁足問之，答：「得聞聖法。」因令說之，廣讚慈心，毀呰殺害，仍說四非常偈（云云）。駁足聞法，得空平等地，即初地也。千王各取一渧血、三條髮，賽山神願。駁足與千王共立舍城，都五山中為大國，各以千小國付子胤，千王更迭知大國事。又百姓在五山內，七遍作舍，七度被燒，百姓議云：「由我薄福數致煨燼，王有福力其舍不燒，自今已後皆排我屋為王舍。」由是免燒，故稱王舍城。又駁足共千王立舍於其地，故稱王舍。又駁足得道放赦千王，千王被赦於其地故，名地為王赦，而經家借音為屋舍字耳。因緣出《大論》及諸經（云云）。

"Rājagṛha": In India it is called *Rāyagṛha* [Rājagṛha-nagara]. *Rāyagṛ* means "King's Abode" here, and *nagara* means "city" here. The name of the country is Magadha, which means "non-harming" here, signifying that there are no laws of execution or punishment. It is also called Magadhī, which means "Heavenly Net" here; "Heavenly Net" is the name of a king, and the country is named after the king. This king was the father of Kalmāṣapāda (Spotted Feet). In a kalpa long ago, this king ruled over a thousand small kingdoms. While touring the mountains, the king encountered a lioness; the entourage dispersed in terror, but she copulated with the king. Later, when her full term was reached, she came to the palace hall and gave birth. The king knew it was his own child and falsely said, "Since I had no son, this is a gift from heaven." He raised him as the crown prince. Because his feet had mottled spots, the people of the time called him Kalmāṣapāda (Spotted Feet). Later he succeeded to the royal throne. He relished eating meat and ordered the cook never to let meat be lacking. On one occasion meat was suddenly in short supply, so the cook took a newly deceased young child from west of the city for the royal meal. The king declared it delicious and commanded him always to prepare this meat. The cook seized one person every day, plunging the entire country into sorrow and fear. The thousand small kingdoms raised armies to depose the king, exiling him to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. Various rākṣasas assisted him, making him a ghost king. Thereupon he made a vow to the mountain deity, vowing to capture a thousand kings to sacrifice to the mountain. He captured nine hundred and ninety-nine, lacking only King Samantaprabhāsa (Universal Brightness). Later, having lain in wait, he captured him. [King Samantaprabhāsa] wept bitterly, lamenting that he had spoken truthfully all his life, yet had now broken trust. Kalmāṣapāda released him to return to his kingdom to make great donations and establish a crown prince; he then went back to face death, with a joyful appearance and a tranquil mind. Kalmāṣapāda asked him about this, and he replied, "I have been able to hear the noble Dharma." Thereupon he had him expound it. [The king] broadly praised the compassionate mind, condemned killing and harming, and spoke the verse on the four impermanences (and so forth). Hearing the Dharma, Kalmāṣapāda attained the ground of the equality of emptiness, which is the first bhūmi. The thousand kings each took a drop of blood and three strands of hair to fulfill the vow to the mountain deity. Kalmāṣapāda and the thousand kings jointly founded dwellings and a city, establishing a great state within the five mountains; each entrusted his thousand small kingdoms to his offspring, and the thousand kings took turns administering the affairs of the great state. Furthermore, when the common people built dwellings within the five mountains, they were burned down seven times. The common people discussed, saying, "Because of our meager merits, our homes are repeatedly reduced to ashes. The king possesses the power of merit, so his dwellings do not burn. From now on, let us all arrange our houses as royal abodes." In this way they escaped burning, and therefore it is called "Rājagṛha" (Royal Abode City). Alternatively, because Kalmāṣapāda and the thousand kings established abodes in that place, it is called "Royal Abodes." Again, because Kalmāṣapāda attained the Way and pardoned the thousand kings, and the thousand kings were pardoned in that place, the place was named "King's Pardon" (wangshe); the sūtra masters merely borrowed the sound for the character for "abode" (she). These causal conditions appear in the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa* and various sūtras (and so forth).