法華文句記 2.8

2.8

In explaining Śāriputra, the citation of the Jātaka Sūtra (*Sheng jing*) and so forth also possesses the four siddhāntas: first is the mundane [siddhānta], because it clarifies previous lives and his time in the womb; from "Nanda" onward is generating good, because it caused the people of the country to develop faith and, through seeing Aśvajit, they were able to generate good; from "Devadatta" onward is counteraction, because it was able to counteract Devadatta and save wandering ascetics; from "Madhyama [Āgama]" onward is the supreme meaning, because it praises him as being equal to the Buddha. Regarding "In the past…" and so on, that sūtra is in five fascicles, and this is taken from the first fascicle; it is now briefly cited further to make the text apparent. In that explanation of grasping to what belongs to the self, it says: "In the past, countless kalpas ago, a nephew and his uncle were both official weavers. Seeing fine goods in the storehouse, they gave rise to greed, and then conferred together, saying: 'We weave with hard labor, and fully know the fine and base of the storehouse's goods. Should we not take them together to relieve our poverty?' Later, at dead of night, they stole incalculable wealth. The storehouse guard realized it and reported to the king (as in the commentary text below). Later they came again, and the nephew said to his uncle: 'Uncle, you are old and frail; I fear you will be caught by the guards. You should enter backward from the earthen tunnel; if others see you, my strength is robust and I will be able to save you.' It happened just as the nephew said. The nephew knew he could not save him, and fearing that discerning people would recognize him, he immediately cut off his head, left the body, and departed. The king ordered the corpse discarded (as in the commentary). The king ordered subtle surveillance, but the surveillance was not airtight: the nephew then instructed boys to hold torches, dance, play, and make a great uproar, and threw them into the fire; the guards did not notice (as in the commentary). The king again brought forth his daughter, adorned her with pearls, and placed her in a chamber by the great water (as in the commentary). The king first instructed the daughter (as in the commentary); the daughter seized his clothing, and he said: 'What use is seizing my clothes? Seize my hand.' That nephew was ferocious and cunning; he had prepared a dead man in advance (as in the commentary). The king said: 'With such peerless expedients, what can be done?' The daughter was pregnant for ten months and gave birth to a handsome boy; [the king] had the wet nurse hold him and travel all throughout the borders of the kingdom, ordering that whoever made him laugh should be seized. All day they did not catch anyone. The nephew became a baker living below the furnace; the small child wept, and the baker gave him a cake, whereupon he laughed. The wet nurse reported to the king. The king said: 'Why did you not bind and bring him?' The wet nurse said: 'The child was hungry; the baker gave him a cake. I did not imagine he was the thief.' The king again ordered that anyone who approached the child be seized and brought. The nephew again sold pure wine, called the wet nurse and the guards to drink; the guards became dead drunk, and he stole the child and departed (as in the commentary). There were two hundred and fifty horsemen in front and two hundred and fifty behind, with the nephew in the center not dismounting; the king then went into the horsemen and seized him, saying: 'Are you the former thief? Why could you not be seized before and after?' Bowing his head, he replied: 'I beg for this remaining life.' The king said: 'Your keen cleverness is peerless under heaven; it shall be as you wish' (as in the commentary)." Regarding "simultaneously imitating inauspicious signs": on the road, judging by signs, all signs that were judged, insofar as they pertained to himself, were inauspicious. Regarding "Serving as master the Brahmin Sañjaya" and so on, the Ekottarika [Āgama] says: "Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana, the two of them, sought the Way without success, and then asked their master. The master said: 'I myself have spent years seeking the Way without success; is there no Way?' Another day the master fell ill; Śāriputra was at his head and Maudgalyāyana was at his feet. When his life was about to end, he smiled; both of them asked about the meaning of the smile (as in the commentary). Both of them took it down in writing (as in the commentary). From this they made a vow that if they obtained ambrosia, they would certainly taste it together." Regarding "Madhyama [Āgama], fascicle two, to 'how could they be exhausted'", that *Seven Carts Parable Sūtra* says: "Śāriputra saw Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra" (as in the commentary); in its second [fascicle], the "Chapter on the Seven Dharmas", the background is extensively narrated. As for "dwelling in the retreat of his birthplace", the sūtra says "birthplace", which is his original birthplace. The monks of the birthplace reported to the Buddha, praising Pūrṇa and so forth (as in the commentary). *Báixī* (pronounced *xī*) means radiant and pleasant. If pronounced *xī*, it means handsome complexion. Both meanings are valid. Regarding "purity of morality" and so forth: according to the *Commentary on the Vimalakīrti*, purity of morality consists of right speech, right action, and right livelihood; purity of mind consists of right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration; purity of view consists of right view and right resolve; purity by overcoming doubt is the path of seeing; purity by knowing the path and non-path is also called purity of discernment; purity of knowledge and vision of the traces of the path is also called purity of practice—these two are the path of cultivation; purity by wisdom and abandonment of the traces of the path is also called purity of nirvāṇa, which is the path of no-more-learning. Only when it comes to the context of teachings are the teachings distinguished. The latter two must use identical-essence views and thoughts. Here, "praising the remainderless by means of the with-remainder": from the active discipline at the beginning to wisdom and abandonment at the end, the seven purities are all with-remainder; only when retribution ends and one enters extinction does one realize the remainderless. The seven purities are indeed the gateway to the remainderless; if one directly takes the seven purities to be the remainderless, one should know that it is merely praising the remainderless by means of the with-remainder. The remainderless must rely on the seven purities to be reached; therefore it says that apart from the seven, there is also none. "Kosala" is Śrāvastī. "Sāketa" is a place name, its mileage unknown. Regarding "making the lion's roar", in the *Śāriputra's Lion's Roar Sūtra* of the *Saṃyukta [Āgama]*, the Buddha spoke the meaning of a single phrase, asked Śāriputra three times, and he could not answer three times. The Buddha opened it slightly and entered a quiet room; Śāriputra gathered the monks and addressed them: 'Before the Buddha showed me the starting point, I could not answer; [now] for seven days and seven nights I could expound its dharma without exhausting it.' Regarding "The Buddha ordered Maudgalyāyana to go to the Jetavana to call Śāriputra" and so forth: the Buddha was at Lake Anavatapta with five hundred monks; Ānanda attended the Buddha, sitting on a golden lotus flower with stems of seven treasures, and all five hundred were assembled. Then the dragon king said: 'This assembly has a vacancy, not seeing Śāriputra; may the Buddha send a monk to call him.' At that time, Śāriputra was in the Jetavana patching an old robe (a five-patch robe of mixed colors). Śāriputra said: 'Go ahead there first, and I will come immediately.' Maudgalyāyana said: 'Can your supernormal power surpass mine, that you tell me to go ahead?' Maudgalyāyana said: 'If you do not go at once, I will seize your arm and bring you to that lake.' Śāriputra said: 'Maudgalyāyana is testing and trifling with me.' Śāriputra immediately loosened his sash and placed it on the ground, saying to Maudgalyāyana: 'Can you lift this sash? Then seize my arm and take me away.' At that time Maudgalyāyana thought: 'Śāriputra is slighting and trifling with me.' Maudgalyāyana said: 'This must have a purpose; it is not in vain.' He stretched out his hand to take the sash, but could not move it a hair's breadth; exerting all his supernormal power, he still could not move it. Śāriputra took the sash and tied it to a branch of the jambu tree, telling him to lift it; at that time the entire earth of Jambudvīpa shook. Śāriputra said: 'Maudgalyāyana can still shake the earth of Jambudvīpa, how much more this sash? Now I shall tie it to other continents.' Even to the three continents, he could shake them like shaking a light garment. Next, he tied it to Mount Sumeru, the small thousand, medium thousand, and great thousand [worlds], and could shake them all. At this time heaven and earth shook violently; only the Buddha's seat and Lake Anavatapta did not move. The dragon king asked the Buddha: 'Why does the earth shake?' The Buddha answered (as in the commentary). The dragon king said: 'Whose supernormal power is superior?' The Buddha said: 'Śāriputra is superior.' The dragon king said: 'Why was it previously said that Maudgalyāyana is foremost in supernormal powers?' The Buddha said: 'Maudgalyāyana can abide for one kalpa; Śāriputra abides for many kalpas.' What others call the border-limit samādhi is just this samādhi. Śāriputra entered a samādhi whose name Maudgalyāyana did not know. Śāriputra further thought: 'Maudgalyāyana shook the great earth, and countless wriggling creatures died. I personally heard the Buddha say that the Tathāgata's seat cannot be moved; now I tie it with this sash.' When Maudgalyāyana again lifted it, the reason it did not move was just slightly different from the legs of the seats of buddhas in other regions. Maudgalyāyana thought to himself: 'Have I not regressed in my supernormal powers?' Wanting to go to the Buddha's place to ask about this matter, Maudgalyāyana left and arrived at the World-Honoured One's place, and saw Śāriputra sitting in front of the Buddha from afar. He further thought: 'Among the Buddha's disciples, I am foremost in supernormal powers, yet now am I inferior to Śāriputra?' He then went to ask the Buddha: 'Have I not lost my supernormal powers? I departed earlier, yet now arrive later.' The Buddha said: 'Your supernormal powers have not regressed; it is just that you do not recognize that which Śāriputra entered.' Hearing this, the dragon king was greatly delighted. The monks discussed privately: 'Among the Buddha's disciples, Maudgalyāyana is foremost in supernormal powers, but now he is inferior to Śāriputra.' They then gave rise to slighting thoughts toward Maudgalyāyana. The Buddha told Maudgalyāyana: 'Display your supernormal powers.' Maudgalyāyana bowed to the Buddha, and right before the Buddha, went to the east through worlds [as numerous as] seven Ganges sands, where the Buddha was named Wonderful Light, and walked on the rim of an alms bowl. That assembly saw him, thought he was an insect, and showed him to that Buddha. That Buddha said: 'To the west, seven Ganges sands of worlds...' (and so forth). That Buddha told him to display supernormal powers so that the monks would not give rise to slighting thoughts. He went so far as to put five hundred [monks] in his bowl bag, place them in the Brahmā heaven, tread on the Brahmā heaven with one foot and tread on Mount Sumeru with the other foot, and the sound of his reciting verses filled the Jetavana. The monks heard it, not knowing where he was. They asked the Buddha, and the Buddha said: 'He is in that world' (and so forth). The monks addressed the Buddha, asking that Maudgalyāyana return (and so forth). Those monks wished to come; the Buddha had him bring them, expounded the teaching of the six realms for them to return, and Maudgalyāyana escorted them back (and so forth).