妙法蓮華經玄贊 4.252

4.252

Eulogy: The following three and a half verses concern the actual preaching of the conversion of the three vehicles, divided into three parts: first, one and a half verses on the actual inception of the provisional conversion; next, one verse on the consequent arising of the Three Jewels; and finally, one verse harmonizing past and present. This is the first. In Sanskrit it is Vārāṇasī; saying Boluonai is corrupt. It is a territory in Central India. Formerly, in this land, there were two herds of deer, each numbering more than five hundred. The Buddha was the king of one herd of deer, and Devadatta was the king of the other herd. At that time, the king of this country went hunting in the plains and marshes. The bodhisattva deer king stepped forward and requested the king, saying: 'Great King, when you hunt in the central plains, unleashing hunters and shooting flying arrows, all of our followers' lives will be brought to an end this morning, and rotting by day, they will not supply your meals. We request that by turns one deer be offered each day, so that the King has fresh meals cut, and we may prolong our fleeting lives.' The king approved his words and turned his carriage back; the deer of the two herds took turns surrendering their lives. In Devadatta's herd, there was a pregnant doe whose turn came to die. She addressed her king, saying: 'Although my own body ought to die, the offspring is not yet in line; I pray for a temporary substitute, and once I have given birth I shall go.' The deer king said angrily: 'Who does not treasure life?' The doe sighed: 'Our king is unbenevolent; death is imminent.' She then urgently informed the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva deer king said: 'How lamentable! A compassionate mother's heart extends grace even to the unformed; I shall now go in your stead.' He thereupon went to the king's gate. People on the road shouted and called out: 'That great deer king has now entered the city!' The citizens and commoners of the capital all ran to watch. When the king heard of it, he did not believe it was true. The gatekeeper reported to the king, and the king then believed it. The king said: 'Why has the deer king come so hastily?' The deer king said: 'There is a doe due to die whose unborn fawn has not yet been delivered; my heart could not bear it, so I venture to offer my own body in her place.' When the king heard this, he sighed and said: 'I have a human body but am a deer, devoid of a mind of compassionate nurture; you have a deer's body but are human, possessing the virtue of substituting for life.' Thereupon he released all the deer, no longer requiring them to surrender their lives, and made that forest a preserve for all deer; hence it was called the Forest Bestowed upon the Deer (*Mṛgadāva*), and the name Deer Park (*Rṣipatana*) arose from this.
Initially, after Prince Sarvārthasiddha (translated in Tang as "accomplishing all aims"; anciently called Siddhārtha, which is a corrupt abbreviation) leaped over the city wall, he dwelt in mountains and hid in valleys, abandoning his body and dedicating his life to the Dharma. King Śuddhodana then commanded three members of the royal family and two maternal uncles, saying: 'My son Sarvārthasiddha has left home to cultivate the path, wandering alone in mountains and marshes and dwelling solitary in the wilderness; therefore I command you to follow and keep informed of his whereabouts. Internally you are uncles; externally you are sovereign and ministers; in all his movements, you should know when he advances or stops.' The five men received the command and watched over and guarded him. Thereupon, earnestly seeking the goal of liberation, they constantly said to one another: 'Is the cultivation of the path verified through suffering or through pleasure?' Two said: 'Peace and pleasure constitute the path.' Three said: 'Diligent hardship constitutes the path.' The two and the three disputed back and forth without clarity. Thereupon the prince, contemplating the ultimate truth and seeking to subdue the heterodox ascetics, sustained his body with hemp and wheat. Those two saw this and said: 'What the prince practices is not the true Dharma; the path is verified through pleasure, but now he undergoes diligent hardship, so he is not of our cohort.' Abandoning him, they fled far away to contemplate the realization of the fruit. After six years of austerities, the prince had not yet realized bodhi; wishing to demonstrate that austerities are not real, he received milk-rice and realized the fruit. When these three men heard of it, they sighed and said: 'His accomplishment was near completion, and now he has retrogressed; six years of austerities have been cast away in a single morning!' They too abandoned him and left. Thereupon, following one another, they sought out the two men. Having met, they sat erect and held high discourse, discussing with one another: 'Formerly we saw Prince Sarvārthasiddha leave the royal palace for the barren valley, cast off precious garments to wear deer skins, exerting himself vigorously with pure resolution and an ascetic mind, seeking the profound and wondrous Dharma to anticipate the unsurpassed fruit. Now he has received milk-rice from a cowherd girl, ruining the path and diminishing his resolution—we know this now; he is incapable of achieving anything.' Those two said: 'How late have you come to see it! This man is simply reckless! Living in deep palaces and resting in supreme nobility, he could not keep his will serene, fled to mountain forests, abandoned the rank of a wheel-turning king, and performed base and mean acts—why should he be considered?' Their words grew increasingly bitter.
The bodhisattva bathed in the Nairañjanā River and sat under the bodhi tree, attaining equal and right awakening, titled Teacher of Gods and Humans. Serene and tranquil, he observed only who should be delivered, thinking: 'Rudraka Rāmaputra has attained the concentration of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; he is capable of receiving my Dharma.' The devas in the sky immediately called out in response: 'Seven days have now elapsed since Rudraka Rāmaputra passed away.' The Tathāgata lamented: 'How unfortunate! On the verge of hearing the wondrous Dharma, he has suddenly undergone transformation.' Re-examining, he found Ārāḍa Kālāma had attained the concentration of nothingness and could be imparted the ultimate truth. The devas again said: 'Five days have already passed since he died.' The Tathāgata lamented again, pitying his meager merit. Examining once more who should receive the instruction, only the five men in the Deer Park could be guided first. The Tathāgata at that time arose from the bodhi tree and set out for the Deer Park, with serene comportment and divine light shining radiantly, the ūrṇā containing a jade luster and his body glistening with a golden hue, proceeding with calm dignity to guide those five men. These five men saw the Tathāgata from afar and said to one another: 'There comes Sarvārthasiddha! Years have swiftly elapsed without his realizing the holy fruit; his heart's expectation having failed, he now seeks out our cohort. Let each of us remain silent, and do not rise to greet him or pay homage.' As the Tathāgata approached, his majestic spiritual power moved them; the five men forgot their resolve, bowed, greeted him, inquired after his well-being, and served him according to decorum. The Tathāgata gradually guided them and revealed the wondrous truth.
According to traditional explanation, the five men were: first, Kauṇḍinya; second, Daśabala-Kāśyapa; third, Aśvajit, which some say is the monk Upasena; fourth, Bhadrika; and fifth, Mahānāman Kuli. One should consult the *Abhidharmamahāvibhāṣā*. Why were there only five men? Some say that during the time of Kāśyapa Buddha there were nine fellow practitioners; four had sharp faculties and attained the path earlier, while five had dull faculties and thus only now awakened, having made the vow to meet Śākyamuni Buddha when he appeared and attained the path. Furthermore, a sūtra says: 'Śākyamuni in the past assumed the body of a great fish and vowed: "May those who first eat my flesh be the first to be delivered." Because the five men were the first to eat, they were delivered first.' Furthermore, a sūtra says: 'Six men once made offerings to the Buddha; five took rice flowers to make offerings, while one waited until they were ripe; hence the five men awakened first, and one came later, namely Subhadra.' Again, they were also the five yakṣas who ate the flesh of King Maitrībala. Among the five men, Kauṇḍinya attained the first fruit, and the other four were in the four good roots, attaining the path only at the beginning of the summer retreat. The *Record of the Western Regions* says: 'They attained the tracks of the path only when the summer retreat ended.' The quiescent mark of phenomena is precisely tathatā; it cannot be expressed in words because its nature transcends speech. Preaching the phenomenon that is devoid of names and marks by means of names and marks is called the power of expedient means, heading to Vārāṇasī to preach for the five men.