大方廣佛華嚴經隨疏演義鈔 77.16

77.16

Regarding the Commentary's mention of the "Kingdom of Gandhāra": Fascicle three of the Record of the Western Regions states: "In the Kingdom of Gandhāra there was King Kaniṣka. In the four hundredth year after the Tathāgata's nirvāṇa, he responded to the opportune moment and held sway over the destiny [of the state]; his royal influence reached far and distant peoples submitted within. In his leisure from administrative affairs, he regularly studied the Buddhist scriptures, daily inviting one monk into the palace to preach the Dharma. However, the doctrines had differing rituals and the doctrinal schools held divergent tenets, so that the king conceived deep doubt and had no means to remove his confusion. At that time, the Venerable Pārśva said: 'The Tathāgata has passed away, and the years and months have grown far distant. The disciples hold to their schools, and teachers and disciples hold differing views, each relying on what they have heard and seen to contradict one another.' When the king heard this, he was deeply moved and grieved; after sighing sorrowfully for a long time, he said to the Venerable: 'Unworthy as I am, through remnant merit I have fortunately succeeded to the former lineage; though far from the Sage, I am still fortunate. Daring to forget my vulgar unworthiness, I shall carry on and exalt the teachings of the Dharma, fully explaining the Tripiṭaka according to each school's tenets.'" (The following is paraphrased in sense:) He then summoned the monastic assembly for seven days of offerings, wishing to deliberate on the matter of the Dharma. An order was first proclaimed to dismiss the ordinary and retain the noble. The noble ones were still numerous, so those in training (śaikṣa) were dismissed. The non-learners (aśaikṣa) were still numerous, so next those endowed with the three knowledges and six supernormal powers were retained. As they were still numerous, those who internally were thoroughly versed in the Tripiṭaka and externally proficient in the five sciences were chosen, totaling four hundred and ninety-nine persons. Later, Vasumitra, who had not yet attained arhatship, and others compiled the Tripiṭaka in full, amounting to three hundred thousand verses. The king engraved them on copper plates and sealed them in stone caskets, and relinquished this entire kingdom to the Saṅgha. Therefore, it has many dwellings of sages.