勝鬘寶窟 1.27

1.27

Regarding "the country of Śrāvastī": this dwelling place has two aspects: first, the general place; second, the specific place. It is also both the place of laypeople and the place of renunciants, and it is both a bustling place and [a place of] quiet contemplation. First, in order to give rise to faith, it is titled in full detail. Second, in order to transform both the religious and the secular, both the bustling and the quiet are brought forward together. Regarding the country of Śrāvastī, the Tripiṭaka master says: "The correct pronunciation in that country should be Śarāvastī (*Śarāvatī), which here means 'Country of Good Renown'. In the past, there was a ṛṣi who loved renown and dwelt here. Taking its name from the ṛṣi, it is called the Country of Good Renown." It is also said: "This country possesses four features: first, an abundance of treasures; second, the people here mostly enjoy the pleasures of the five desires; third, it possesses the virtue of the Dharma, for the people in this country mostly practice giving and moral discipline, which is called the virtue of the Dharma; fourth, they attain liberation in the future, explaining that the people in this country mostly will be born in future lives among humans and gods and attain the fruit of liberation. Because these four features are heard of from afar in other lands, it is called the Country of Good Renown." Formerly it was traditionally translated as the "Country of Famous Things," as it produced many fine things that were known afar in various countries, hence the name "Hearing of Things." The Twelve Yojanas Sūtra says, "There is nothing it lacks, surpassing all other places." Question: Why is it also called Śrāvasti (Sheboti)? Answer: At the beginning of the past kalpa, there were two brothers who were ṛṣis; the younger brother was named Śrava, which means "young and small"; the elder brother was called Abhati, which means "unassailable." The two jointly built this city, and it was named after them. The younger dropped "va" and the elder dropped "a", combining both names, and so it was called Sheboti. Sheboti is also called Kosala, as the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa says: "There was a fine and wonderful country named Kosala, near the side of the snowy mountains; there the descendants of the sun, the Śākyas, were born, and I was born in their midst." As for Kosala, the translation has not been examined in detail. The Humane King Sūtra lists sixteen great countries, the first being Kosala and the second being Śrāvastī. That the two countries are distinguished there is different from the Upadeśa; this has not yet been examined in detail. Question: Why was the Buddha mostly in Rājagṛha and Sheboti? Answer: The Buddha first accepted the invitation of King Bimbisāra, and so he dwelt in Rājagṛha. Next he accepted the invitation of King Prasenajit, and dwelt in Śrāvastī. Furthermore, Rājagṛha and Śrāvastī were prosperous, joyful, and heavily populated countries, and the Buddha taught and transformed sentient beings where there were many people. As the sūtra says, the country of Śrāvastī had nine hundred million households, and the Damamūkanidāna-sūtra says it had 1.8 billion people. In Rājagṛha there were 1.2 billion households. Moreover, these two countries had many intelligent people as well as the six teachers of outside paths, so the Buddha dwelt there frequently. Again, to repay the debt of the dharmakāya, he mostly dwelt in Rājagṛha; to repay the debt of the physical body (rūpakāya), he mostly dwelt in Śrāvastī. Question: The Buddha was born in Kapilavastu; how can it be said that he was born in Sheboti? Answer: The Buddha's distant ancestors had resided in Sheboti and had not yet dwelt in Kapila; establishing the name from the origin, it is said that he dwelt in Śrāvastī to repay the debt of the physical body. Question: Starting from how many generations ago did the Buddha's ancestors reside in the land of Kapila? Answer: The Buddha's ancestor was King Miśrī (*Misi-li), who lived south of the snowy mountains in a country named Sheboti. The king had two consorts; the queen gave birth to one son named Changsheng (Dīrghāyus), and the second consort gave birth to four sons: the first was named Tingmu, the second Zhaomu, the third Erlou, and the fourth Milou. The queen's son was installed as crown prince. The four sons were rich in stratagems and talents; the queen feared that after the king's death the four sons would usurp his throne, so she frequently slandered them to the king. The king then heeded her words and banished the four sons and their mother to the waste land bordering the two countries of Kosala northwest of the snowy mountains; this was territory of King Prasenajit's realm. They built a city called Kapilavastu. Among the four sons, King Milou was the direct ancestor: from Milou was born Wulou, from Wulou was born Qutouluo, from Qutouluo was born Shixiuluo, and from Shixiuluo was born King Śuddhodana, who is the ancestor seven generations before the Buddha. This combines King Miśrī to make seven generations; if counted directly from after the four sons, it is only six generations. Question: In total, for how many years did the Buddha dwell in Śrāvastī? Answer: A sūtra says: "He dwelt in Śrāvastī for twenty-five years. There were nine hundred million households: three hundred million households neither saw the Buddha nor heard the Dharma, three hundred million households both saw the Buddha and heard the Dharma, and three hundred million households saw the Buddha but did not hear the Dharma." Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha says: "From beginning to end, he dwelt in Śrāvastī for seven years, and in Rājagṛha for four years." This has not yet been examined in detail. Question: Since he was in the country of Ayodhyā when he spoke this sūtra to Queen Śrīmālā, why does it not say that the Buddha dwelt in the country of Ayodhyā, but says that he dwelt in Śrāvastī? Answer: It was while the Buddha dwelt in Śrāvastī that he entrusted this sūtra, so the name is established from the Buddha's dwelling place. Furthermore, Śrāvastī is a large country and Ayodhyā is a small country; the name is established from the greater place. Moreover, the name is established from the origin: the Buddha was originally in Śrāvastī, and Queen Śrīmālā moved the Buddha from Ayodhyā, so the branch was in Ayodhyā; establishing the name from the origin, it is therefore called Śrāvastī. Question: If the name is established from the Buddha's dwelling place, the sūtra's title should also be taken from the Buddha. Answer: Each follows a different point of view. Setting the name according to the person capable of speaking it, it is called the Śrīmālā-sūtra; with respect to the Buddha's confirmation and entrustment, the Buddha's dwelling place is brought forward.