阿彌陀經疏 1.94

1.94

「周利槃陀伽」者，依《佛華嚴入如來智德不思議經》云：翻為繼道。《善見律》翻為路邊生，有一長者，止有一女與奴私通，遂逃他國久而有孕，垂產思歸，行至中路即誕其子，因名路邊生。如是二度凡生兩子，長名槃陀伽，弟名周利槃陀伽，以兄弟相繼於路邊生，兄名路邊，弟名繼道，即周利槃陀伽也。《增一阿含》云：其人父母併亡，兄厭家入道，其弟尋復出家，性甚愚鈍。兄怒之曰：「汝不能持誦，又加懶惰，幸即歸俗。」牽出祇洹門外，號泣而立。如來見之，知其道根將熟，喚之在側，付掃帚與：「汝誦此名，此名亦號除垢，若日誦之。」得掃忘帚，乃即思惟：「此名除垢之義，除者應是清淨，垢者應是身中結縛。」思惟忽然悟解成阿羅漢果。處處經其人過去，遍通經論藏祕不說，臨死悔恨曰：「我所解不為人說，用解何為？由我祕惜故今則暗鈍。」以臨死悔恨故，今經二十四年記五字因之得悟。又《五百弟子本起經》云：我昔放猪驅令渡水，以繩繫口，猪不得喘息中流而死。以是罪因，於是後身猶尚曚昧，我諷學一偈三月乃知。《增一》云：然能化形體作若干變。

"Cūḍapanthaka": According to the Fo huayan ru rulai zhide busiyi jing, this is translated as "Succession on the Road". The Samantapāsādikā translates it as "Born by the Roadside": An elder had an only daughter who had an illicit liaison with a male servant and fled to another country; after a long time she became pregnant, and as she was about to give birth she longed to return; reaching midway on the road, she gave birth to her son, and so he was named "Born by the Roadside". In this way she gave birth twice, bearing two sons in all: the elder was named Panthaka, and the younger was named Cūḍapanthaka. Because the brothers were born one after the other by the roadside, the elder was named Roadside and the younger was named Succession on the Road, who is Cūḍapanthaka. The Ekottarika-āgama says: Both of this man's parents had died; the elder brother grew weary of household life and entered the path, and the younger brother soon after also went forth, but his nature was extremely dull. The elder brother berated him, saying: "You cannot recite or retain the teachings, and moreover you are lazy; it would be best for you to return to lay life immediately." He dragged him outside the gate of the Jetavana, where he stood weeping aloud. The Tathāgata saw him, and knowing that the roots of his path were about to ripen, called him to his side and handed him a broom: "Recite this name; this name is also called 'removing defilement'; recite it day after day." When he remembered "sweep", he forgot "broom". Then he reflected: "The meaning of this name 'removing defilement'—'removing' must mean purity, and 'defilement' must be the fetters within the body." Contemplating this, he suddenly had an awakening and attained the fruit of an arhat. In various sūtras it is said that in the past, this man had comprehensively mastered the sūtras and treatises but kept them secret without preaching them; at the point of death, he repented with regret, saying: "What I understood I did not speak for others; what was the use of understanding? Because I was stingy with my knowledge, I am now dim and dull." Because of his repentance at the point of death, he spent twenty-four years in the present life retaining only five characters, through which he attained awakening. Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Original Deeds of the Five Hundred Disciples says: In the past I herded pigs and drove them across water; I tied their mouths with ropes so that the pigs could not breathe and died midstream. Due to this cause of wrongdoing, in this subsequent rebirth I was still ignorant; I recited and studied a single verse for three months before understanding it. The Ekottarika-āgama says: Yet he was able to transform his body into numerous manifestations.