觀彌勒上生兜率天經贊 1.48

1.48

The Eulogy says: Second is the assembly of few desires and ascetic practices (dhūta). 'Mahā' means great. 'Kāśyapa' means 'drinker of light'; it is abbreviated as Kāśyapa. This is a Brahmin clan name, the lineage of the Light-Drinking Ṛṣi. Formerly, there was a Brahmin who attained the fruit of a ṛṣi; his skin was golden-colored, swallowing and obscuring the light of the sun and the moon. The Venerable is of that lineage, and his name is designated by his clan. Furthermore, Kāśyapa's bodily light swallowed the light of the sun and the moon, hence he was named thus. The Transmission of the Dharma Pitaka states: 'Long ago, in the past ninety-one kalpas, after Vipaśyin Buddha entered nirvāṇa, the fourfold disciples built a seven-jeweled stupa, inside which was an image of the Buddha. The face of the Buddha was golden in color, but a small part of it was damaged. There was a poor woman wandering and begging who obtained a golden bead; seeing that the image's face was damaged, she wished to repair the image's face. Kāśyapa at that time was a goldsmith; the woman immediately took it to him and requested him to repair it. Hearing of the merit, the goldsmith joyfully repaired it for her, using it to mend the face of the image. Thereupon they jointly made a vow: "May we two always be husband and wife, our bodies of genuine golden color, constantly experiencing supreme joy, and always practicing pure conduct (brahmacarya)." From that time on, for ninety-one kalpas their bodies were of genuine golden color, and they were born among devas and humans with limitless happiness. Finally, he was conceived in the seventh Brahma heaven. At that time in the country of Magadha, there was a Brahmin named Nyagrodha who had cultivated merit in the past, was intelligent and widely knowledgeable, and possessed immeasurable vast wealth—his gold, silver, seven precious substances, cattle, sheep, lands, residences, male and female slaves, carriages, and mounts were a thousand times superior to those of King Bimbisāra. King Bimbisāra had one thousand golden plows; that Brahmin, fearing that being equal to the king would incur punishment, made only nine hundred and ninety-nine plows in his household. His family had measures of wealth, the lowest of which was still worth hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold. There were sixty baskets of golden grain, each basket containing three hundred and forty bushels. Although his family was wealthy, he had no son at all. Beside his house was a tree spirit; the husband and wife constantly went to pray, make sacrifices, and beg for a son. After many years without a response, he spoke in anger: "I shall serve you with all my heart for seven more days. If there is still no response, I will surely burn and cut you down." The tree spirit, sorrowful and terrified, reported this to the Four Heavenly Kings, and the Four Heavenly Kings reported it to Śakra. Śakra observed that throughout Jambudvīpa no one was fit to be his son, so he went to the Brahma King and proclaimed the matter in detail. The Brahma King then observed everywhere with his divine eye and saw a Brahma deva who was about to die; he immediately went to exhort him to be reborn there, and the Brahma deva, receiving the instruction, came to be conceived. Having completed ten months, a boy was born, his appearance handsome, his body of genuine golden color, his light brilliant and shining for forty leagues. A physiognomist divined: "This child has merit from past lives; he will surely renounce home." When the parents heard this, they were deeply grieved and distressed. The husband and wife discussed: "What means should we devise to cut off his intention?" They reflected again: "What the world is addicted to is only beautiful form. We should betroth a handsome, good girl for him to cut off his sentiment." When he reached the age of fifteen, they wished to betroth a wife for him. He said to his parents: "My mind is pure; I have no need for a wife." The parents did not listen. Knowing it was hard to avoid, the son devised an expedient plan and said to his parents: "If you can find for me a woman of purple-golden color, of handsome appearance surpassing the world, I shall take her." The parents immediately summoned all the Brahmins to travel everywhere seeking a betrothal. The Brahmins cast a golden woman, wondrously handsome, and carried it in a carriage through the villages, crying out loudly: "If any woman sees and pays homage to this golden deity, when she marries later she will surely obtain a good husband whose body is of genuine golden color and wondrously handsome." When the women heard this, they all came out. There was only one woman whose body was golden and wonderfully handsome; she was indeed the woman who had formerly given the golden bead. Due to that past supreme condition, she had this wondrous body. Her resolve delighted in purity, and she alone refused to come out; the other women forcibly brought her to see the golden deity together. When this woman arrived, her golden light outshone the golden deity. The Brahmins saw this and secured the betrothal for him. After she arrived at her husband's home, husband and wife faced each other, each being completely pure without any stray thoughts, and they made a mutual agreement to live in separate rooms. When the parents learned of this, they adorned and plastered a single room, ordered them to share the quarters, and set up a single bed. Kāśyapa said to his wife: "When I sleep and rest, you should practice walking meditation. When you sleep and lie down, I should practice walking meditation." Later, when the wife was lying down, her hand hung down in front of the bed, and a poisonous snake entered the room, intending to bite her hand. Seeing this, Kāśyapa wrapped his hand in a garment and lifted her hand onto the bed. The wife was startled awake and rebuked him for acting out of the ordinary: "We made a solemn vow not to approach each other; now for what reason did you secretly lift my hand?" Kāśyapa answered: "A snake entered, and fearing it would harm your hand and impede your cultivation of the Way, I therefore lifted it. Truly I had no defiled intention." He then pointed to show her the snake, and the wife's mind understood. Husband and wife maintained their moral restraint, deeply detesting the worldly life; they informed their parents, seeking to renounce home, and the parents, seeing this, gave their permission. Thereupon, husband and wife renounced home together and came before the Buddha. The Buddha preached the Dharma for them, and at that very moment he attained arhatship, possessing the three knowledges, the six supernatural faculties, and the eight liberations; his wife also attained arhatship at a later time. While Kāśyapa was in the world, he frequently sat opposite the Tathāgata to preach the Dharma. After the Buddha's passing into extinction, the entire Dharma treasury was entrusted to Kāśyapa. Later, after compiling the Tripiṭaka, Kāśyapa went to Mount Kukkuṭapāda, his entire body not disintegrating. Later, when Maitreya Buddha appears in the world, he will come forth from the mountain, perform eighteen transformations among the great assembly, deliver immeasurable people, and then extinguish his body. In the future he will become a Buddha named Prabhāsa (Radiance), as the Buddha prophesied for him in the Lotus Sūtra.'