大乘法苑義林章 2.5

2.5

The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Sifen lü) states: "Ānanda answered: 'Indeed, I did not recognize these as offenses. It is because I trust the words of the elders that I now confess.' Having completed his confession, he was led outside, and they said to Ānanda: 'Only after you have attained the exhaustion of outflows may you enter.' When Kāśyapa finished speaking, he closed the door himself. The great assembly deliberated on reciting the vinaya, and Aniruddha said: 'Gavāṃpati, a disciple of Śāriputra, understands the vinaya. He is now dwelling in heaven in the park of the Śirīṣa trees; let us send a messenger to invite him to come.' Kāśyapa dispatched a messenger to summon Gavāṃpati, saying: 'The Saṃgha in Jambudvīpa has a great Dharma affair and now quickly summons you; you should come in haste.' The messenger then bowed at the feet of the Saṃgha. Having bowed to the Saṃgha, he flew through the sky like a bird and reached the Śirīṣa Park, delivering the inquiry according to his instructions. Gavāṃpati asked the messenger: 'Is it not because of a dispute that you have come to call me? Has there been any schism in the Saṃgha?' The messenger replied, 'No.' 'Has the sun of the Buddha set?' The messenger replied, 'Yes, the Buddha has already passed into parinirvāṇa.' Gavāṃpati said, 'How swiftly the Buddha has passed into parinirvāṇa! Where is my preceptor, Śāriputra, now?' The messenger replied, 'The preceptor has also entered nirvāṇa.' He asked the same regarding Mahāmaudgalyāyana, and the messenger answered that he too had passed away. Gavāṃpati said: 'The Buddha's Dharma is about to disperse; the great beings have passed away; sentient beings are pitiable! Where are Ānanda and Rāhula now?' The messenger replied: 'Ānanda witnessed the Buddha's nirvāṇa and weeps in grief, unable to console himself. As for Rāhula, he has attained arhatship and merely contemplates impermanence.' Gavāṃpati said: 'I have lost the great master free of desire, and my preceptor has also passed away; what benefit is there in remaining?' He immediately displayed supernormal transformations and entered nirvāṇa. From his body water poured forth, flowing down in four streams to where Kāśyapa was. From within the water came a voice reciting a gāthā: 'Gavāṃpati bows his head / To the elder Saṃgha of foremost wondrous wisdom. / Hearing of the Buddha's passing into parinirvāṇa, I follow him away, / Just as when a great elephant departs, the young elephant follows.' At that time, the messenger took his robes and bowl and returned to the Saṃgha." The Account of the Rehearsal of the Canon (Jiezang zhuan) states: "At that time Aniruddha addressed Kāśyapa, saying: 'The bhikṣu Gavāṃpati is in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, an arhat with outflows exhausted, but he has not come to assemble now.' Kāśyapa summoned him, but he refused to come: 'The World-Honoured One has entered nirvāṇa, and the world is empty. What is there to seek?'" The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: "At that time, Ānanda sought the exhaustion of outflows with fervent striving until he was exhausted. Laying down to rest on his pillow, he suddenly attained the Way, like the sun dispelling darkness, fully endowed with the three knowledges and the six supernormal powers. In the night he went to the Saṃgha hall and circled the door, calling out. Kāśyapa bade him enter through the keyhole and pay homage to the assembly of monks." The Account of the Rehearsal of the Canon states: "Ānanda then sat beneath a tree, extinguishing the fetters and exhausting his outflows. Countless devas surrounded Ānanda as he went to the great assembly, fearless as a lion. Kāśyapa saw him from afar, and more than eighty thousand in the assembly stood with joined palms to welcome him. Kāśyapa raised his hand, saying, 'Welcome, Ānanda.' Ānanda then sat on a high seat and put the assembly of monks in order. Kāśyapa raised his voice and called out loudly to sentient beings: 'Whoever wishes to cross over the world, let them all come here! The various Dharmas taught by the Buddha to remove the suffering of sentient beings shall be expounded by Ānanda and heard in the ten directions!' Devas, nāgas, ghosts, spirits, the fourfold assembly of disciples, the noble ones of the four fruits, and kings with their armies all arrived upon hearing the voice. The great assembly sat in order, covering twelve yojanas square. Ānanda was in their midst like the brilliant full moon, with Śakra on his right and Brahmā on his left, attending upon Ānanda just as when the Buddha was alive. Then Śakra, lord of the devas, recited a gāthā in praise, and all the devaputras were delighted, just as when they had surrounded the Buddha at the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. Ānanda was fearless, his appearance majestic like the brilliance of the sun. Because he had newly exhausted his fetters, his deportment was like a mountain peak, and the nape of his neck had a halo of light shining upon the great assembly, so that all who beheld him sighed in admiration. Māra, hearing of his fame, took his wife, children, ministers, and soldiers and also came to that place. Pāpīyas thought to himself: 'One Buddha has passed into parinirvāṇa, yet three more have emerged: Ānanda has brought forth the rehearsal, Kāśyapa has light upon his crown, and Aniruddha has penetrating vision observing the great trichiliocosm. When Gautama entered nirvāṇa, I thought I was emancipated, but the virtue of these three occupies a truly vast place. Yet the Dharma has already declined, and there are no rivals left; I must devise an expedient to destroy this remnant Dharma, the fourfold disciples, and the kings.' Māra then issued an order commanding his lion-generals to quickly lead the fourfold army to destroy this Dharma completely. He then conjured up a phantom army with four kinds of commanding generals, surrounding the great assembly and letting forth terrifying roars, seizing practitioners and laymen and laywomen, slaying kings, and smashing the place of practice. The assembled multitude was alarmed, and the four groups of disciples thought: 'Where does this come from?' The kings, hearing the noise, were all startled and doubtful, and each prepared their weapons. Ānanda contemplated who had come to harass them, and observing the army, he recognized it was Māra's doing. Ānanda then smiled and commanded the kings to halt their carriages: 'I myself will subdue these riotous troops.' At that time, Ānanda with the power of wisdom and Mahākāśyapa with the power of vigor stretched forth their hands and seized Māra, tying three corpses to his neck: the first a human corpse, the second a dog corpse, and the third a snake corpse. Bloated and foul, they were unbearable to be near. Māra then bowed down in submission and pleaded with Kāśyapa to release him: 'Should an arhat distress others? Kāśyapa! Previously, I harassed the Buddha, the World-Honoured One, to the utmost, yet was never distressed like this.' Kāśyapa answered: 'Out of compassion, the Buddha never harmed you. We are gathering the Dharma wishing to cause it to flourish long; why have you come to harass our assembly?' Māra then joined his palms and petitioned Ānanda: 'Just release me, and I will never harass people again.' Ānanda and Kāśyapa together swore an oath with him: 'If you harass the assembly again, the corpses will hang around your neck once more.' The three corpses vanished, Pāpīyas was spared, and he stood aside, while the devas praised it as supreme and wonderful. Kāśyapa commanded the assembly to listen quietly, and all the kings rose with joined palms to attend him. Ānanda gave a long sigh and a lion's roar, looked in all four directions at sentient beings, and having spoken 'Thus have I heard' and 'At one time', the earth shook, and one hundred million devas and humans all attained the Dharma-eye. They rehearsed the sūtras to form the first piṭaka, the vinaya as the second piṭaka, and the great Dharma (abhidharma) as the third piṭaka. Recording various distinct teachings and collecting miscellaneous matters, they further formed another piṭaka, named the Miscellaneous Canon (Kṣudraka-piṭaka). Having heard this Dharma, among the devas, spirits, and humans, three thousand bhikṣus attained the exhaustion of outflows, eight thousand became non-returners, ten thousand became once-returners, and countless devas and humans attained the path of seeing. When the rehearsal of the Dharma was completed, the devas and humans each returned, and the fourfold disciples all went back to their original places." Examining this rehearsal of the four piṭakas, this is the doctrine of the Mahāsāṃghika school, in which all four piṭakas were rehearsed by Ānanda. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: "Corpses were tied around the neck, and so on, until later under Upagupta." The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra states: "Kāśyapa stroked Ānanda's crown with his hand, bidding him rehearse the Dharma-piṭaka. Ānanda joined his palms toward the direction of the Buddha's parinirvāṇa and recited a gāthā, saying: 'When the Buddha first preached the Dharma, / At that time I did not see it, / But heard it transmitted thus: / The Buddha, in Vārāṇasī, / For the assembly of five bhikṣus, / Turned the dharmacakra of the four truths.'" The Dharmacakrapravartana-sūtra also contains this gāthā. "Hearing these words, the one thousand arhats leaped into the air to the height of seven tāla trees, [saying]: 'Great is the power of impermanence! Just as with my own eyes I saw the Buddha himself preach the Dharma, today he merely says, "Thus have I heard."' The noble Aniruddha and Kāśyapa also recited gāthās speaking of the great power of impermanence. Ānanda thus rehearsed the four āgamas—namely the Ekottarika, Madhyama, Dīrgha, and Saṃyukta—calling them sūtras. He bade Upāli rehearse the Vinaya-piṭaka, saying: 'Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was in Vaiśālī…' and so forth extensively. He further bade Ānanda rehearse the Abhidharma-piṭaka, saying: 'Thus have I heard: At one time the Buddha was in Śrāvastī, and the Buddha addressed the bhikṣus: "There are five terrors, five sins, and five enmities that are not abandoned or extinguished. Due to these causes and conditions, one suffers immeasurable pain in this life and later falls into evil destinies…"' and so forth extensively. When the rehearsal of the Dharma was completed, the various devas, nāgas, and spirits made various offerings, raining down heavenly flowers and fragrances, making offerings of all manner of things. They recited this gāthā: 'Out of compassion for the world, / The rehearsal of the three Dharmas is completed. / The Ten-Powered One of omniscience / Expounded the lamp of wisdom that dispels ignorance.'" It also says: "Maitreya and Mañjuśrī took Ānanda to the Iron Ring Mountains (Cakravāḍa) to rehearse the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka as the Bodhisattva-piṭaka." The Record of the Western Regions (Xiyu ji) states: "On the fifteenth day of the beginning of the summer retreat, Mahākāśyapa recited a gāthā saying: 'Well done, listen attentively! Ānanda has retained what he heard; praised by the Tathāgata, he shall compile the Sūtra-piṭaka. I, Kāśyapa, shall compile the Abhidharma-piṭaka. Upāli is thoroughly versed in the vinaya, recognized by the assembly; he shall compile the Vinaya-piṭaka.' When the three months of the rains were ended, the rehearsal of the Tripiṭaka was finished." According to traditions transmitted in the Western Regions, the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka was also rehearsed in this same mountain together, that is, Ānanda, Mañjuśrī, and other great bodhisattvas rehearsed the Mahāyāna Tripiṭaka. Paramārtha's Commentary on the Sectarian Tenets (Buzhi shu) states: "Kāśyapa bade Ānanda recite the five āgamas, compiling them as the Sūtra-piṭaka. He bade Pūrṇa recite the abhidharma, named the Abhidharma-piṭaka. He bade Upāli recite the vinaya, named the Vinaya-piṭaka. At that time, immeasurable bhikṣus came wishing to hear the Dharma, but Kāśyapa did not permit it, commanding them to stay outside the boundary and each recite the Tripiṭaka according to the Dharma. There was an arhat who, mindful of the grace of the Buddha's Dharma and mindful of the suffering of sentient beings, constantly shed tears, and was therefore named Bāṣpa. He served as the leader of the great assembly, teaching all the people: First, because the karmavācanā had been completed, later arrivals were not permitted to enter the assembly, lest they disrupt the karmavācanā and incur a sthūlātyaya offense. Second, so as not to cause the assembly to be mixed; only the five hundred people together with Mahākāśyapa could mutually comprehend, while the others could not, hence they were not permitted to enter the assembly. Although there were two places each conducting a rehearsal, their views and doctrines had not yet diverged, and they still shared the same understanding of principle. When the summer was concluded, their Dharma affairs were likewise identical. King Ajātaśatru prepared robes and bowls to present to the noble assembly. Because the assembly outside the boundary was great in number, they were at that time called the Majority (Mahāsāṃghika). The assembly within the boundary had Kāśyapa as its leader; since the World-Honoured One had himself proclaimed Kāśyapa to be an elder (sthavira), and after the Buddha's passing he was the refuge for the disciples, they were at that time called the Elders (Sthavira). In the twelfth month of that year, Ajātaśatru died, Mahākāśyapa entered Gurupādaka Mountain, and the great assembly then dispersed." According to the Record of the Western Regions, he entered Kukkuṭapāda Mountain, not Gurupādaka. The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says: "They rehearsed the Tripiṭaka in Rājagṛha, without specifying the place. Initially there were only five hundred great arhats; Ānanda rehearsed two piṭakas, and Upāli rehearsed the Vinaya-piṭaka. Later, Pūrṇa arrived with five hundred great arhats and requested Kāśyapa to repeat the rehearsal, and it was still Ānanda who rehearsed the two piṭakas." The initial assembly of five hundred is the same as the account of Master Paramārtha; its later becoming one thousand is the same as the Record of the Western Regions and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra. The Account of the Rehearsal of the Canon states: "Because the Mahāsāṃghika doctrine utilizes the assembly outside the boundary, it does not divide the rehearsal into two places." The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya represents the doctrine of the Dharmaguptaka school, Master Paramārtha's account represents the doctrine of the Sarvāstivāda school, and the Record of the Western Regions presents the orthodox Mahāyāna teaching; it is unknown to which school the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra's account belongs. Since the places of assembly were distinct and the people involved were also different, the disparate traditions of the different schools cannot be reconciled; all scholars should understand this in accord with reason. This entirely constitutes the first [section], on the causes and conditions of the rehearsal.