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中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 1.10

中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 1.10

Language
Classical Chinese

1.10

經律大明寺之基趾八十頃地,百二十院,准的東西近有十里,南北七百餘步。如近有傳云:昔佛在時,須達、祇園同共造立。經中迹致如前所聞,經二百年,則當此土周姬第十三主平王之三十一年也,被燒都盡,其故何耶?祇陀太子保愛此園,須達逼買不辭金費。太子情悋殷殷重悔,須達志堅確乎不動。太子見其不悋黃金,情欣供養,告長者曰:「吾自造寺,不假於卿。」須達不許。太子立願:「樹金不須可以供養,後若荒廢,願樹還生。」恰至被燒,屋宇都盡。所立樹者,如本不殊。須達昔為凡時,賣肉得財,居賤出貴,常願荒儉,雖獲巨富,財由穢心,以此造寺,終遭煨燼。太子力淨心樹生,業行雖虧,不思議也。於後四百年,有稱育迦王,依地而起,十不及一。經千百年,被賊燒燼。經十三年,有王六師迦者,依前重造屋宇,狀麗皆寶莊嚴。一百年後,惡王壞之為殺人場。四天王及娑竭羅龍王忿之,以大石壓殺毀者。九十年荒無人物。忉利天王令第二子下為人正。又依地花造飾嚴好,過佛在時。經百五十年,魔天王燒滅,則當此土漢末獻帝時二十九年。以事往徵,顯宗已後,和安桓靈之代,西域往來,行人踵接,則見天王葺搆之作,祇樹載茂之緣。後雖有者,脫基至于今日,荒涼而已。

The foundation of the monastery is clearly described in the sūtras and Vinaya as covering an area of eighty qing, with one hundred and twenty cloisters; measured from east to west it is nearly ten li, and from north to south over seven hundred paces. As a recent account says: In antiquity, when the Buddha was in the world, Sudatta and Prince Jeta built it together. The historical circumstances in the sūtras are as previously heard. After two hundred years—which corresponds in this land to the thirty-first year of King Ping, the thirteenth sovereign of the Zhou Ji dynasty—it was burned down completely. What was the cause? Prince Jeta treasured this park, and when Sudatta pressed to buy it, he did not begrudge the expense of gold. The prince was stingy and deeply regretted it, but Sudatta's resolve was firm and immovable. Seeing that he did not begrudge yellow gold and rejoiced in making offerings, the prince told the elder: "I shall build the monastery myself, without relying on you." Sudatta would not permit it. The prince made a vow: "The trees do not require gold; they may be offered. If it should fall into ruin in the future, may the trees grow back." When the fire occurred, the buildings were completely destroyed. The trees that had been established remained unchanged from before. Formerly, when Sudatta was an ordinary person, he accumulated wealth by selling meat, rising from lowliness to nobility, and constantly wishing for famine and scarcity. Although he attained immense wealth, his riches stemmed from a defiled mind; because he built the monastery with this, it ultimately met with burning ashes. Through the prince's pure mind, the trees grew; although his actions had flaws, the result is inconceivable. Four hundred years later, someone known as King Aśoka rebuilt it upon the ground, yet it did not reach one-tenth of the original. After a thousand and one hundred years, it was burned to ashes by bandits. After thirteen years, a king named Kaniṣka rebuilt the buildings as before, their magnificent forms all adorned with jewels. One hundred years later, an evil king destroyed it, making it an execution ground. The Four Heavenly Kings and Sāgara Nāgarāja became enraged and crushed the destroyers to death with a great rock. For ninety years it lay desolate without people. The Devarāja of Trāyastriṃśa ordered his second son to descend and serve as a human ruler. He again decorated and adorned it based on the ground flowers, surpassing the time when the Buddha was in the world. After one hundred and fifty years, Māra burned and destroyed it, which corresponds in this land to the twenty-ninth year of Emperor Xian at the end of the Han. Examining these events, after the reign of Xianzong, during the eras of Emperors He, An, Huan, and Ling, travelers back and forth to the Western Regions followed upon each other's heels; they thus witnessed the constructions of the devarāja and the flourishing of the Jeta grove. Although there were later [restorations], it has now lost its foundation and remains desolate down to the present day.

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