中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 2.14

2.14

次東戒壇院有三門，如前院相，中立戒壇，狀亞。佛院創立之時，有八百億同名釋迦，十方諸佛同名。詹舉花樹，周渠南流而出，合外大渠。每有冠受，有踐斯壇。然此具戒，聖道因基，佛所堅立，其緣周備，後之作者徒有其名，至於行事綴旒而已。今敘昔緣知所為之重也。往昔明王佛形長五丈，立戒壇法，制以五肘為基，表五分法身。釋迦如來告曰：「娑婆眾生小見小聞，恐大難成，或起疲怠，故減成之為二肘半。」制三重者，表於三空。下佛舍利於壇心內，時天帝釋於舍利上加覆釜形，大梵天王以無價珠置覆釜上，以供舍利。今以前壇三重，加覆釜、珠，還表五分法身，是以制量同迦葉二肘半也。其壇相量下之二層，四角並安石柱。四天王像當角而下，層高佛一肘，不得過，過則地裂，制心專一故一肘。（佛在人倍，人人長八尺，佛則丈六。人肘姬周尺八寸，肘三尺六寸也。）第二層高佛一肘半者，同轉輪王灌頂之時踞坐壇上，令諸小王以四海水灌大王頂而受位也。即類比丘初登此壇紹繼佛種，位法久固如佛時也。取佛肘量者，欲令比丘持戒如金剛也。（過去諸佛散身舍利，餘類總碎而臂骨不壞，故以佛肘量約之也。）其戒壇牢固，經劫不灰，事同金剛，故以肘為量故也。其壇兩重，並安釣欄，其堅柏以上加金珠臺。又金翅鳥衘龍同於上。（此鳥非佛本制，後北天竺阿羅漢憂樓質那之立所也。）擬新受戒者，以戒自防，繼除煩惱，如鳥吞龍，故置此像。下層二重，類須彌座。並安色道用級相覆，當要四面分龕安神，釣欄柱下師子神王相間，而圓隨狀彫飾，盡思壯嚴。上第三重，但高二寸，用表二諦。（方七尺許，明佛說不出二諦，此中心上惟佛所行故也。）於座四角，各安師子，背上有九孔，擬安帳柱。下之二層，四周階道，各有四神。上層三面各立二階，北面一階。下層南面二階，東西北面各一階，階有三坎。壇外周匝一丈，內種四時花草，已外種花樹八行。其梵王寶珠大如五升。福德人見，光明照百由旬；薄德見者，猶如聚墨。佛入涅槃珠自然隱，迦葉結集此珠復現，阿難滅度亦潛亦沒。帝釋二珠結法既了，便在天上歡喜園中供養般若。（今既無珠，可作石龍然燈，替處在壇前。常安二登，高照壇上，使光遶高，以供佛故也。）

Next to the east, the Ordination Platform Courtyard has three gates, like the layout of the previous courtyard, with an ordination platform erected in the center, second only in form. When the Buddha Courtyard was first founded, there were eighty billion [Buddhas] sharing the name Śākya, and the Buddhas of the ten directions shared the same name. Eaves held up flower trees, and surrounding channels flowed southward out to join the great outer channel. Whenever an ordination was conferred, this platform was trodden upon. However, this full ordination is the foundation of the holy path, firmly established by the Buddha, its conditions fully complete; later creators have the name in vain, and when carrying out the rites, they are like mere pendants. Now reciting past conditions, one knows the gravity of what was instituted. In the past, the Buddha Vipaśyin was fifty feet tall; establishing the method of the ordination platform, he decreed five cubits as its base, symbolizing the fivefold dharmakāya. Śākyamuni Tathāgata said: 'Sentient beings of the Sahā world have small sights and small hearings; fearing that what is large would be difficult to accomplish, or might give rise to fatigue and remissness, it is therefore reduced to two and a half cubits.' Establishing three tiers symbolizes the three emptinesses. The Buddha's relics were placed inside the center of the platform; at that time, Śakra Devānām Indra added the form of an overturned bowl above the relics, and the great King Brahmā placed a priceless jewel atop the overturned bowl to make offerings to the relics. Now adding the overturned bowl and jewel to the former three tiers still symbolizes the fivefold dharmakāya; hence the prescribed measurement follows Kāśyapa's two and a half cubits. As for the measurements of the platform, the lower two tiers have stone pillars placed at all four corners. Images of the Four Heavenly Kings descend right at the corners; each tier is one Buddha cubit high and must not exceed it, for exceeding it causes the ground to crack; to fix the mind in single-pointedness, it is one cubit. (The Buddha is double a human: humans are eight feet tall, the Buddha sixteen feet. A human cubit is eight inches by the Zhou measure; [a Buddha] cubit is three feet six inches.) The second tier is one and a half Buddha cubits high, matching when a cakravartin is consecrated, sitting cross-legged upon the platform, ordering lesser kings to consecrate the great king's crown with the waters of the four seas to confer his rank. This is analogous to a bhikṣu first mounting this platform to inherit the Buddha seed, his status and the Dharma enduring firmly as in the Buddha's time. Adopting the measure of the Buddha's cubit is to make the bhikṣu maintain the precepts like a vajra. (When the relics of past Buddhas' bodies were dispersed, all other kinds were shattered, yet the forearm bones were indestructible; hence the measure is determined by the Buddha's cubit.) That ordination platform is solid and does not turn to ash through kalpas, an affair identical to a vajra; hence the cubit is used as the measurement. Both tiers of the platform are fitted with balustrades, above whose sturdy cedar are added platforms of gold and jewels. Also, garuḍas holding nāgas in their beaks match the upper part. (This bird was not the Buddha's original institution, but was later established by the North Indian arhat Uruvilvā.) Intended for those newly receiving the precepts to guard themselves with the precepts and continuously eradicate defilements, just as birds swallow nāgas, this image was placed. The lower two tiers resemble a Sumeru pedestal. Layered steps are set on the paths to cover each other; facing the focal points, niches are divided on the four sides to enshrine spirits; beneath the pillars of the balustrades, lion spirit-kings alternate, carved and adorned in circular forms according to their shape, exhausting all ingenuity in ornamentation. The third tier above is only two inches high, symbolizing the two truths. (It is about seven feet square, clarifying that what the Buddha taught does not exceed the two truths; upon this center, only the Buddha walked.) At the four corners of the pedestal, lions are placed, with nine holes on their backs meant to secure canopy pillars. Around the steps of the lower two tiers are four spirits each. On three sides of the upper tier are two flights of steps each, and one flight on the north side. The south side of the lower tier has two flights of steps, and the east, west, and north sides have one flight each, with steps of three risers. Around the platform outside, for a distance of ten feet, four-season flowers and plants are planted within, and beyond that, flower trees are planted in eight rows. King Brahmā's precious jewel is as large as five pints. When seen by those of merit, its bright light shines for a hundred yojanas; when seen by those of meager merit, it is like a mound of ink. When the Buddha entered nirvāṇa, the jewel vanished spontaneously; when Kāśyapa held the council, this jewel reappeared; when Ānanda passed into extinction, it submerged and disappeared again. After the rules of the Dharma were concluded, Śakra's two jewels remained in the Nandana Garden in heaven to offer worship to prajñā. (Now that there is no jewel, stone nāga lamps may be made to replace it in front of the platform. Two lamps are constantly set up, shining high upon the platform, letting the light encircle above, so as to make offerings to the Buddha.)