中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 1.44

1.44

Next, to the east of the small lane, is a courtyard named the Courtyard of Competing in Power. Its gate opens toward the western lane. All those in the four continents who held views of selfhood, as well as the various māra kings who wished to compete with the Buddha in spiritual power, dwelt in this courtyard. Inside, there is a golden Mount Sumeru; upon the mountain are the sun, moon, and stars. The disputants were mostly widely versed in yin-yang and the various treatises. Originally, the Great Ṛṣi Fu-guang-wei was in this courtyard. When the Buddha entered nirvāṇa, he entrusted the Dharma [to him]. The suns, moons, stars, and twenty-eight heavens of a thousand million sets of four continents are all present here. There are also twelve golden drums, five chang in length and two chang and one chi across their faces; twelve gold and silver lotus flowers support these drums from below. If there were heterodox treatises, wrong-view non-Buddhists, or laypeople challenging others in wisdom and arts, or five-superknowledge ṛṣis challenging others in yin-yang, the sun and moon, or mathematics and insulting one another, the drums would sound of themselves. Above each drum, nine golden dragons coil around one another; in the mouth of each golden dragon is held a king of garuḍas, and atop the head of each bird is an image of the Bodhisattva Xinxiang. All are one zhang and two chi tall, holding jeweled whisks in their hands and wearing crowns of red crystal. At the time of disputation, the bodhisattvas raise their whisks and their voices roar like thunder; as far as the sound of the drums reaches, it shakes the great-thousandfold world. The earth moves in six ways, and not one of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the bodhisattvas of the ten stages fails to assemble here. As for the disputants, though they had possessed eloquence before, upon hearing it they forget it all, terrified and with their intellects paralyzed. The sound of the drums also emits a great light that pervades the ten directions, and within the light, it also preaches the inconceivable dharmas of spiritual transformation of the bodhisattvas. Those who wished to compete, upon hearing it, awakened to the stages. These drums were made by the great general Maṇibhadra. In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, they were used as offerings. After that Buddha's parinirvāṇa, they were collected and stored in the Vajra Cave, and when Kāśyapa Buddha appeared, they were subsequently brought forth again. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, they were collected into the dragon palace. Taking this as proof, all the Buddhas of the bhadrakalpa should be alike in this.