中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 2.14

2.14

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.)