中天竺舍衛國祇洹寺圖經 2.20

2.20

The courtyard to the north of the next lane is again divided into two. The western one is named the Treatise Courtyard; treatises and treatise masters all assemble within it. In the center is a great hall surrounded on four sides by chambers, with doors opening on three sides, only the western side having none. There is a bronze bell shaped like a waist-drum, crafted by a Gandharva king. On it are images of Brahmā, Śakra, Māra, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Sāgara Nāgarāja, and asuras, together with their palaces, ranks, men, women, and the like. Whenever heterodox practitioners and non-Buddhists bind [the community] in debate, an arhat possessing supernatural powers is made to strike it, its sound shaking the trichiliocosm. When the debaters are about to resist, the śrāvakas, dull and tongue-tied, dare not utter a word. Those of good intent who wish to hear and resolve their doubts instantly ascend to wisdom upon hearing the sound, sprouting the bodhi seed of the bodhisattvas, setting their spiritual gnosis in motion, and attaining non-retrogression.