止觀輔行傳弘決 1.22

1.22

Regarding "the compilation of the Tripiṭaka": After Mahākāśyapa finished dividing the relics, he had Ānanda recite the Sūtra-piṭaka, Upāli recite the Vinaya-piṭaka, and Kāśyapa himself recited the Abhidharma. Question: Who taught the Abhidharma-piṭaka? Answer: The beginning of the *Vibhāṣā* clarifies the circumstances of the treatise's composition and asks: Who composed this treatise? Answer: The World-Honoured One composed it. Question: Who asked and who answered? Answer: Some say Śāriputra asked and the Buddha answered; some say five hundred [disciples] asked and the Buddha answered; some say that all phenomena are so profound that none could question, so the Tathāgata transformed himself into a bhikṣu who asked, and the Buddha answered. If so, why is it also said that Kātyāyana composed it? Answer: It was that venerable one who upheld and read this treatise, and explained it to others to propagate it; the name became attributed to him, hence it is said that he composed it. Some say: That venerable one composed it. Question: Since it was said that it is profound and none could question, how was that Kātyāyana able to compose it? Answer: He possessed sharp wisdom, the three knowledges, the six supernormal powers, and was endowed with the eight liberations. In the presence of five hundred Buddhas, he vowed to compose an abhidharma within the remaining Dharma of Śākyamuni. Which one is it? The World-Honoured One taught the Dharma in various places, and the venerable one established the sections (skandhaka) within it. More than six hundred years after Śākyamuni's extinction, five hundred arhats in northern India together compiled what the World-Honoured One had taught. Next, relying on the second text, we briefly explain the transmission of the Dharma. Based on the original text of the chronicle, there are occasional slight differences, but the intent lies in briefly understanding the gist of the words. Initially, after Kāśyapa arranged the teachings of the Tripiṭaka, he propagated and maintained the true Dharma for the next twenty years. First, he paid homage to the four stūpas, namely: leaving home, attaining awakening, turning the wheel of the Dharma, and entering nirvāṇa. Next, he paid homage to the eight stūpas. Next, he entered the dragon palace to pay homage to the Buddha's tooth stūpa. Next, he ascended to heaven to pay homage to the Buddha's hair stūpa. Donning the saṅghāṭī robe given by the Buddha, he held his staff and cleaved the mountain as though entering soft mud.