止觀輔行傳弘決 1.23

1.23

Regarding "the Dharma was transmitted to Ānanda": Ānanda upheld the Dharma for twenty years. He heard a bhikṣu reciting a verse from the *Dharmapada*, which went: "Though a person live a hundred years, / and never see the water heron, / it is not as good as living for a single year / and being able to see it." Ānanda said sorrowfully: "This is not the Buddha's verse. The Buddha's verse says: / 'Though a person live a hundred years, / and never hear the Dharma of arising and perishing, / it is not as good as living for a single year / and being able to hear it.'" Ānanda sighed, saying: "I am of no use to the world." He went to King Ajātaśatru to take his leave, but the gatekeeper said: "The king is asleep." He then crossed the Ganges River. While asleep, the king dreamt that the stem of his parasol broke. Having awakened, the gatekeeper reported the matter, and the king pursued him, catching up only in the middle of the river. He pleaded, saying: "I saw neither the World-Honoured One's nirvāṇa nor Kāśyapa's extinction; I rely solely upon you, Venerable One. Now you abandon me again; where shall I take refuge?" The Venerable One remained silent; he immediately entered the samādhi named Wind-Swiftness and divided his body into four portions. "Pai" means to divide: he divided them between the two kingdoms, the heavens above, and the earth below.