止觀輔行傳弘決 1.30

1.30

"The Dharma was transmitted to Nāgārjuna." Nāgārjuna's learning was vast and comprehensive, unrivaled under heaven. Wishing to slander the Buddhist scriptures and create his own teachings to show that he had no teacher, a nāga brought him into his palace. For one summer, he merely recited the titles of the sūtras of the seven Buddhas, realized the marvel of the Buddha's Dharma, and consequently left the household life. He subdued kings and restrained non-Buddhists. A non-Buddhist manifested miraculous powers, transforming into a lotus pond and sitting atop a lotus; Nāgārjuna turned into an elephant, uprooted the lotus, and threw down the non-Buddhist. He composed three treatises: first, the Treatise on the Expedients of Great Compassion, explaining astronomy, geography, the making of treasures, and the compounding of medicines to benefit the world; second, the Treatise on Great Adornment, explaining the practice of all Dharma gates of merit; third, the Treatise on Great Fearlessness, explaining the ultimate truth, of which the Madhyamaka-śāstra is a single chapter. Having composed these treatises, he asked a Hīnayāna master: "Do you wish for me to depart or stay?" He answered: "It would be grand if you departed." Thereupon he entered his room and cast off his mortal form like a cicada.