佛祖統紀 35.21

35.21

十一年。勅雒陽城西雍門外立白馬寺。摩騰始譯四十二章經（譯經圖紀。其經元出大部。以大法初傳故。撮引要義以導時俗）藏梵本於蘭臺石室。圖佛像於西陽城門及顯節陵上（明帝壽藏）帝問摩騰曰。佛出世後何以化不及此。騰曰。天竺迦毘羅衛國者。三千大千世界百億日月之中。三世諸佛皆於此出。天人龍鬼有願力者。皆來生彼受化悟道。餘處佛雖不往。然光相及處。千年五百。皆有聖人傳佛聲教。而往化之。帝大說。

In the eleventh year, an imperial edict ordered the erection of the Baima Temple outside Yong Gate to the west of Luoyang city. Mātanga began translating the Sūtra of Forty-Two Chapters (The Record of the Painting of Translated Sūtras states: "This sūtra originally came from a large work; because the Great Dharma was just being transmitted, essential meanings were gathered and extracted to guide the customs of the time"). The Sanskrit text was stored in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace. Images of the Buddha were painted on the Xiyang city gate and atop the Xiejie Mausoleum (the tomb prepared during Emperor Ming's lifetime). The Emperor asked Mātanga: "After the Buddha appeared in the world, why did his conversion not reach here?" Mātanga replied: "The country of Kapilavastu in Tianzhu is at the centre of the three-thousandfold great-thousandfold world and its tens of millions of suns and moons. All Buddhas of the three periods appear there. Devas, humans, nāgas, and spirits who possess the power of vows are all born there to receive conversion and awaken to the Way. Although the Buddha does not travel to other places, wherever his radiant signs reach, after a thousand or five hundred years, there are sages who transmit the Buddha's voice and teachings to go and convert them." The Emperor was greatly delighted.