佛祖統紀 5.21

5.21

十四祖迦那提婆尊者。南天竺國婆羅門也。國中有一天神。鍛金為形立高六丈。號大自在天。有求願者令現獲報。提婆入廟稽首為禮。天動眼努視。提婆語曰。夫為神者當以精靈偃服群類。而假金寶為飾。勞費民物。何其鄙哉。即登高梯鑿出其目。明旦祠天化一肉形。其高數丈左眼枯涸。就座告曰。善哉大士。供饌具足。汝之左眼宜當垂給。提婆即以左手出眼與之。索之不已出眼出於萬數。天神讚曰。善哉摩納。真上施也。提婆後詣龍樹。樹以滿鉢水置座前。提婆即以一鉢投之。欣然契會。即剃髮出家仰受付法。時南天竺王信用邪道。國法出錢顧人宿衛。提婆應募。為將荷戟前驅。整肅部曲。王嘉其功。即召問之。答言。我是智人善於言論。王即為建論座。提婆即立三義。一切聖中佛最殊勝。諸法之中佛法無比。世間福田僧為第一。八方論士能壞斯語。我當斬首以謝。時諸外道辭理俱匱悉求出家。有一外道。恥其師屈心結怨忿。提婆於閒林造百論經。外道執刀窮之曰。汝以空刀破我師義。我以鐵刀破汝之腹。五藏出外命猶未絕。謂外道曰。汝可取吾衣鉢急去。我弟子未得道者。必當相執。時弟子來見發聲悲哭。奔追要路。提婆告曰。諸法本空無我我所。無有能害亦無受者。誰親誰怨。彼人所害害吾往報。非害吾也。於是放身蟬蛻而去。眾收舍利起塔供養（付法藏經）。

The fourteenth patriarch, the Venerable Kāṇadeva, was a brāhmaṇa of South India. In that country there was a celestial deity whose form was forged of gold, standing sixty feet high, called Maheśvara. To those who prayed, he would grant manifest retributions. Deva entered the temple and bowed in reverence. The deity moved its eyes and glared. Deva said to it: 'Being a deity, one should overawe all beings by spiritual essence; yet you borrow gold and jewels for adornment, burdening and wasting the people's resources. How vulgar!' He then climbed a tall ladder and gouged out its eye. The next morning, when they sacrificed to the deity, it transformed into a fleshy form several tens of feet high, with its left eye dried up. Approaching the seat, it said: 'Well done, Great Being! The offerings and food are complete; your left eye should now be granted.' Deva straightway took out his eye with his left hand and gave it. Demanded without ceasing, the eyes he brought forth reached tens of thousands. The celestial deity praised him: 'Well done, young brāhmaṇa! Truly this is supreme giving.' Deva later went to Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna placed a bowl full of water in front of his seat, and Deva cast a needle into it. With joy their minds aligned. He then shaved his hair, left household life, and respectfully received the transmission of the Dharma. At that time, the king of South India had faith in and employed heterodox ways. By national law, money was paid to hire men for night-watch duty. Deva answered the levy, served as a general carrying a halberd in the vanguard, and disciplined the troops. The king appreciated his merit and summoned him for questioning. He answered: 'I am a wise man, skilled in debate.' The king then set up a debate seat for him. Deva then established three propositions: 'Among all sages, the Buddha is the most supreme; among all dharmas, the Buddha's Dharma is peerless; among worldly fields of merit, the Saṃgha is foremost. If debaters of the eight directions can demolish these words, I will have my head severed in apology.' At that time, the words and reasoning of the non-Buddhists were utterly exhausted, and they all sought to leave household life. There was a non-Buddhist who was ashamed of his master's defeat and harbored enmity and resentment. While Deva was composing the *Śata-śāstra* in a quiet grove, the non-Buddhist held a knife and cornered him, saying: 'You broke my master's doctrines with an empty knife; I will rupture your belly with an iron knife.' His five internal organs came out, yet his life was not yet extinguished. He said to the non-Buddhist: 'You may take my robe and bowl and flee swiftly. My disciples who have not yet attained the Way will surely seize you.' When the disciples came and saw him, they wept bitterly and ran to intercept the road. Deva addressed them: 'All dharmas are fundamentally empty, without self or what belongs to self; there is no one who can harm, nor anyone who receives harm. Who is dear and who is hostile? What that man harmed is my past karmic retribution, not me.' Thereupon he surrendered his body, casting it off like a cicada shedding its shell. The assembly gathered his relics and erected a stupa to make offerings. (From the *Fu fazang jing*.)