佛祖統紀 1.88

1.88

According to the *Sūtra on Cause and Effect*: Incalculable asaṃkhyeya kalpas in the past, there was a sage named Shansi (both the *Ruiying* and *Benxing* sūtras name him the Youth Māṇava). At that time, Prince Prabhāpāla (the *Ruiying* names him Dīpaṅkara; the *Lotus*, *Diamond*, and *Benxing* sūtras all name him Dīpaṅkara) of King Dīpāvatī requested his father's permission to leave the household life and attain the way of bodhi. Sumati had initially lectured on doctrinal principles for five hundred non-Buddhists, and each offered him a silver coin. Taking leave of the non-Buddhists, when he was on his way to the place of the Buddha Prabhāpāla wishing to present offerings, he saw a maidservant of the royal palace passing by holding seven stems of blue lotus flowers. He caught up with her and asked if these flowers were for sale. She answered, "They are to be sent into the palace to be offered to the Buddha." Sumati requested to hire five stems of the flowers with five hundred silver coins to use as an offering to the Buddha. The maidservant complied, and also entrusted him with two flowers to offer to the Buddha, making the vow: "May I, in future lives, always be your wife." At that time, when the king and great ministers bowed to the Buddha and scattered flowers, all fell to the ground. Sumati's five flowers all remained suspended in mid-air, transforming into a flower dais. The two flowers scattered later remained on either side of the Buddha. The Buddha praised Sumati: "After asaṃkhyeya kalpas, you shall become a Buddha, named Śākyamuni." (Both this sūtra and the *Benxing jing* give 'asaṃkhyeya', whereas the *Ruiying* gives 'ninety-one kalpas'. Such differences in length, though provisional distinctions, yet because the various sūtras all regard Vipaśyin's prophecy of ninety-one kalpas as definitive, that which is set forth in the *Ruiying* may also be applied.) Sumati, seeing that the ground was muddy and wet, thought to himself: "How could one allow these feet with thousand-spoked wheels to tread through this?" Thereupon he removed his deerskin garment to spread upon the ground, but it was insufficient to cover the mud. He then loosened his hair to cover it. After the Tathāgata stepped on it, he accordingly gave him the prophecy, saying: "When you attain Buddhahood in the future, you shall deliver heavenly and human beings in the evil world of the five turbidities." At that time, Sumati praised the Buddha with gāthās (omitted because the text is extensive) and sought to leave the household under the Buddha. The Buddha said: "Welcome, bhikṣu!" His beard and hair naturally fell away, a kāṣāya covered his body, and he immediately became a śramaṇa. After Sumati's life ended, he was reborn above as a Cāturmahārājakāyika king and below as a cakravartin; up to being reborn above as the king of the seventh Brahmā Heaven and below as a holy king, thirty-six times each. Sometimes he was a sage, or one of the six non-Buddhist teachers, a brāhmaṇa, or a minor king, living out his lifespan in each, beyond reckoning. That Sumati was my very self; the maidservant was Yaśodharā. (From the *Sūtra on Cause and Effect*. Note: The *Ruiying jing* refers to her as the flower-selling woman Gopī, speaking in terms of the primary consort. If both this sūtra and the *Lotus* say Yaśodharā, they speak in terms of Rāhula's birth mother. We now take the latter sense as definitive.) The *Sijiao yi* quotes the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa*, saying: When the Tathāgata cultivated the bodhisattva path, from the ancient Śākyamuni down to Śikhin Buddha, he encountered seventy-five thousand Buddhas; this is called the first asaṃkhyeya, during which he constantly cultivated the six perfections. Next, from Śikhin to Dīpaṅkara, he encountered seventy-six thousand Buddhas; this is called the second asaṃkhyeya. At this time, he used seven stems of lotus flowers as an offering and spread his hair to cover the mud, receiving the prophecy with the name Śākyamuni. Next, from Dīpaṅkara down to Vipaśyin Buddha, he encountered seventy-seven thousand Buddhas; this is called the completion of the third asaṃkhyeya. Passing through such time, cultivating the practice of the six perfections, he further remained for a hundred kalpas to plant the causes for the primary and secondary physical marks, cultivating a hundred merits to accomplish a single mark. (According to the *Upāsaka-śīla-sūtra*: "I first generated the mind [for enlightenment] under Śākyamuni, and completed the three asaṃkhyeyas under Kāśyapa Buddha." In my humble examination, the completion of the three asaṃkhyeyas was precisely under Vipaśyin; mentioning Kāśyapa now is spoken inclusive of the hundred kalpas of planting the primary and secondary marks.)