佛祖統紀 2.45

2.45

I state: According to the Ruiying [jing], Yinguo [jing], Zhong benqi [jing], and Da zhidu lun, they all state that he left home at nineteen. The Shier you [jing], the four āgamas—Ekottarika, Madhyama, Saṃyukta, and Dīrgha—as well as the Chuyao jing and Vasumitra's treatise all state that he left home at twenty-nine. Which should be followed? If we now take the Tathāgata's eighty-year lifespan and subtract fifty years of preaching the Dharma, we definitively follow the statements of the Brahmajāla Sūtra, Wuxiang sanmei [jing], Baozang jing, and others that he attained the Way at thirty. If we take attaining the Way at thirty and subtract six years of tapas, we definitively follow Jingxi's statement that he left home at twenty-five, which accords above with the account in the Baozang [jing]. If determined by the meaning before and after, there are two facts that serve as evidence: First, after leaving home, the six years of tapas taken together with the year of attaining the Way match this number precisely. Second, when he was about to leave home, he pointed at his consort's belly and said: 'Six years from now, you will give birth to a son.' Later, in the year he attained the Way, Rāhula was indeed born. According to the Xianyu jing: 'He left home to practice the Way, and after six years of tapas, attained sarvajñā.' The Weicengyou jing states: 'The crown prince fled to the mountains and marshes, struggled diligently for six years, became a Buddha, and returned to his home country.' The Puyao jing states: 'When his father the king heard that the crown prince had attained Buddhahood, after six years he sent Udāyin to invite him, saying: "It has been twelve years since we parted." It also states: 'When the Buddha returned to his country and sat in the palace, Rāhula came to pay his respects. The ministers all wondered: "The crown prince abandoned the state twelve years ago; whence came this son?"' These scriptural passages all reckon six years from leaving home to becoming a Buddha, and another six years to returning to his home country. Deducing backward, it is certain that twenty-five should be taken as the year he left home. The verses of Gushan assert that he wandered for five years, but this claim lacks evidence. The Supplementary Notes of Shenzhi thoroughly discuss the discrepancies; let us accept Jingxi's statement as correct.