佛祖統紀 2.47

2.47

Fourth year (guiwei): The Crown Prince thought to himself, 'I have now practiced asceticism (tapas) for nearly six full years. If I attain the Way with an emaciated body, those non-Buddhists will claim that self-starvation is the cause of nirvāṇa. I should accept food and only then attain the Way.' He thereupon went to the Nairañjanā River to bathe his body. At that time, outside the forest, there was a cowherd girl named Nandabalā. A deity from the Śuddhāvāsa heaven descended and urged her, saying, 'You may make an offering.' Hearing this, the woman was filled with great joy. She immediately saw a thousand-petaled lotus emerge from the earth, upon which sat milk rice. She took it and offered it up. The Crown Prince pronounced a blessing and consumed the food, his physical strength becoming fully restored. (Note: According to the Abhiniṣkramaṇa-sūtra, the village chief Sujāta had two daughters, one named Nandā and the other Balā. Gathering a thousand cows, they fed milk from one to another down to fifteen cows, took the milk to cook rice gruel, and offered it to the Bodhisattva. A nāga maiden offered a celestial, exquisite stool, and sitting upon it, he ate his fill as he wished, his physical characteristics and marks becoming as fully restored as before. The Puyao jing says that a nāga maiden presented an exquisite couch.) He then proceeded to the pippala tree and made a vow, saying, 'If I do not attain the Way sitting under this tree, I shall never rise.' (Many sūtras refer to it as the bodhi tree. Here it is translated as 'Way,' meaning that he attained the Way sitting under this tree. The proper name of the tree is pippala.) He further reflected, 'Past Buddhas used grass as their seats to attain the unsurpassed Way.' Śakra Devānām Indra transformed himself into an ordinary man, holding clean, soft grass, and came before the Bodhisattva. He asked, 'What is your name?' The man replied, 'My name is Kuśa (Auspicious).' The Bodhisattva rejoiced, saying, 'I shall destroy what is inauspicious to achieve what is auspicious.' He then spread it to make a seat, sat down cross-legged, and vowed, 'Unless I attain sambodhi, I shall not rise from this seat' (Guo qu xian zai yin guo jing). When the Buddha was Crown Prince and left home to seek the Way, his father, King Śuddhodana, dispatched five members of the Śākya clan to follow and attend upon him. Kauṇḍinya (translated here as 'fire vessel') and Daśabala-Kāśyapa (also named Vāṣpa) were on his mother's side. These two clung to the pleasures of the five desires; seeing the Crown Prince initially eating hemp and wheat, their hearts could not tolerate it, and they abandoned him and departed. Aśvajit (translated here as 'supreme horse'), Bhadrika (translated here as 'lesser worthy', the second son of King Amṛtodana), and Mahānāman-Kulika (the son of King Droṇodana; these five differ across various texts, and we now follow the listing in fascicle five of the Fahua wenju, which is identical to this treatise) were on his father's side. These three clung to asceticism as purity; when the Crown Prince later realized it was not the Way, abandoning it to accept offerings of broth, rice, butter, and milk, the three thought he had gone mad and lost his resolve, and they also abandoned him and departed (Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā-śāstra. Note: According to the Guo qu xian zai yin guo jing and the Sijiao yi, subduing Māra comes before attaining the Way; according to the Avataṃsaka-sūtra, attaining the Way comes before subduing Māra. Miaole states: 'Having subdued Māra, he was to turn the wheel of the Dharma.' This is the difference in perspective between the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna capacities. The present text says that after subduing Māra, he entered samādhi, and when the morning star appeared, he had a sudden great enlightenment; thus subduing Māra should properly come first). At that time, the palaces of King Māra shook spontaneously. King Māra thought, 'Gautama is about to attain sambodhi. Before he completes the Way, I will go and disrupt him.' Thereupon, grasping bow and arrows, he went beneath the tree together with his retinue. He said to the Bodhisattva, 'You ought to cultivate the deeds of a wheel-turning king and abandon the practice of renunciation. If you do not rise now, I shall test shooting you.' The Bodhisattva was calm, neither startled nor shaken. King Māra drew his bow and released arrows, but they halted in midair, their points turning downward and transforming into lotus blossoms. King Māra then dispatched three daughters, who addressed the Bodhisattva, saying, 'Noble one of supreme virtue, we wish to serve at your side.' The Bodhisattva replied, 'You planted minor good deeds to obtain celestial bodies, yet you do not contemplate impermanence and instead practice bewitching charms. You may depart at once; I have no need for you.' At that moment, the three celestial maidens turned into old crones with white hair and wrinkled faces. King Māra then enticed him with gentle words, saying, 'If you do not delight in the human realm, I will renounce my heavenly throne along with the implements of the five desires and give them all to you.' The Bodhisattva replied, 'You previously cultivated a small amount of giving, so that you are now the lord of the Paranirmitavaśavartin heaven. This merit has a finite span; you will eventually sink into suffering again. It is not what I require.' Māra said, 'My retribution is known to you; but who knows yours?' The Bodhisattva replied, 'Only this earth knows.' At that moment, the great earth shook in six ways. The earth deity surged forth and said to Māra, 'In the past, the Bodhisattva gave away his head, face, marrow, brain, kingdoms, cities, wives, children, elephants, horses, and precious jewels in amounts beyond calculation, all to seek the unsurpassed, true, and authentic Way. Therefore, you must not trouble or disrupt him now.' Hearing this, Māra was terrified. He then thought to himself, 'I must now devise further expedients and assemble a vast army to coerce him by force.' At once, the demon hosts suddenly arrived, filling the sky, wielding halberds and swords, with many heads and many eyes, surrounded by various foul forms encircling the Bodhisattva. Smoke rose in the four directions, and the four seas boiled. These demon hosts exerted their full might, glaring, gnashing teeth, flying horizontally, and hurling weapons at random. The Bodhisattva viewed them like children at play. A spirit in the sky, hiding its form, said, 'For kalpas the Bodhisattva has cultivated wholesome fruits wishing to guide sentient beings; why do you now trouble the Guide? Today he will surely attain the unsurpassed Way beneath the tree. This earth is the vajra seat of the Buddhas of the past, capable of sustaining sublime samādhi; it cannot be destroyed by you. You ought now to cease your arrogant thoughts and serve him.' At that time, King Māra heard the voice in the sky and returned to his own palace (Guo qu xian zai yin guo jing). The evil Māra Pāpīyas brought an army of eighty billion to destroy the Buddha. He said, 'If you do not leave quickly, I will cast you into the ocean.' The Buddha said to Pāpīyas, 'If you can first move this water pitcher, then you may cast me into the ocean.' Pāpīyas was unable to move it, and his army was routed and scattered (Zabaozang jing). Pāpīyas's eldest son, Sārthavāha, prostrated himself at the Bodhisattva's feet, repenting and saying, 'My father was unwise to offend the Great Sage; we pray for your forgiveness' (Abhiniṣkramaṇa-sūtra. The above is the aspect of subduing Māra as seen by those of Hīnayāna capacities).