佛祖統紀 3.156

3.156

King Śuddhodana fell gravely ill and wished to see his sons. The Buddha was residing in Rājagṛha, fifty yojanas away from there (the father king ruled the realm of Kapilavastu, while Rājagṛha was in the realm of Magadha; both are in Central India. The mention here of fifty yojanas means a distance of two thousand li). Addressing Nanda, Ānanda, and Rāhula, he went with them to the royal palace by means of supernatural feet (ṛddhipāda). Rising into the air, he emitted a great radiance. The light shone upon the king’s body, and his ailment was relieved. Furthermore, placing his hand upon his father the king's forehead, he said: 'The king is a person of pure precepts; the stains of the mind have already departed. Now you should rejoice and attentively contemplate the Dharma of the scriptures.' Thereupon the king, lying down, clasped his hands and paid homage in his mind; suddenly he passed on to the future world. The Śākyas encoffined him and placed the coffin upon a lion throne. The Buddha and Nanda stood reverently before the bier; Ānanda and Rāhula stood at the foot of the bier. For the sake of unfilial persons of future ages, the Buddha personally wished to carry the coffin. The great thousandfold world shook entirely. The devas of the desire realm, the dragons, ghosts, and spirits all came to attend the funeral. At that time, the Four Heavenly Kings knelt and petitioned to carry the coffin, each transforming his body into human form. The Bhagavat, holding an incense burner in hand, walked in front and proceeded out to the cemetery. A thousand arhats went to an islet in the great ocean, fetched sandalwood incense, raised the coffin, and cremated it. The kings gathered the bones, placed them in a golden casket, and erected a stūpa to make offerings. The Buddha told the great assembly: 'My father the king practiced pure conduct and has been reborn in the Śuddhāvāsa heaven' (Śuddhodana-rāja-parinirvāṇa-sūtra: Rebirth in the five Śuddhāvāsa heavens pertains to an anāgāmin, who has attained the third fruit). Earlier, King Prasenajit (the ruler of Śrāvastī) sought a bride among the Śākyas. Mahānāma had a daughter born to a female servant in his household and gave her as a wife. She bore a son named Virūḍhaka. When he was eight years of age, he was sent to his mother's family to learn archery. At that time, a new lecture hall had just been built, intending to invite the Buddha and the saṅgha. Virūḍhaka promptly ascended the lion throne. The Śākyas scolded him with anger, saying: 'How dares this son of a bondmaid enter and sit here?' They threw him to the ground. Later, he succeeded to the royal throne and went on an expedition against the Śākya clan. Maudgalyāyana reported this three times to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'Past conditions have already ripened; now they must undergo the retribution.' After King Virūḍhaka entered the city, he seized the Śākyas, buried their feet into the ground, and had elephants trample them to death, a total of 99,900,000 people. Blood flowed like a river. He selected five hundred beautiful Śākya women, wishing to consort with them. One woman cursed him, saying: 'For what reason should I now have relations with the offspring of a bondmaid?' All the five hundred women cursed him in this manner. The king seized the five hundred women, severed their hands and feet, and threw them into a pit. Returning to Śrāvastī, his elder brother Crown Prince Jeta came out to see him. King Virūḍhaka said: 'When I fought with the Śākyas, why did you not aid me?' Jeta said: 'I cannot bear to kill sentient beings.' The king immediately drew his sword and killed Jeta. When his life ended, he was reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. The five hundred Śākya women cried out their grievances toward the Buddha. The Buddha went to their side and preached the Dharma for them; they obtained the purity of the Dharma-eye and, when their lives ended, were reborn in heaven. The Buddha returned to Anāthapiṇḍada's park and addressed the monks: 'Seven days from now, King Virūḍhaka and this army of his will all perish.' At the beginning of the seventh day, the king led his troops to the river for amusement. The heavens thundered greatly with violent wind and torrential rain; the king and his troops were swept away by the water. Their bodies broke up and their lives ended, and they entered the Avīci hell (translated here as 'without relief'; bi is pronounced vi). The Buddha thereupon explained to the monks the past-life conditions of the Śākya clan catching and killing fish, and their present undergoing of the retribution (Dīrghāgama: The Hingqi xing jing notes: In the past, in the city of Rājagṛha, there was a pond with many fish. The villagers caught them, and they flopped on the shore. One fish was named Mai and another named Duo-she. They spoke to each other: 'We did not harm anyone, yet we are slaughtered without cause. We shall take retribution in a future life.' The men and women of the village at that time are the present Śākya clan. The fish Mai was King Virūḍhaka; the fish Duo-she was the king’s physiognomist named E-she. At that time, I was a small child; seeing the fish flopping, I rejoiced and struck the fish’s head with a stick. When the king attacked the Śākya clan, I suffered a headache). When Virūḍhaka slaughtered the Śākyas, Ānanda was grieved and troubled. Coming to where the Buddha was, he said: 'I share the same Śākya clan as the Tathāgata. Why is the Tathāgata’s radiant countenance as usual?' The Buddha said: 'I cultivate the samādhi of emptiness. Come and ask me again after three years' (Nirvāṇa Sūtra). Maudgalyāyana took four to five thousand acquaintances, put them inside his alms-bowl, and lifted it high into the empty sky. When Virūḍhaka’s army retreated, the Buddha told him to retrieve the bowl and inspect it; the people were all dead. The Buddha preached the Dharma of impermanence for them, and countless people attained the fruit of srotāpanna (Dharmapada-avadāna Sūtra).