佛祖統紀 5.24

5.24

The seventeenth patriarch, the Venerable Saṃghayaśas, was a native of the country of Matī. His mother dreamt that a great deity held a mirror, and consequently became pregnant; after seven days she gave birth. Nandin traveled and converted beings, arriving in his country, where he saw a purple cloud like a canopy over a peak. Leading his assembly toward it, a boy holding a round mirror went straight up before the Venerable One. The Venerable One said, 'What does that in your hand represent?' The boy said: 'The great round mirror of all Buddhas / Has neither blemish nor obscuration inside or outside. / Both of us see it alike; / The minds and eyes are completely identical.' When the parents heard their son's words, they immediately let him leave the household life. At another time, hearing the wind blowing the temple bells, the teacher asked, 'Are the bells ringing or is the wind ringing?' Yaśas said, 'It is neither the wind nor the bells; it is only my mind that is ringing.' Once, wandering by the seashore, he saw a palace of seven jewels. He immediately went to beg for food and spoke a verse, saying: 'Hunger is the foremost illness; / Samsaric activity is the foremost suffering. / Knowing the true reality of phenomena like this, / One can attain the path of nirvāṇa.' The master of the house welcomed him in, seated him, took his bowl, and gave him food. Yaśas saw inside his house two hungry ghosts, naked and starving, with their bodies and heads chained. Surprised, he questioned him. The master of the house answered, 'In their former lives, one of these ghosts was my son, and one was my son's wife. Long ago, when I practiced giving, the husband and wife harbored resentment. I repeatedly admonished them, but they refused to accept it with faith. Thereupon I made a vow, saying: "When you receive the evil retribution for such sinful karma, I shall see you." Therefore this retribution came to pass.' He also came to a place with an adorned hall and pavilion, where a assembly of monks were circumambulating and striking the bell to gather for a meal. Just as the meal was about to finish, it turned into pus and blood; they then struck one another with their bowl vessels, bleeding, and said to one another, 'Why did we begrudge food, so that we now suffer this torment?' Nandin went forward and asked them. One among the assembly answered, 'In the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, we dwelt together in one place. When visiting monks arrived, we were all enraged at them, concealing and begrudging food and drink without sharing it. Therefore, we now suffer this tormenting retribution.' In this manner, he traveled around the great sea, observing the five hundred hells everywhere, and gave rise to terror, seeking expedient means to avoid them. Later, he attained the status of an arhat. Seeing five hundred ṛṣis cultivating the Way in a forest, he immediately went to that place and proclaimed three verses for them praising the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. All five hundred ṛṣis attained the traces of the Way. When his conditions for conversion were about to conclude, he entered nirvāṇa. The assembly gathered his relics, built a stupa, and made offerings to them (Fu fazang jing).