佛祖歷代通載 22.189

22.189

（二十）　勅建旃檀瑞像殿記。翰林承旨程鉅夫撰。文曰。蓋聞道非有象。作易者必擬諸形容。法本皆空。度世者暫資於色相。謂如指空為鏡。不若以鏡而喻空。即樹占風。將使識風而忘樹。是以雙林付囑舍利。以凡聖而偏分。千輻經行足跡。亘古今而常在。非炫神通於幻境。實開方便於迷津。所謂由自以會心。即心而即佛者也。旃檀瑞像者佛之真像也。其猶萬影沈江如如不異。孤光透隙一一皆圓。夫豈擇地而容。蓋以隨緣而應。望梅林而止渴。靡不同沾。泛竹葉以言歸。誰堪共載。惟我聖天子道躋先聖慈等覺皇。祝長樂之春秋。恒依佛地。企如來之歲月。坐閱人天。爰命集賢犬學士李術及教禪耆德。敘具本末。乃云釋迦如來淨飯王太子。生於甲寅四月八日。是為成周昭王二十四年。既生七日。佛母摩耶夫人往生忉利。至四十二年。太子棄位出家修道。穆王三年癸未道成。八年辛卯思報母恩遂升忉利天為母說法。優闐王自以久失瞻仰欲見無從。乃刻旃檀為像。目犍連慮有缺陋謬。躬以神力攝三十二匠升忉利天。諦觀相好三返。乃得其真。既成。國王臣民奉之猶真佛焉。及佛自忉利天復至人間。王率臣庶同往迎佛。此像騰步空中向佛稽首。佛為摩頂授記曰。我滅度千年之後。汝從震旦廣利人天。由是西土一千二百八十五年。龜茲六十八年。涼州十四年。長安一十七年。江南一百七十三年。淮南三百六十七年。復至江南。二十一年。汴梁一百七十七年。北至燕京。居今聖安寺十二年。北至上京大儲慶寺二十年。南還燕宮內殿居五十四年。大元丁丑歲三月。燕宮火。尚書石抹公迎還聖安寺居。今五十九年而當世祖皇帝至元十二年乙亥。遣大臣孛羅等。四眾備法駕仗衛音伎奉迎萬壽山仁智殿。丁丑建大聖萬安寺二十六年己丑。自仁智殿奉迎於寺之後殿。世祖躬臨大作佛事。計自優闐王造像之歲至今詔述延祐三年丙辰。凡二千三百有七年。噫四大海中。頓覺業風之息。一彈指頃。不知賢劫之過。嘉與含靈從茲安隱。於是集賢大學士。臣顥以所述上聞。有旨授臣鉅天為之記。夫謹奉詔言曰。古之聖人教民報本。追遠之道。而於祭祀之禮。廟則木為之主。祭則孫為之尸。後也乃有像設焉。而不知其所由始。由斯觀之。其原於西域之俗也。與夫佛為世出世間之尊。又何竢於贊述。然欲知佛之為佛。固不在於色相。而況於其似色相者乎。然苟不自其似而求之。又將無所措其歸向之心。是故法身無相。必假相以表真。至道絕言。亦因言階妙。若於粗者猶拳拳而怠焉。則其進也殆庶幾乎。陛下考百王之度。酌群言之蘊。上以惇孝。下以施仁。蘄於厚天下者。無所不用其極。至於軌仁於善以輔政教之所不逮。亦因天下之心而為之。而非若彼內祠祕祝者之為也。夫以金石之桿堅。猶未能必可久。今以一木之為而綿歷若此。然而佛之自衛固甚周。而人之保之也。抑豈一手足之功哉。嗟夫遡延二千有奇至於陛下。然後發德音經紀鴻烈非緩也。熙明之治至是而始隆。雖典祀之外。猶必以斯文文之也。

(20) Record of the Imperial Construction of the Hall for the Auspicious Sandalwood Image, composed by Cheng Jufu, Hanlin Academician Recipient of Edicts. The text reads: I have heard that the Way has no form, yet whoever made the *Book of Changes* necessarily drew analogies to physical appearances. Dharmas are fundamentally empty, yet those who deliver the world provisionally avail themselves of visible forms. Just as pointing to emptiness as a mirror is not as effective as using a mirror to illustrate emptiness, observing the wind by looking at the trees leads one to discern the wind and forget the trees. Therefore, at the Twin Trees, the Buddha entrusted his relics to be divided among mortals and noble ones alike; the thousand-spoked footprints from his walking remain present throughout ancient and modern times. This was not to flaunt supernatural powers in an illusory realm, but truly to open up skillful means at the ford of confusion. It is what is meant by 'reaching understanding by oneself, such that this mind is itself the Buddha.' The auspicious sandalwood image is the true likeness of the Buddha. It is like ten thousand reflections sinking into the river, in suchness without difference, or a single ray of light penetrating a chink, every part perfectly complete. How could it choose where to reside? It responds according to conditions. Looking toward a grove of plums to quench thirst, none fail to partake; floating a bamboo leaf to journey home, who can share the ride? Our Holy Son of Heaven has attained a Dao equal to the ancient sages and possesses compassion on par with the King of Awakening. To pray for boundless longevity, he constantly relies on the buddhabhūmi; contemplating the years of the Tathāgata, he sits witnessing the realms of humans and devas. Thereupon, he commanded the Academician of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies Li Shu, together with venerable masters of doctrine and Chan, to narrate its origins and history in full. It states: Śākyamuni Tathāgata, the crown prince of King Śuddhodana, was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the *jiayin* year, which was the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of the flourishing Zhou dynasty. Seven days after his birth, the Buddha's mother, Lady Māyā, was reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. In the forty-second year, the prince renounced the throne, left home, and cultivated the Way. In the third year of King Mu, the *guiwei* year, he attained the Way. In the eighth year, the *xinmao* year, wishing to repay his mother's kindness, he ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to preach the Dharma for his mother. King Udayana, having long been deprived of the sight of him and having no way to see him, carved sandalwood into an image. Maudgalyāyana, concerned that there might be deficiencies or inaccuracies, personally used his supernatural powers to transport thirty-two craftsmen up to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, carefully observing the major marks and minor characteristics three times before capturing his true likeness. Once completed, the king, ministers, and people venerated it just like the true Buddha. When the Buddha returned from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to the human realm, the king led his ministers and commoners out together to welcome him. This image stepped into the air and bowed its head to the Buddha. The Buddha rubbed its crown and bestowed a prophecy, saying: 'One thousand years after my parinirvāṇa, you shall broadly benefit humans and devas from Cīnasthāna.' From that time, it remained in the Western Lands for 1,285 years, in Kucha for 68 years, in Liangzhou for 14 years, in Chang'an for 17 years, in Jiangnan for 173 years, in Huainan for 367 years, back in Jiangnan for 21 years, in Bianliang for 177 years, and traveled north to Yanjing, where it stayed at the present Sheng'an Temple for 12 years. It traveled north to the Dachuqing Temple in the Shangdu for 20 years, and returned south to the inner palace of Yanjing, where it resided for 54 years. In the third month of the *dingchou* year of the Great Yuan, fire broke out in the Yanjing palace. Minister of the Department of State Affairs Lord Shimo escorted it back to Sheng'an Temple to reside. Now, 59 years later—in the twelfth year of the Zhiyuan era of Emperor Shizu, the *yihai* year—he dispatched the great minister Boluo and others, with the fourfold assembly preparing the imperial carriage, honor guard, and music, to respectfully welcome it to the Renzhi Hall on Mount Wanshou. In the *dingchou* year, Dasheng Wan'an Temple was built, and in the twenty-sixth year, the *jichou* year, it was respectfully escorted from the Renzhi Hall to the rear hall of the temple. Shizu attended in person and conducted great Buddhist services. Calculating from the year King Udayana made the image up to the present Yanyou third year (*bingchen*), when the decree was issued to narrate this, it has been altogether 2,307 years. Ah! Amidst the four great oceans, one suddenly feels the karmic winds cease; in the snap of a finger, one is unaware of the passing of the Bhadrakalpa. We rejoice that all sentient beings will from now on abide in peace and serenity. Thereupon, the Academician of the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, Your Servant Hao, submitted this narration to the throne. An imperial decree was issued instructing your servant Jufu to write the record. Respectfully complying with the imperial command, I say: When the ancient sages taught the people to repay their roots and remember the distant ancestors, in the rites of ancestral sacrifice, the temple used a wooden spirit tablet as the lord, and the sacrifice used a grandson as the ritual corpse. Later on, images were established, though none know where this began. Viewed from this perspective, it originated from the customs of the Western Regions. Furthermore, as the Buddha is the most revered in the mundane and supramundane worlds, what need has he of praise and narration? Yet if one wishes to know that the Buddha is the Buddha, it indeed does not depend on visible forms, much less on what merely resembles visible forms! Nevertheless, if one does not seek him through what resembles him, there will be nowhere to direct one's mind of refuge. Therefore, although the Dharmakāya has no form, it must borrow form to express truth; although the supreme Way transcends words, it relies on words to ascend to the profound. If one still attends diligently to the crude without weariness, then one’s progress will surely be almost at hand! Your Majesty examines the standards of the hundred kings, deliberates on the profound import of all teachings, cultivates filial piety above, and dispenses benevolence below, sparing no effort in enriching the realm. As for guiding people toward benevolence and goodness to assist where government and education do not reach, this too is done in accord with the hearts of all under heaven, unlike the deeds of those who perform secret prayers in inner shrines. Even things as hard as metal and stone cannot be guaranteed to last long; yet this work fashioned from a single piece of wood has endured across such vast spans of time! Though the Buddha's self-protection is certainly thorough, could the way humans have preserved it really be the work of only a single hand or foot? Alas! Tracing this span of more than two thousand years down to Your Majesty, only now is the virtuous decree issued to chronicle this magnificent achievement—it has not come late! The glorious, luminous reign has only now reached its zenith. Even outside of standard sacrifices, it must be adorned with this literary culture.