佛祖歷代通載 3.33

3.33

（十　丙辰）　第一祖摩訶迦葉。摩竭陀國人也。姓婆羅門。父飲澤。母香志。昔為鍛金師。善明金性使其柔伏。付法傳云。甞於久遠劫中。毘婆尸佛入涅槃後。四眾起塔。塔中像面上金色有少缺壞。時有貧女。將金珠往金師所。請飾佛面。既而因共發願。願我二人為無姻夫妻。由是因緣九十一劫身皆金色。後生梵天。天壽盡生中天摩竭陀國婆羅門家。名曰迦葉波。此云飲光勝尊。蓋以金色為號也。繇是志求出家冀度諸有。佛言善來比丘。鬚髮自除袈裟著體。常於眾中稱歎第一。復言。吾以清淨法眼將付於汝。汝可流布無令斷絕。涅槃經云。爾時世尊欲涅槃時。迦葉不在眾會（嵩禪師正宗記評曰。昔涅槃會之初。如來告諸比丘曰。汝等不應作如是語。我今所有無上正法。悉已付囑摩訶迦葉。是迦葉者。當為汝等作大依止。然正宗者聖人密相傳授。不可必知其處與時也。以經酌之則法華先而涅槃後也。方說法華迦葉預焉。及涅槃而不在其會。吾謂付法之時其在二經之間耳。或謂。靈山拈花。又曰。付法於多子塔前。然此未見所出。吾雖稍取亦不敢果以為審也）佛告諸大弟子。迦葉來時。可令宣揚正法眼藏。爾時迦葉在耆闍崛山賓鉢羅窟。覩勝光明。即入三昧以淨天眼觀見世尊於熙連河側入般涅槃。乃告其徒曰。如來涅槃也。何其駛哉。即至雙樹間悲戀號泣。佛於金棺內現雙足。爾時迦葉告諸比丘。佛已茶毘。金剛舍利非我等事。我等宜當結集法眼無令斷絕。乃說偈曰。如來弟子且莫涅槃。得神通者當赴結集。於是得神通者悉集王舍耆闍崛山賓鉢羅窟。時阿難為漏未盡。不得入會。後證阿羅漢果。由是得入。迦葉乃白眾言。此阿難比丘。多聞總持有大智慧。常隨如來梵行清淨。所聞佛法如水傳器無有遺餘。佛所讚歎聰敏第一。宜可請彼集修多羅藏。大眾默然。迦葉告阿難曰。汝今宜宣法眼。阿難聞語信受。觀察眾心而宣偈言。比丘諸眷屬。離佛不莊嚴。猶如虛空中。眾星之無月。說是偈已。禮眾僧足升法座而說是言。如是我聞一時佛住某處說某經教。乃至人天等作禮奉行。時迦葉問諸比丘。阿難所言不錯謬乎。皆曰。不異世尊所說。迦葉乃告阿難言。我今年不久留。今將正法付囑於汝。汝善守護。聽吾偈言。法法本來法。無法無非法。何於一法中。有法有不法。說是偈已。乃持僧伽黎。

(10. Bingchen) The First Patriarch, Mahākāśyapa, was a native of Magadha. He belonged to the brāhmaṇa clan; his father was Yize ('Drinker of Moisture') and his mother was Xiangzhi ('Fragrant Aspiration'). Formerly he had been a goldsmith, skilled at understanding the nature of gold and rendering it supple. The *Record of the Transmission of the Dharma* states: Once, in an immensely long kalpa past, after Vipaśyin Buddha entered nirvāṇa, the fourfold assembly erected a stūpa. In the stūpa, the golden surface on the face of the image was slightly damaged. At that time, a poor woman brought a gold bead to the goldsmith's shop and asked him to adorn the Buddha's face. Subsequently, they made a joint vow: 'May the two of us become husband and wife without worldly marriage.' Due to this cause and condition, for ninety-one kalpas their bodies were all golden. Later he was born in the Brahmā Heaven. When his celestial life ended, he was born into a brāhmaṇa family in Magadha in Central India and was named Kāśyapa, which means 'Radiance-Drinking Superior One', named indeed on account of his golden color. From this he aspired to leave the household life, hoping to deliver all forms of existence. The Buddha said: 'Welcome, bhikṣu!' and his beard and hair fell away of themselves, and the kāṣāya clothed his body. The Buddha regularly praised him in the assembly as foremost. He further said: 'I am to entrust the pure Dharma eye to you; you must spread it abroad and not let it be cut off.' The *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* states that when the Bhagavān was about to enter nirvāṇa, Kāśyapa was not in the assembly. (Chan Master Song evaluated this in the *Zhengzong ji*, saying: 'Formerly, at the beginning of the Nirvāṇa assembly, the Tathāgata addressed the bhikṣus: "You should not speak such words. All the unsurpassed true Dharma that I now possess has been fully entrusted to Mahākāśyapa. This Kāśyapa will serve as your great refuge." However, the transmission of the orthodox lineage is secretly bestowed between sages; its place and time cannot be definitely known. Estimating from the sūtras, the *Saddharmapuṇḍarīka* came first and the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* came later. When the *Saddharmapuṇḍarīka* was preached, Kāśyapa was present; when it came to the Nirvāṇa, he was not in the assembly. I maintain that the time of entrusting the Dharma must have been between the two sūtras. Some say it was holding up the flower at Vulture Peak, and others say the Dharma was entrusted in front of the Bahuputraka Stūpa. Yet neither has a verified source. Although I have adopted it somewhat, I still do not dare take it as fully confirmed.') The Buddha told the great disciples: 'When Kāśyapa arrives, you may have him proclaim the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.' At that time, Kāśyapa was in the Pippala Cave on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa. Beholding an extraordinary light, he entered samādhi and, with the pure divine eye, saw that the Bhagavān had entered parinirvāṇa beside the Hiraṇyavatī River. He then told his disciples: 'The Tathāgata has entered nirvāṇa! How swift it was!' He immediately went between the twin trees, weeping and wailing with grief and longing. The Buddha revealed both his feet from within the golden coffin. Thereupon Kāśyapa addressed the bhikṣus: 'The Buddha has already been cremated. The adamantine relics are not our affair; we ought to compile the Dharma eye so that it will not be cut off.' He then spoke a verse: / 'Let the Tathāgata's disciples not enter nirvāṇa yet; / Those who have obtained spiritual powers must attend the council.' / Thereupon, all who had obtained spiritual powers gathered at the Pippala Cave on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa in Rājagṛha. At that time, because Ānanda's outflows were not yet exhausted, he was not permitted to enter the assembly. Later he attained the fruit of arhatship, and from this he gained entrance. Kāśyapa then addressed the assembly: 'This bhikṣu Ānanda has heard much, possesses dhāraṇī, and has great wisdom. Constantly following the Tathāgata, his pure practice is spotless. The Buddha-Dharma he heard is like water poured from one vessel to another without anything left behind. He was praised by the Buddha as foremost in intelligence. We should invite him to compile the Sūtra Piṭaka.' The great assembly remained silent. Kāśyapa said to Ānanda: 'You should now proclaim the Dharma eye.' Ānanda, hearing these words, accepted them with faith; observing the minds of the assembly, he proclaimed a verse: / 'The retinue of bhikṣus, / Without the Buddha, lacks adornment, / Just as in the empty sky, / The host of stars lacks a moon.' / Having spoken this verse, he bowed to the feet of the saṃgha, mounted the Dharma seat, and spoke these words: 'Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was dwelling at such-and-such place and preached such-and-such sūtra teaching...' down to humans and devas bowing and upholding it. Then Kāśyapa asked the bhikṣus: 'Is what Ānanda said without error?' All said: 'It is not different from what the Bhagavān preached.' Kāśyapa then addressed Ānanda: 'My years will not keep me here much longer. I now entrust the true Dharma to you; guard it well. Listen to my verse: / 'The Dharma of dharmas is fundamentally Dharma; / There is neither no-dharma nor non-Dharma. / Why within the single Dharma / Should there be Dharma and not-Dharma?' / Having spoken this verse, he took the saṃghāṭī