佛祖歷代通載 4.67

4.67

（十一　庚辰）　第十五祖迦那提婆。南天竺國人也。姓毘舍羅。初求福業兼樂辯論。後謁龍樹大士將及門。樹知是智人。先遣侍者以滿鉢。水置於座前。提婆見之。即以一針投之而進。忻然契會。樹即為說法。不起於坐現月輪相。唯聞其聲不見其形。師語眾曰。今此瑞者。師現佛性表說法非聲色也。師得法後至毘羅國。彼有長者。曰梵摩淨德。一日園樹生大耳如菌。味美甚。唯長者與第二子羅睺羅多。取而食之。取已隨長。盡而復生。自餘親屬皆不能見。時尊者知其宿因。遂至其家。長者問其故。尊者曰汝家昔曾供養一比丘然此比丘道眼未明。以虛霑信施故報為本菌。唯汝與子精誠供養。得以享之。餘即否矣。又問。長者年多少。曰七十有九。尊者乃說偈曰。入道不通理。覆身還信施。汝年八十一。此樹不生耳。長者聞偈彌加歎伏。且曰。弟子衰老不能事師。願舍次子隨師出家。尊者曰。昔如來記此子。當第二五百年為大教主。今之相遇蓋符宿因。即與剃髮執侍。至巴連弗城。聞諸外道欲障佛法計之既久。尊者乃執長旛入彼眾中。彼問祖曰。汝何不前。祖曰。汝何不後。又曰。汝似賤人。祖曰。汝似良人。又曰。汝解何法。祖曰。汝百不解又曰。我欲得佛。祖曰。我灼然得佛。又曰。汝不合得。祖曰。元道我得汝實不得。又曰。汝既不得。云何言得。祖曰。汝有我故所以不得我無我我故自當得。彼辭既屈。乃問祖曰。汝名何等。祖曰。我名迦那提婆。彼既夙聞祖名。乃悔過致謝。時眾中猶互興問難。尊者折以無礙之辯。由是歸伏。乃告上足羅睺羅多而付法眼。偈曰。本對傳法人。為說解脫理。於法實無證。無終亦無始。說偈已。入奮迅定身放八光而歸寂滅。學眾興塔而供養之。則前漢文帝十九年庚辰歲也。

(11. Gengchen) The fifteenth patriarch, Kāṇadeva, was a native of South India, surnamed Vaiśālī. At first he sought karmic merit and enjoyed debate. Later he visited the Mahāsattva Nāgārjuna. When he was about to reach the gate, Nāgārjuna knew he was a wise man, and first sent an attendant to place a bowl filled with water before his seat. When Deva saw it, he immediately dropped a needle into it and advanced. They harmoniously accorded with each other. Nāgārjuna then expounded the Dharma for him; without rising from his seat, he manifested the form of a lunar disc. One only heard his voice and did not see his form. The Master told the assembly, saying: 'Now this auspicious sign is the Master manifesting the Buddha-nature, signifying that expounding the Dharma is neither sound nor form.' After the Master received the Dharma, he went to the country of Kapilavastu. In that place there was an elder named Brahmavimalapuṇya. One day, a tree in his garden produced a large ear[-like fungus] resembling a mushroom, which tasted extremely delicious. Only the elder and his second son, Rāhulata, picked and ate it. As soon as it was picked, it grew back; when finished, it grew again. None of the other relatives could even see it. At that time, the Venerable One knew its past causes, and thereupon went to his home. The elder asked him about the reason. The Venerable One said: 'In the past, your household once made offerings to a bhikṣu. However, this bhikṣu's Dharma-eye was not yet clarified. Because he falsely received the offerings of the faithful, he received the retribution of becoming this mushroom. Only you and your son made offerings with absolute sincerity, so you are able to enjoy it; the others are not.' He also asked: 'How old is the elder?' He replied: 'Seventy-nine.' The Venerable One then recited a gāthā, saying: / 'Entering the Way without comprehending principle, / One returns the offerings of the faithful in one's own body. / When you reach the age of eighty-one, / This tree will no longer grow this fungus.' / When the elder heard the gāthā, he was filled with even deeper admiration and submission, and said: 'Your disciple is decrepit and old, unable to serve the Master. I wish to give up my second son to follow the Master and leave home.' The Venerable One said: 'Formerly, the Tathāgata prophesied that this boy would be a great leader of the teaching in the second five-hundred-year period. Our meeting today indeed matches past causes.' He then shaved his head and took him as an attendant. Arriving at the city of Pāṭaliputra, he heard that various non-Buddhists had long been scheming to obstruct the Buddha-Dharma. The Venerable One then held a long banner and entered into their midst. They asked the Patriarch, saying: 'Why do you not advance?' The Patriarch said: 'Why do you not retreat?' They also said: 'You resemble a base person.' The Patriarch said: 'You resemble a good person.' They also said: 'What dharma do you understand?' The Patriarch said: 'You do not understand a single one of a hundred.' They also said: 'I wish to attain Buddhahood.' The Patriarch said: 'I have clearly attained Buddhahood.' They also said: 'You should not attain it.' The Patriarch said: 'Originally you said I attained it; you truly have not attained it.' They also said: 'Since you have not attained it, why do you say you have attained it?' The Patriarch said: 'Because you possess a self, you do not attain it. Because I am without self and selfhood, I naturally ought to attain it.' Their words were defeated, and so they asked the Patriarch, saying: 'What is your name?' The Patriarch said: 'My name is Kāṇadeva.' Having long heard of the Patriarch's name, they repented of their fault and offered apologies. At that time, mutual questions and objections still arose in the assembly; the Venerable One refuted them with unhindered eloquence, and through this they submitted. He then addressed his chief disciple Rāhulata and transmitted the Dharma-eye to him. The gāthā said: / 'Originally facing the one who transmits the Dharma, / I expound the principle of liberation for him. / In the Dharma there is truly nothing to realize; / It has no end and no beginning.' / Having spoken the gāthā, he entered the Lion's Sprint Samādhi, his body emitted eight rays of light, and he returned to quiescent extinction. The assembly of disciples erected a stūpa and made offerings to it. This was the nineteenth year, gengchen, of Emperor Wen of the Former Han.