佛祖歷代通載 7.26

7.26

（七）　第二十六祖不如蜜多者。南印度德勝王之太子也。既受度得法至東印度。彼王名堅固。奉外道師長爪梵志。暨祖將至。王與梵志同覩白氣貫于上下。王曰。斯何瑞也。梵志預知尊者入境。恐王遷善。乃曰。此魔來之兆耳。何瑞之有。即鳩諸徒眾議曰。不如蜜多將入都城。誰能挫之。弟子曰。我等各有呪術。可以動天地入水火。何患哉。尊者至。先見宮牆有黑氣。乃曰小難耳。直詣王所。王曰。師來何為。祖曰。將度眾生。曰以何法度。祖曰。各以其類度之。時梵志聞言不勝其怒。即以幻法化大山於尊者頂上。尊者指之忽在彼眾頭上。梵志等怖懼投尊者。尊者愍其愚惑。再指之化山隨滅。乃為王演說法要俾趣真乘。又謂王曰。此國當有聖人而繼於我。是時有婆羅門子。年二十許。幼失父母。不知名氏。或自言纓絡。故人謂之纓絡童子。遊行閭里匃求度日。若常不輕之類。人問汝何行急。即答云。汝何行慢。或問何姓。乃云。與汝同姓。莫知其故。後王與祖同車而出見纓絡稽首於前。尊者曰。汝憶往事否。曰我念遠劫中與師同居。師演摩訶般若。我轉甚深修多羅。今日之事蓋契昔因。尊者又謂王曰。此童子非他。即大勢至菩薩是也。此聖之後復出二人。一人化南印度。一人緣在震旦。四五年內却返此方。遂以昔因故名般若多羅。付法眼藏。偈曰。真性心地藏。無頭亦無尾。應緣而化物。方便呼為智。尊者付法已。即辭王曰。吾化緣已終。當歸寂滅。願王於最上乘毋忘外護。即還本坐跏趺而逝。化火自焚。王收舍利塔而瘞之。當東晉孝武帝太元十三年戊子歲也。

(7) The Twenty-sixth Patriarch, Punyamitra, was the crown prince of King Devasiddhi (Desheng) of Southern India. Having received ordination and obtained the Dharma, he went to Eastern India. The king of that land was named Dṛḍha (Jiangu). He revered the non-Buddhist master, the long-nailed brahmacārin (Dīrghanakha). When the Patriarch was about to arrive, the king and the brahmacārin both saw a white vapor piercing above and below. The king asked, 'What auspicious omen is this?' The brahmacārin, knowing in advance that the Venerable One was entering the border and fearing that the king would turn toward goodness, replied, 'This is merely an omen of the coming of Māra. What auspiciousness is there?' He immediately gathered his disciples and conferred with them, saying, 'Punyamitra is about to enter the capital city. Who can defeat him?' The disciples said, 'We each possess incantations and arts capable of shaking heaven and earth and entering water and fire. What cause is there for worry?' When the Venerable One arrived, he first saw a dark vapor on the palace walls and said, 'It is merely a minor difficulty.' He went directly to the king's quarters. The king asked, 'For what purpose has the Master come?' The Patriarch said, 'I intend to deliver sentient beings.' The king asked, 'By what teaching will you deliver them?' The Patriarch replied, 'I deliver each according to their kind.' At that time, hearing these words, the brahmacārin could not contain his rage and used magical arts to conjure a great mountain above the Venerable One's head. The Venerable One pointed at it, and it suddenly appeared above the heads of that multitude. The brahmacārin and the others were terrified and threw themselves before the Venerable One. The Venerable One pitied their foolish confusion, pointed at it again, and the conjured mountain vanished accordingly. He then expounded the essentials of the Dharma for the king, causing him to tend toward the True Vehicle. He further said to the king, 'In this country there shall be a sage who will succeed me.' At that time there was the son of a brāhmaṇa, about twenty years of age, who had lost his parents in his youth. His name and surname were unknown. He sometimes called himself 'Yingluo' (Necklace), and so people called him the 'Necklace Youth' (Yingluo Tongzi). He wandered through the villages and lanes, begging for alms to pass the days, like one of the kind of Sadāparibhūta. When people asked, 'Why do you walk so fast?', he would answer, 'Why do you walk so slowly?' Or when they asked his surname, he would say, 'I have the same surname as you.' None knew the reason. Later, when the king and the Patriarch went out riding in the same carriage, they saw Yingluo bowing his head before them. The Venerable One asked, 'Do you recall past matters?' He replied, 'I remember dwelling together with the Master in a distant kalpa. The Master expounded the Mahāprajñā, and I turned the profound sūtras. Today's event indeed accords with those past causes.' The Venerable One again said to the king, 'This youth is none other than Mahāsthāmaprāpta Bodhisattva. After this sage, two persons will again emerge: one will transform Southern India, and one has karmic affinity in Cīnasthāna (Zhendan). Within four or five years, he will return to this region.' Thereupon, on account of past causes, he named him Prajñātāra and entrusted to him the Eye and Treasury of the True Dharma. The verse said: / 'The treasury of the ground of mind of true nature / Has neither head nor tail. / Responding to conditions, it transforms beings; / By expedient means it is called wisdom.' / Having transmitted the Dharma, the Venerable One took leave of the king, saying, 'My conditions for transforming [beings] have ended; I must return to quiescent extinction. I pray that the king, regarding the Supreme Vehicle, will not forget to be an external protector.' He then returned to his seat, crossed his legs, and passed away. Emanating fire, he incinerated himself. The king collected the relics, built a stupa, and entombed them. This was in the wuzi year, the thirteenth year of the Taiyuan era of Emperor Xiaowu of the Eastern Jin.