佛祖歷代通載 3.52

3.52

(Year 19, gengzi) The Fourth Patriarch was Upagupta. He was a native of the kingdom of Pāṭaliputra. He was also named Upagupta (youboguoduo) and Upagupta (wuboguoduo). His surname was Śūdra, and his father was Śāntamati. At seventeen he went forth from household life, and at twenty he realized the fruit. Traveling to preach according to circumstances, he reached the kingdom of Mathurā. Those who attained liberation through him were very numerous. Because of this, the palace of Māra trembled, and Pāpīyāns was distressed and terrified. He then exhausted his demonic power to harm the correct Dharma. The Patriarch immediately entered samādhi to observe the cause. Pāpīyāns waited for an opportunity again, secretly holding a jeweled necklace and binding it about his neck. When the Patriarch emerged from concentration, he took three corpses—of a human, a dog, and a snake—and transformed them into a flower garland. With soft words he comforted and addressed Pāpīyāns, saying, "You gave me a necklace that was exceedingly precious and marvelous. I have a flower garland to offer in return." Pāpīyāns was overjoyed, stretched out his neck, and received it. It immediately turned into the three kinds of foul, rotted corpses crawling with maggots and worms. Pāpīyāns was disgusted and filled with great distress; though he exhausted his supernatural powers, he could not move it. He then ascended to the heavens of the six desire realms to tell the celestial kings, and went to King Brahmā to beg for release. Each of them told him, "This is a miraculous transformation produced by a disciple of the Daśabala; how could we of common and base capacity remove it?" Pāpīyāns asked, "If so, what can be done?" King Brahmā said, "You should take refuge in the venerable one with your whole heart; then you will be able to eliminate and sever it." He then spoke a verse instructing him to turn around: "If you fall because of the ground, / you must rise again by means of the ground; / seeking to rise apart from the ground / is completely impossible in principle." Having received this instruction, Pāpīyāns immediately descended from the celestial palace, prostrated at the venerable one's feet, and openly repented with sorrow. Gupta told him, "From now on, will you never again harass or harm the Tathāgata's correct Dharma?" Pāpīyāns said, "I vow to direct myself toward the Buddha path and forever sever what is unwholesome." The Patriarch said, "If so, you may chant with your own mouth taking refuge in the Three Jewels." The Demon King joined his palms and chanted three times; the garland of corpses was entirely removed. He then leaped with joy, paid homage to the venerable one, and spoke a verse: "I bow my head to the venerable one of samādhi, / the holy disciple of the Daśabala; / I now vow to turn my mind around, / let there be no weakness or inferiority." The venerable one converted and guided beings here, and those who realized the fruit were the most numerous. Every time he liberated one person, he placed a tally in a stone chamber. That chamber was eighteen cubits long and twelve cubits wide, and it became completely filled. Finally, there was the son of an elder named Gandhahastin, who came to pay homage to the venerable one, with the aspiration to seek ordination. The Patriarch asked him, "Do you go forth in body or do you go forth in mind?" He answered, "I come to go forth neither for body nor for mind." The Patriarch asked, "If not for body or mind, who then goes forth?" He said, "One who goes forth is without self or what belongs to self. Because there is no self or what belongs to self, the mind neither arises nor ceases. That the mind neither arises nor ceases is the eternal Way. The Buddhas are also eternal; mind is without physical form, and its essence is likewise so." The Patriarch said, "You shall attain great awakening, and your mind will naturally penetrate thoroughly. You should rely on the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha to carry on the sacred lineage." He then shaved his head and gave him the full ordination. He further told him, "Your father once dreamed of a golden sun when you were born; you may be named Dhītika." He further addressed him, "The Tathāgata transmitted the Great Dharma Eye Treasury sequentially, down to me. Now I transmit it again to you. Listen to my verse: Mind is originally mind itself; / original mind has no phenomena. / Where there are phenomena, there is original mind; / neither mind nor original phenomenon." Having transmitted the Dharma, he leaped into the air and displayed eighteen transformations. Then, returning to his original seat, he sat cross-legged and passed away. Dhītika used the tallies inside the chamber to cremate his body, collected the relics, and built a stūpa to make offerings. This was the thirtieth year of King Ping, the gengzi year.