佛祖歷代通載 3.97

3.97

(34: Ji-hai) The Tenth Patriarch was the Venerable Pārśva. He was a native of Central India, originally named Nansheng ("Hard to Bear"). When his birth was imminent, his father dreamt of a white elephant bearing a jewelled seat on its back, upon which rested a bright pearl; it entered through the doorway, its radiance illuminating the fourfold assembly. Upon waking, he was born. Later he met the Venerable Buddhamitra and served him closely, never sleeping, said never to have let his ribs touch the mat; he was consequently called the Venerable Pārśva ("Ribs"). When he first arrived in Pāṭaliputra, he rested under a tree. Pointing with his right hand to the ground, he said to the assembly: "This ground will turn to gold; a noble person is about to join our gathering." As soon as he finished speaking, it turned to gold. At that time, an elder's son, Puṇyayaśas, stood before him with palms joined. The Venerable asked, "Whence have you come?" Yaśas said, "My mind does not go." The Venerable said, "Where do you dwell?" He said, "My mind does not stay." The Patriarch said, "Are you not unfixed?" He said, "The Buddhas are also thus." The Patriarch said, "You are not the Buddhas." He said, "The Buddhas are also not." The Patriarch then spoke a verse: / "This ground turns to gold, / Foreknowing the arrival of a noble one. / He shall sit beneath the Bodhi tree, / Blossom with awakening, and achieve completion." Yaśas again spoke a verse: / "The master sits on golden ground, / Ever expounding the true meaning, / Turning back his light to illuminate me, / Causing me to enter samādhi." The Patriarch knew his intention, promptly admitted him to the monastic order (pravrajyā), and then conferred upon him the full precepts (upasampadā). He then told him, "The Tathāgata's treasury of the eye of the correct Dharma is now transmitted to you; do you protect and keep it in mind." He then spoke a verse: / "The true essence is naturally true; / Because of truth it is said there is principle. / Realizing the true and actual Dharma, / There is neither moving nor staying." Having transmitted the Dharma, he then manifested spiritual transformations, entered nirvāṇa, and transformed into fire to incinerate himself. The fourfold assembly gathered the relics in the folds of their robes and raised stūpas everywhere for them. This was the twenty-seventh year of King Zhen[ding], the year Ji-hai.