釋氏稽古略 1.447

1.447

十七祖僧伽難提大士　室羅筏城寶莊嚴王之子。生而能言。常讚佛事。年七歲以偈告父母曰。稽首大慈父和南骨血母。我今欲出家。幸願哀愍。故父母許其在家出家。復命沙門禪利多為之師積。十九年捨離王宮。入定金河大巖石窟。又十年得法已行化至摩提國。至山峰下。見一童子持圓鑑直造祖前。祖問。汝幾歲耶。曰百歲。祖曰。汝年尚幼。何言百歲。曰我不會理正百歲耳。祖曰。汝善機耶。曰佛言若人生百歲不會諸佛機未若生一日而得決了之祖曰。汝手中者當何所表。曰諸佛大圓鑑。內外無瑕翳。兩人同得見。心眼皆相似。彼父母聞其子語。即捨令出家。祖度之授具戒。名之曰伽耶舍多。他時風吹殿鈴聲。祖問曰。鈴鳴耶風鳴耶。舍多曰。非風鈴鳴我心鳴耳。祖曰。心復誰乎。舍多曰。俱寂靜故。祖曰。善哉善哉。繼吾道者非子而誰。即付法眼。偈曰。心地本無生。因地從緣起。緣種不相妨。華果亦復爾。祖付法已。右手攀樹而化。眾議奉全身塔于高原。眾力不能舉。即樹下闍維。收舍利起塔。當此漢昭帝之世也（正宗記）。

The Seventeenth Patriarch, the Great Being Saṅghanandi: The son of King Ratnavyūha of the city of Śrāvastī. He could speak from birth and constantly praised Buddhist affairs. At the age of seven, he addressed his parents with a verse: / 'I bow my head to my greatly compassionate father, / And prostrate before my mother of flesh and bone. / I now wish to leave the household life; / May you graciously have pity on me.' / His parents therefore permitted him to leave the household while remaining at home, and further instructed the śramaṇa Chanlituo to be his teacher. After nineteen years, he abandoned the royal palace and entered absorption in a great rock cavern by the Golden River. After another ten years, having received the Dharma, he travelled to convert beings and reached the country of Madhyadeśa. Arriving below a mountain peak, he saw a youth holding a round mirror who came straight before the Patriarch. The Patriarch asked, "How old are you?" He replied, "A hundred years old." The Patriarch said, "You are still young; why do you say a hundred years old?" He replied, "I do not understand the principle, and that is precisely my hundred years." The Patriarch asked, "Are you adept in the fundamental faculty?" He replied, "The Buddha said that if a person lives a hundred years without understanding the faculty of all Buddhas, it is not as good as living for one single day and attaining clear resolution of it." The Patriarch said, "What does that in your hand signify?" He replied, / 'The great round mirror of all Buddhas / Has no blemishes or veils within or without. / When two people can see it together, / Their mind-eyes are completely alike.' / When his parents heard their son's words, they at once gave him up to leave the household life. The Patriarch ordained him and conferred upon him the full precepts, naming him Gayāśata. At another time, as the wind sounded the bells of the hall, the Patriarch asked, "Does the bell sound, or does the wind sound?" Śata replied, "Neither the wind nor the bell sounds; it is only my mind that sounds." The Patriarch asked, "And who is the mind?" Śata replied, "Because both are completely quiet and still." The Patriarch said, "Excellent, excellent! Who other than you could succeed to my Way?" He then transmitted the Dharma Eye, giving a verse: / 'The mind-ground is originally unborn; / From the cause-ground it arises dependent on conditions. / Conditions and seeds do not obstruct each other; / Flowers and fruits are also just like this.' / Having transmitted the Dharma, the Patriarch grasped a tree with his right hand and passed away. The assembly discussed enshrining his whole body in a stupa on a high plateau, but the strength of the assembly could not lift it. Thereupon, they cremated him beneath the tree, collected his relics, and erected a stupa. This was during the time of Emperor Zhao of the Han (Zhengzong ji).