釋氏稽古略 1.447

1.447

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).