釋氏稽古略 4.381

4.381

The Auspicious Sandalwood Image: In this year, it had stayed in the Jin state for twelve years. In the tenth month, it was welcomed and taken to the palace precinct of the Supreme Capital for worship. According to the Record of the Auspicious Image Hall by Hanlin Academician Cheng Jufu: When Śākyamuni Tathāgata was first born as the crown prince, on the seventh day his mother Māyā passed away and was reborn in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. After the Buddha attained the Way, mindful of his mother's kindness, he ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to preach the Dharma for his mother. King Udayana of Kauśāmbī, having long lacked the opportunity to gaze upon and revere the Tathāgata and finding no way to see him, carved an image out of sandalwood. The Venerable Maudgalyāyana, concerned that there might be imperfections, personally used his supernormal power to take thirty-two artisans up to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to examine the Buddha's physical marks three times, and so obtained its true likeness. Once completed, the king, ministers, and people revered it as if it were the true Buddha. When the Buddha returned from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to the human realm, the king led his ministers and commoners to go together to welcome the Buddha; this image stepped into the air and bowed its head to the Buddha. The Buddha rubbed its crown and bestowed a prophecy upon it, saying, 'One thousand years after my parinirvāṇa, you will broadly benefit humans and devas from Cīnasthāna (the Eastern Land).' From that time, it was in the Western Regions for 1,285 years; in Kucha for 68 years; in Liangzhou for 14 years; in Chang'an for 17 years; in Jiangnan for 173 years; in Huainan for 367 years; returned to Jiangnan for 21 years; in Bianliang for 177 years; came north to Yanjing and resided at Sheng'an Monastery for 12 years; went north to the Supreme Capital's Dachuqing Monastery for 20 years; returned south to the inner hall of the Yan palace and resided there for 54 years. In the third month of the dingchou year, the Yan palace caught fire, and it was welcomed back to reside at Sheng'an Monastery, where it has now been for 59 years. The yihai year corresponds to the twelfth year of the Zhiyuan era of our present Great Yuan Emperor Shizu. The emperor dispatched Minister Bōluó and others among the fourfold assembly, equipped with imperial carriages, imperial guards, and musicians, to welcome and venerate it at the Renzhi Hall of Mount Wanshou. In the dingchou year, the Great Shengwan'an Monastery was built, and in the jichou year, it was welcomed from the Renzhi Hall to be enshrined in the rear hall of the monastery, where great Buddhist rites were performed. From the year King Udayana first created the auspicious image up to the present bingchen year of the Yanyou era, it has been 2,307 years in total (from the stele inscription of the hall record).