釋迦譜 1.459

1.459

爾時世尊受梵王等請已。又於七日而以佛眼。觀諸眾生上中下根。及諸煩惱亦下中上。滿二七日。爾時世尊。又復思惟。我今當開甘露法門。誰應在先而得聞者。阿羅邏仙人聰慧易悟。又先發願道成度我。作是念時空中有言。阿羅邏仙人作夜命終。爾時世尊。即便答彼空中聲言。我亦知其昨夜命終。又自思惟。迦蘭仙人利根明了。亦應先聞。空中又言。迦蘭仙人昨夜命終。爾時世尊。即以答言。我亦知其昨夜命終。爾時世尊。又自思惟。彼王師大臣。所遣憍陳如等五人。瞻視我者皆悉聰明。又過去世於我發願。應先聞法。我今宜當為此五人先開法門。又自思惟。古昔諸佛轉法輪處。皆悉在於波羅柰國鹿野苑中仙人住處。又此五人所止住處。亦在於彼我今應往。至其住處轉大法輪。思惟是已即從座起。詣波羅柰國。爾時有五百商人。二人為主。一名跋陀羅斯那。二名跋陀羅梨。行過曠野。時有天神而語之言。有如來應正遍知明行足善逝世間解無上士調御丈夫天人師佛世尊。出興於世最上福田。汝今宜應最前設供。時彼商人聞天語已。即答之曰。善哉如告。又問天言。世尊今者為在何許天又報言。世尊不久當來至此。於是如來於無量諸天前後導從。到多謂娑跋利村。時彼村人既見如來威相莊嚴。又見諸天前後圍繞。倍生歡喜。即以蜜[麩-夫+少]而奉上佛。爾時世尊心自思惟。過去諸佛用鉢多羅。而以盛食。時四天王知佛心念。各持一鉢來至佛所。而以奉上。於是世尊而自念言。我今若受一王鉢者。餘王必當生於恨心。即便普受四王之鉢。累置掌上按令成一。使四際相現。爾時世尊即便呪願。今所布施。欲令食者。得充氣力。當令施者。得色得力。得瞻得喜。安快無病。終保年壽。諸善鬼神。恒隨守護。開示道地。得利諧偶。吉無不利。日月五星。二十八宿。天神鬼王。常隨護助。四天大王。賞別善人。飯食布施。斷三毒根。將來當獲三堅法報。聰明智慧。篤信佛法。在在所生。正見不昧。現世之中。父母妻子。親戚眷屬。皆悉熾盛。無諸災怪不吉祥事。門族之中。若有命過。墮惡道者。當令以今所施之福。還生人天不起邪見。增進功德。常得奉近諸佛如來。得聞妙說。見諦得證。所願具足。爾時世尊呪願訖已。即便受食食既畢竟。澡漱洗鉢即授商人三歸。一歸依佛。二歸依法。三歸依當來僧。授三歸竟。因與之別。瑞應本起云。佛定意七日不動不搖。樹神念佛新得道快。坐已七日未有獻食者。我當求人令獻佛食。時有五百賈人。從山一面過。車牛皆躓礙不行。中有兩大人。一名提謂。二名波利。怖還與眾人俱。詣樹神請福。神現光像言。今世有佛在此優留國界尼連禪水邊。未有獻食者。汝曹幸先能有善意。必獲大福。賈人聞佛名。皆喜言佛必獨大尊。天神所敬非凡品也。即和[麩-夫+少]蜜俱詣樹下稽首上佛。佛念先古諸佛。哀受人施法皆持鉢。不宜如餘道人手受食也。四天王即遙知佛當用鉢。如人屈伸臂頃。俱到頞那山上。如意所念石中自然出四鉢。香潔無穢。四天王各取一鉢。還共上佛。願哀賈人令得大福方。有鐵鉢後弟子當用食。佛念取一鉢。不快餘王意。便悉受四鉢。累置左手中。右手按之合成一鉢。令四際現。而便前行。威儀詳序步若鵝王。路逢外道名優波伽。既見如來相好莊嚴。諸根寂定歎為奇特。即說偈言。

At that time, after the World-Honoured One had accepted the entreaties of King Brahmā and the others, he further observed, with the Buddha-eye for seven days, the higher, middling, and lower faculties of all sentient beings, as well as their afflictions, which were also lower, middling, and higher, completing twice seven days. At that time, the World-Honoured One again reflected: 'I should now open the Dharma gate of the nectar [of immortality]. Who should be the first to hear it? The ṛṣi Ārāḍa is clever, wise, and easily awakened, and he also made an earlier vow that I should deliver him when I attain the Way.' As he was having this thought, a voice in the air said: 'The ṛṣi Ārāḍa passed away last night.' At that time, the World-Honoured One immediately replied to that voice in the air, saying: 'I also know that he passed away last night.' He then reflected again: 'The ṛṣi [Udraka] Rāmaputra is sharp-rooted and clear-minded; he too should hear it first.' The voice in the air spoke again: 'The ṛṣi Rāmaputra passed away last night.' At that time, the World-Honoured One immediately answered: 'I also know that he passed away last night.' At that time, the World-Honoured One again reflected: 'Those five men, Kauṇḍinya and the others, who were sent by the royal preceptor and the great ministers to look after me, are all intelligent. Furthermore, in a past life they made a vow to me; they should hear the Dharma first. It is right for me to now open the Dharma gate first for these five men.' He also reflected: 'The place where the past Buddhas turned the wheel of the Dharma was always in the Deer Park, the dwelling of the ṛṣis, in the kingdom of Vārāṇasī. The dwelling place of these five men is also there. I should now go to their dwelling place and turn the great wheel of the Dharma.' Having thought this, he arose from his seat and proceeded to the kingdom of Vārāṇasī. At that time, there were five hundred merchants with two leaders: one named Bhadrasena and the second named Bhadrika. As they were traveling through a wilderness, a deity spoke to them, saying: 'There is a Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksaṃbuddha, Vidyācaraṇasaṃpanna, Sugata, Lokavid, Anuttarapuruṣadamysārathi, Śāstādevamanuṣyāṇām, Buddha, the World-Honoured One, who has appeared in the world as the supreme field of merit. You should now be the very first to make an offering.' When the merchants heard the words of the deity, they replied: 'Excellent, it shall be as told.' They also asked the deity: 'Where is the World-Honoured One now?' The deity responded again: 'The World-Honoured One will arrive here before long.' Thereupon the Tathāgata, preceded and followed by immeasurable devas as his retinue, arrived at the village of Tapussa-Bhallika. When the people of that village saw the majestic marks and adornments of the Tathāgata, and saw the devas surrounding him before and behind, their joy redoubled, and they offered honeyed parched-flour porridge to the Buddha. At that time, the World-Honoured One thought in his mind: 'The past Buddhas used a pātra to contain food.' At that moment, the Four Heavenly Kings knew the Buddha's thought, and each holding a bowl, came to the Buddha's dwelling and offered it. Thereupon the World-Honoured One thought: 'If I now accept the bowl of one king, the other kings will certainly harbor resentment.' He then accepted the bowls of all four kings, stacked them upon his palm, and pressed them into one, making the four rims remain visible. At that time, the World-Honoured One made a prayer: 'May this giving cause the eater to be filled with vigor; may it cause the givers to attain appearance and strength, attain vision and joy, be comfortable and without disease, and ultimately preserve their lifespan. May all good spirits and deities always follow and protect them, reveal to them the paths and stations, and may they achieve gain, harmony, and unceasing good fortune. May the sun, moon, five planets, twenty-eight lunar mansions, heavenly spirits, and ghost kings constantly follow and aid them. May the Four Great Heavenly Kings reward and distinguish good people. By giving food, may they sever the roots of the three poisons; in the future may they obtain the three firm Dharma retributions, be clever and wise, have firm faith in the Buddha's Dharma, and wherever they are born, may their right view be unobscured. In the present life, may their parents, wives, children, and kin all flourish, free from calamities, portents, and inauspicious occurrences. If anyone among their clan has passed away and fallen into evil destinies, may the merit of this present giving cause them to be reborn among humans and gods without giving rise to wrong views, increasing their merits, always attending upon the Buddhas and Tathāgatas, hearing the wondrous discourses, seeing the truth and attaining realization, with all their wishes fulfilled.' When the World-Honoured One finished making this prayer, he accepted the food. Having finished eating, he rinsed his mouth, washed the bowl, and transmitted the three refuges to the merchants: first, refuge in the Buddha; second, refuge in the Dharma; third, refuge in the future Saṅgha. Having transmitted the three refuges, he then parted from them. The Ruiying benqi jing says: The Buddha remained in mental absorption for seven days, unmoved and unshaken. The tree deity thought: 'The Buddha has just attained the Way happily, but having sat for seven days, no one has yet offered food. I should seek someone to offer food to the Buddha.' At that time, five hundred merchants passed by one side of the mountain; their carts and oxen all stumbled, obstructed and unable to move. Among them were two great men, one named Trapuṣa and the second Bhallika. Frightened, they returned with the crowd to the tree deity to pray for blessings. The deity displayed an image of light and said: 'In this world there is a Buddha, currently in this realm of Uruvilvā by the bank of the Nairañjanā River. No one has yet offered him food. If you are fortunate enough to first give rise to good intentions, you will surely obtain great blessings.' When the merchants heard the Buddha's name, they all rejoiced and said: 'The Buddha must be the uniquely great honoured one, revered by heavenly deities, and no ordinary kind.' They immediately mixed parched-flour porridge with honey and went together beneath the tree, bowing their heads and offering it to the Buddha. The Buddha remembered that all the past Buddhas, when compassionately accepting offerings from people, followed the rule of always holding a bowl, and that it was not fitting to receive food with one's hands like other religious mendicants. The Four Heavenly Kings knew from afar that the Buddha needed a bowl, and in the time it takes a man to bend and stretch his arm, they all arrived at Mount Aḍa; naturally out of the stone, as they wished, four bowls emerged, fragrant, pure, and undefiled. The Four Heavenly Kings each took a bowl, returned, and jointly offered them to the Buddha, wishing: 'Compassionately regard the merchants and cause them to attain great blessings; let there be iron bowls that disciples will subsequently use for eating.' The Buddha considered that taking one bowl would displease the other kings, so he accepted all four bowls, stacked them in his left hand, and pressed them with his right hand, combining them into one bowl while letting the four rims remain visible. Then he walked forward, his deportment measured and stately, walking like a king of geese. On the road he met a non-Buddhist named Upaga. Seeing the marks and signs adorning the Tathāgata and his senses calm and settled, he praised it as extraordinary and immediately spoke a verse: