釋迦譜 2.15

2.15

佛告阿難。汝明旦入城到耶游理家所（理家。即優婆塞。優婆塞受戒在家。故曰理家）告之曰。佛母及五百耆年除饉。皆已滅度。佛勸理家。作五百輿床。麻油香花樟柟梓材。事各五百。真妓正音當以供養。所以者何。斯諸除饉皆六通四達。獲空不願無想淨定。今得泥洹為佛所歎。一時供養其福無量。阿難稽首敬諾。平旦入城至理家門。聞阿難來心怖毛竪。今來甚早斯事非恒。將以何故。阿難如教具為宣說。理家聞之即躄身于地。抗哀而云。自今惟耶梨精舍都為空寂。王道四街不復覩神通除饉。國道為空。其痛何甚乎。阿難答曰。佛說。乾坤雖久始必有終。三界無常如幻如夢。生求不死。會冀不離者。終不可得也。理家心解歡喜。阿難復至諸梵志理家。值集在講堂有異論議。即告之曰。佛勸諸賢者。昨五百除饉。皆已滅度。梵志理家聞阿難言。靡不躄地宛轉哀號。阿難又說。三界如幻都為非常。身為苦器惱痛所聚。唯泥洹安故聖歸之也。理家心解稽首奉辦。阿難還至佛所。如事以聞。梵志理家。即備葬具馳詣精舍。時王園門閉。理家使人緣入開門。欲入講堂。有女沙彌三人。一人得不還道。次者頻來。小者溝港。告理家曰。吾師坐禪今得寂定。慎勿擾動。答曰。師已滅度非為定也。沙彌聞之躄身絕息。有頃乃蘇哀而曰。誰當教誨吾等。聖訓絕矣。理家覩之莫不哀泣。告沙彌曰。佛本說經。恩愛雖會終必有離。但當建志力取應真。理家闍維畢。捧舍利詣佛所。佛告阿難。汝東向叉手。下右膝曰。有直信直業。三神六智道靈已足者。皆來赴斯。所以然者。佛母及諸除饉女五百人。今皆善逝。宜當法會四方俱然。於是四方各二百五十應真。神足飛來稽首佛足。佛起至大愛道舍利所。千比丘從皆就座。佛告阿難。取舍利盛之以鉢。著吾手中。阿難如命以鉢盛舍利。長跪授佛。佛以兩手受之。告諸比丘。斯聚舍利本是穢身。兇愚急暴嫉妬陰謀。敗道壞德。今母能拔女人兇愚之穢為丈夫行。獲應真道。遷靈本無何其健哉。告比丘眾及諸理家。宜共興廟應修供養。僉曰唯然。於是四眾天人鬼龍。造廟立剎種種供養（摩訶波闍波提。齊言大愛道也。亦名瞿曇彌。雜阿含經云。是難陀親母。又增一阿含經云。佛告阿難難陀羅云。汝等舉大愛道身。我當躬自供養。爾時釋提桓因。毘沙門王前白佛言。唯願勿自勞神。我等自當供養。佛言止止。所以然者。父母生子多有所益。長養恩重乳哺懷抱。要當報恩不得不報。過去未來。諸佛母先取滅度。諸佛皆自供養耶維舍利也。時毘沙門天王使諸鬼神擔栴檀薪至曠野之間。佛躬自舉床一脚。羅云舉一脚。阿難舉一脚。難陀舉一脚。飛在虛空往至塚間。其中四部眾。舉五百比丘尼舍利。俱至塚間。爾時佛自取栴檀木。著大愛道身上。佛言。有四人應起塔供養。一者佛。二者辟支佛。三者漏盡羅漢。四者轉輪聖王。皆以十善化物故。爾時人民即取舍利。各起塔供養）祐尋。姨母為德恩均所生。是以持輿之重爰酬鞠育。所以勸報。復勵無恩人也。

The Buddha said to Ānanda, "Tomorrow at dawn, enter the city and go to the home of the householder Yayou (a householder is an upāsaka; an upāsaka takes the precepts and stays at home, hence called a householder). Tell him, 'The Buddha's mother and the five hundred elder mendicants have all passed away into extinction. The Buddha encourages the householder to make five hundred palanquins, sesame oil, incense, flowers, camphor, nanmu, and catalpa wood—five hundred of each—and [provide] pure musicians and proper music to make offerings. Why is that? Because these mendicants all possess the six supernatural knowledges and the four comprehensions, and have attained the pure concentration of emptiness, wishlessness, and signlessness. Now having attained nirvāṇa, they are praised by the Buddha. Making offerings all at once brings immeasurable merit.'"
Ānanda bowed his head and respectfully assented. At daybreak, he entered the city and reached the householder's gate. When [the householder] heard that Ānanda had come, his heart trembled and his hair stood on end: "Coming so early today is not his usual practice. What could be the reason?"
Ānanda fully proclaimed it according to the instructions. When the householder heard it, he threw himself to the ground, raised his voice in grief, and said, "From now on, the Venuvana Monastery will be utterly empty and silent! On the four thoroughfares of the royal road, we shall no longer behold the mendicants endowed with supernatural powers! The realm's roads are desolate—how extreme is the sorrow!"
Ānanda answered, "The Buddha said: Though heaven and earth last long, what begins must have an end. The three realms are impermanent, like an illusion, like a dream. To seek not to die once born, or to hope never to part once gathered—in the end, this cannot be attained." The householder's heart was opened, and he was gladdened.
Ānanda went on to the householders among the brahmins. It happened that they were assembled in the lecture hall, engaging in different debates. He immediately said to them, "The Buddha encourages you worthy ones: yesterday, the five hundred mendicants all passed away into extinction."
When the brahmin householders heard Ānanda's words, none did not throw themselves to the ground, tossing and turning in lamentation. Ānanda spoke again: "The three realms are like an illusion, entirely impermanent. The body is a vessel of suffering, a gathering of anguish and pain. Only nirvāṇa is peace, and so the sages take refuge in it." The householders' hearts were opened, and bowing their heads, they undertook the preparations.
Ānanda returned to the Buddha's location and reported the matter as it was. The brahmin householders then prepared the funeral equipment and rushed to the monastery. At that time, the gate to the King's Garden was closed. The householders had someone scale the wall to open the gate and wished to enter the lecture hall.
There were three female novice-nuns. One had attained the fruit of a non-returner, the second once-returner, and the youngest stream-enterer. They said to the householders, "Our teacher is practicing meditation and has now attained tranquil concentration. Be careful not to disturb her."
[The householders] replied, "Your teacher has already passed away into extinction; it is not concentration." Hearing this, the novice-nuns threw themselves down, their breath stopped. After a while, they revived, crying in grief, "Who shall teach and instruct us now? The holy teachings are cut off!"
Seeing this, none of the householders did not weep in sorrow. They said to the novice-nuns, "The Buddha originally preached in the sūtras that though affection and love bring beings together, parting is inevitable. You must only establish your resolve and strive to attain arhatship." Having finished the cremation (jhāpita), the householders took up the relics and went to the Buddha's presence.
The Buddha said to Ānanda, "Face the east with hands clasped, lower your right knee to the ground, and say: 'Those who have upright faith and upright deeds, whose three knowledges and six superknowledges of spiritual power are already complete, all come assemble here! Why so? Because the Buddha's mother and the five hundred mendicant women have all attained the Well-Gone state today. A Dharma assembly is fitting, and it is likewise so in all four quarters.'"
Thereupon, two hundred and fifty arhats from each of the four quarters flew through the air by supernatural power, arrived, and bowed their heads at the Buddha's feet. The Buddha arose and went to the place of Mahāprajāpatī's relics; the thousand bhikṣus followed and all took their seats.
The Buddha said to Ānanda, "Take the relics, place them in a bowl, and put them in my hands." Ānanda, as ordered, placed the relics in a bowl, knelt on both knees, and presented them to the Buddha. The Buddha received them with both hands and addressed the bhikṣus: "This mass of relics was originally an impure body—ferocious, foolish, impatient, violent, jealous, and scheming, spoiling the Way and ruining virtue. Now our mother was able to eradicate the impure folly and ferocity of womanhood and practice the conduct of a noble man, attaining the way of an arhat and moving her spirit back to original non-being—how valiant indeed!"
He told the assembly of bhikṣus and the householders, "You should join together to raise a shrine and perform offerings." They all answered, "Yes, indeed." Thereupon, the fourfold assembly, gods, humans, ghosts, and dragons built shrines and erected pillars, making various offerings.
(Mahāprajāpatī means "Great Path of Love" in the language of Qi; she is also named Gautamī. The Saṃyuktāgama states that she is the biological mother of Nanda. Furthermore, the Ekottarikāgama states: The Buddha said to Ānanda and Rāhula, "Lift Mahāprajāpatī's body, and I will personally make offerings." At that time, Śakra Devānām Indra and King Vaiśravaṇa came forward and said to the Buddha, "We pray you will not weary your holy spirit; we will make the offerings ourselves." The Buddha said, "Stop, stop! Why is that? Parents bring much benefit to their children; the kindness of raising them is profound, suckling them and holding them in their bosoms. One must repay this kindness; it cannot be left unrepaid. When the mothers of past and future Buddhas pass into extinction first, all Buddhas personally make offerings at the cremation of their relics." At that time, Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa ordered the ghosts and spirits to carry sandalwood firewood to an open wilderness. The Buddha personally lifted one leg of the bier, Rāhula lifted one leg, Ānanda lifted one leg, and Nanda lifted one leg. Flying into the sky, they went to the cemetery. Among them, the fourfold assembly carried the relics of the five hundred bhikṣuṇīs, all arriving at the cemetery together. At that time, the Buddha took the sandalwood himself and placed it upon Mahāprajāpatī's body. The Buddha said, "There are four persons for whom stūpas should be erected and offerings made: first, a Buddha; second, a pratyekabuddha; third, an arhat free of out-flows; fourth, a wheel-turning sage king. All because they transform beings through the ten good actions." At that time, the people took the relics and each built stūpas to make offerings.)
Sengyou observes: The foster-mother's virtue and kindness are equal to that of the mother who gave birth. Therefore, the Buddha personally carried the heavy bier to repay her raising and nurturing. The reason he encouraged repaying kindness was also to exhort those who show no gratitude.