釋迦譜 3.20

3.20

釋提桓因請佛。至三十三天為母說法。世尊念四部之眾。多有懈怠皆不聽法。我今使四眾渴仰於法。不告四眾復不將侍者。如屈申臂頃。至三十三天。是時人間不見如來久。優填王等至阿難所曰。如來為何所在。阿難報曰大王。我亦不知如來所在。優填王波斯匿王。思覩如來遂得苦患。是時王勅國界之內。諸奇巧師匠。而告之曰。我今欲作如來形像。是時優填王。即以牛頭栴檀。作如來形像高五尺（觀佛三昧經云。佛昇忉利時優填王戀慕世尊。鑄金為像聞佛當下。象載金像來迎世尊。爾時金像從象上下。猶如生佛足步虛空足下雨花。亦放光明來迎世尊。時鑄金像合掌叉手為佛作禮。爾時世尊亦復長跪合掌。時虛空中百千化佛。亦皆合掌長跪向像。爾時世尊而語像言。汝於來世大作佛事。我滅度後我諸弟子。以付囑汝。空中化佛異口同音。咸作是言。若有眾生於佛滅後。造立形像種種供養。是人來世。必得念佛清淨三昧）。

Śakra, Lord of the Gods, invited the Buddha to go to Trāyastriṃśa Heaven to preach the Dharma for his mother. The World-Honoured One thought: "Among the assembly of the fourfold assembly, many are indolent and do not listen to the Dharma. I shall now make the fourfold assembly yearn for the Dharma." Without informing the fourfold assembly and without taking an attendant, in the time it takes to bend and extend an arm, he arrived at Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. At that time, the people of the world had not seen the Tathāgata for a long time. King Udayana and others went to Ānanda's place and said: "Where is the Tathāgata?" Ānanda replied: "Great King, I also do not know the Tathāgata's whereabouts." King Udayana and King Prasenajit, longing to see the Tathāgata, consequently fell ill from grief. At that time, the king commanded all the marvelous craftsmen and artisans within his realm, addressing them, saying: "I now wish to make an image of the Tathāgata's form." At that time, King Udayana thereupon used ox-head sandalwood to make an image of the Tathāgata's form five feet tall. (The Guanfo sanmei jing says: When the Buddha ascended to Trāyastriṃśa, King Udayana, yearning for the World-Honoured One, cast a golden image. Hearing that the Buddha was about to descend, an elephant carried the golden image to welcome the World-Honoured One. At that time, the golden image descended from the elephant; just like a living Buddha, its feet walked through empty space, and flowers rained beneath its feet. It also emitted bright light to welcome the World-Honoured One. Then the cast gold image joined its palms, crossed its hands, and paid homage to the Buddha. At that time, the World-Honoured One also knelt long with joined palms. Then, hundreds of thousands of transformed Buddhas in empty space all joined their palms and knelt long facing the image. At that time, the World-Honoured One addressed the image, saying: "You shall perform great Buddha-works in future ages. After my parinirvāṇa, I entrust my disciples to you." With different mouths but a single voice, the transformed Buddhas in the sky all made this utterance: "If there are sentient beings who, after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, create images and make various offerings to them, these people in future ages will certainly attain the pure samādhi of recollecting the Buddha.")