釋迦譜 5.12

5.12

大阿育王經云。八國共分舍利。阿闍世王分數得八萬四千。又別得佛口二𣯃還國。道中逢難頭禾龍王從其求舍利分。阿闍世王不與。便語言我是龍王。力能壞汝國土。阿闍世王怖畏。即以佛𣯃與之。龍王還於須彌山下。起水高八萬四千里於下起水精塔。阿闍世還國。以紫金函盛舍利。作千歲燈火於五恒河沙水中塔葬埋之後。阿育王得其國土王取夫人。身長八尺髮亦同等。眾相具足王令相師觀之。師言當為王生金色之子。王即拜為第二夫人。後遂有身足滿十月。王有緣事宜出外行。王后妬嫉。便作方便共欲除之。募覓猪母即應產者。語第二夫人言。卿是年少甫爾始產。不可露面視天。以被覆面即生金子。光照宮中盜持兒去殺之。即以猪子著其邊。便罵言。汝云當為王生金色之子。何故生猪。便取輪頭拍。因內後園中伏菜。王還聞之不悅。久久之後王出行園。見之憶念迎取歸宮。第二夫人漸得親近。具說情狀。王聞驚怪。即殺八萬四千夫人。阿育王後於城外造立地獄。治諸罪人佛知王殺諸夫人應墮地獄。即遣消散比丘化王。王發信悟。問比丘言。殺八萬四千夫人。罪可得贖不。道人言各為人起一塔。塔下著一舍利當得脫罪耳。王即尋覓阿闍世王舍利。有國相父年百二十。將五萬人取本舍利。王得大喜。即分與鬼神各還所部。令一日一時同戴八萬四千剎。諸鬼神言。多隔山障不得相知。王言汝曹但還。治槃護剎安鈴。我當使阿脩輪以手摸日月。四天下亦同時震鼓。便舉戴之。二經不同故復兩存。及迦葉語阿難經云。塔成造千二百織成幡及雜華。未得懸幡。王身有疾。伏枕慷慨曰。若威靈有感。願察我至誠。諸塔並列于坐隅。俯臨王前王手自繫幡。以次而去各還其所。王體羸弊取幡不贍。有諸比丘行助王取之。故今上幡先令比丘將之也。由是病愈增算十二。故因名為續命幡。王已建八萬四千塔。歡喜踊躍將諸群臣。往詣鷄雀精舍。白耶舍上座曰。更有比丘佛所受記。當作佛事不。我當往詣彼所。供養恭敬。上座答曰。佛般涅槃時。詣摩偷羅國。告阿難曰。於我般涅槃後。百歲之後當有長者子。名優波崛多。當出家學道號無相佛。王問上座曰。優波崛多今已出世不。上座答曰。已出世出家學道。是阿羅漢住在優留蔓荼山中。王聞已歡喜踊躍。即勅群臣速辦嚴駕。將無量眷屬往詣彼所。尊者思惟若王來者。無量將從受諸大苦。殺害微虫。答使者曰。我當自往詣王所。時王聞尊者自來。歡喜踊躍從摩偷羅至巴連弗邑。於其中間開安舟桁。於桁懸諸幡蓋。時尊者優波崛多。將一萬八千阿羅漢眾。逕至王國。王大歡喜踊躍。即脫瓔珞價直千萬。而授與之。王將諸大臣眷屬。即出往尊者所。即為下食。五體投地向彼作禮。長跪合掌而作是言。我今領此閻浮提。受於王位不以為喜。今覩尊者踊躍無量。如來弟子乃能如是。如覩於佛。時王請尊者優波崛多入城。設種種座請尊者就坐。眾僧令往鷄雀精舍。白尊者曰尊者顏貌端正。身體柔軟。而我形體醜陋。肌膚麁澁。尊者而說偈曰。

The Da Ayuwang jing says: Eight countries shared the relics together. King Ajātaśatru's allotted share amounted to eighty-four thousand [portions]. In addition, he separately received two of the Buddha's teeth, returning with them to his kingdom. On the road he encountered the dragon king Nantouhe, who sought a share of the relics from him. King Ajātaśatru would not give them, so [the dragon king] said to him, 'I am a dragon king, with the power to destroy your realm.' King Ajātaśatru was frightened and thereupon gave the Buddha's teeth to him. The dragon king returned to the foot of Mount Sumeru, raised the waters eighty-four thousand li high, and built a crystal stupa beneath them. Ajātaśatru returned to his kingdom, placed the relics in a purplish-gold casket, made a lamp [to burn for] a thousand years, and buried them in a stupa beneath the waters of five Ganges sands. Afterward, King Aśoka obtained his realm. The king took a wife; her body was eight spans tall, and her hair was of equal length, fully endowed with all the signs. The king ordered a physiognomist to examine her. The master said, 'She will bear for the king a golden-hued son.' The king thereupon appointed her second queen. Later she became pregnant, and when ten months were completed, the king had official business and had to travel abroad. The chief queen was jealous and devised an expedient means, wishing together [with others] to eliminate her. She sought out a sow that was about to give birth and said to the second queen, 'You are young and have only just begun to give birth. You must not expose your face to look upon the heavens.' She covered her face with a quilt, and she indeed gave birth to a golden son, whose radiance illuminated the palace. They secretly took the child away and killed him, and immediately placed the piglet beside her. She then reviled her, saying, 'You claimed you would bear for the king a golden-hued son; why have you given birth to a pig?' She then took a round-headed mallet, [beat her,] and threw her into the rear garden to lie among the vegetables. The king returned, and hearing of it, was displeased. After a long time, the king went out walking in the garden, saw her, remembered her, and welcomed her back to the palace. As the second queen gradually grew close to him again, she recounted the full circumstances. The king was astounded upon hearing it, and immediately put eighty-four thousand secondary wives to death. King Aśoka later established a hell outside the city to punish all criminals. The Buddha knew that the king had killed the wives and was bound to fall into hell, so he sent the monk Xiaosan to transform the king. The king gave rise to faith and awakening, and asked the monk, 'I have killed eighty-four thousand wives; can this sin be redeemed or not?' The man of the Way said, 'If you erect one stupa for each person and place one relic beneath each stupa, you will surely obtain release from your sin.' The king immediately searched for the relics of King Ajātaśatru. There was a father of a state minister who was one hundred and twenty years old; leading fifty thousand men, he retrieved the original relics. The king was filled with great joy. He thereupon divided them among the ghosts and spirits, sending each back to their jurisdiction, commanding that on a single day and at a single moment they should simultaneously raise the eighty-four thousand stupa finials. The ghosts and spirits said, 'Many are separated by mountain barriers, so we will not be able to know [the moment] together.' The king said, 'You need only return, set up the base plates, guard the finials, and install the bells. I shall have an asura touch the sun and the moon with his hands, and the four continents will simultaneously strike drums, whereupon you shall raise and install them.' The two sūtras differ, and therefore both are preserved. Furthermore, the Jiaye yu Anan jing says: When the stupas were completed, twelve hundred woven banners and various flowers were made. Before the banners could be hung, the king fell ill. Leaning on his pillow, he lamented, 'If the spiritual powers have any resonance, may they perceive my utmost sincerity!' The various stupas then lined up beside his seat, bowing down before the king. The king tied the banners with his own hands; they departed one after another and returned to their respective places. The king's body was weak and exhausted, and he could not reach to take the banners; there were monks walking about who assisted the king in taking them. Therefore, nowadays when hoisting banners, monks are first made to carry them. Because of this, his illness was cured and his lifespan was increased by twelve [years]; thus it was named the 'Life-Extending Banner.' After the king had erected the eighty-four thousand stupas, he leaped for joy. Leading his ministers, he went to the Kukkuṭārāma monastery and said to the elder Yaśa, 'Are there any other monks who received predictions from the Buddha to perform Buddha-work? I should go to them to make offerings and show reverence.' The elder replied, 'When the Buddha was about to enter parinirvāṇa, he went to the country of Mathurā and said to Ānanda: "A hundred years after my parinirvāṇa, there will be the son of an elder named Upagupta. He will go forth from the household life, study the Way, and be called the 'Buddha without Characteristics'."' The king asked the elder, 'Has Upagupta already appeared in the world or not?' The elder replied, 'He has already appeared in the world, gone forth from the household life, and studied the Way; he is an arhat dwelling on Mount Urumuṇḍa.' Hearing this, the king leaped for joy. He immediately ordered his ministers to quickly prepare his royal carriage, intending to lead countless attendants to go there. The Venerable thought: 'If the king comes, his countless followers will suffer great hardship and crush tiny insects to death.' He answered the messenger, saying, 'I shall go to the king myself.' When the king heard that the Venerable was coming himself, he leaped for joy. From Mathurā to Pāṭaliputra, he opened and secured bridge pontoons between them, hanging various banners and canopies upon the pontoons. Then the Venerable Upagupta, leading an assembly of eighteen thousand arhats, went straight to the king's realm. The king leaped for great joy; he immediately removed his necklace of precious gems, worth tens of millions, and presented it to him. Leading his great ministers and attendants, the king went out to where the Venerable was, served him food, prostrated himself fully to make obeisance before him, knelt with palms joined, and spoke these words: 'Though I now govern this Jambudvīpa and hold the royal throne, I do not take joy in it; but now beholding the Venerable, my joy is boundless! That a disciple of the Tathāgata could be like this is just as if I were beholding the Buddha.' The king then invited the Venerable Upagupta into the city, arranged various seats, and invited the Venerable to be seated, while the Saṅgha was directed to go to the Kukkuṭārāma monastery. He said to the Venerable, 'The Venerable's countenance is upright and handsome, and his body is soft and supple, whereas my form is ugly and coarse, and my skin rough and harsh.' The Venerable then spoke a verse: