釋迦譜 1.84

1.84

The Ruiying benqi jing says: The Bodhisattva originally knew that a woman's virtue could not bear receiving his homage, and therefore, because she was about to pass away, he was born from her. The Dīrghāgama says: When Vipaśyin Buddha descended into his mother's womb, he was mindful and undistracted, serene and fearless. When her body broke up and her life ended, she was born in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven. This is the constant rule. The Da shanquan jing says: Seven days after his birth, his mother passed away; her merit was such that she should ascend to heaven, and it was not the Bodhisattva's fault. Earlier, while dwelling in Tuṣita, he observed that Queen Māyā's great life was about to end, with only ten months and seven days remaining; thus, through divine transformation, he descended. This was the Bodhisattva's skillful means (upāya). Some say: "The prince is young; who can nurture him? Only Mahāprajāpatī can raise him." Mahāprajāpatī was the prince's maternal aunt, pure and without a husband. Then King Śuddhodana went to Mahāprajāpatī [asking her] to nurse and raise him, and Mahāprajāpatī consented. The Śākyas addressed the king, saying: "We hear that in the Snow Mountains there is an immortal brāhmaṇa named Asita, an elder of vast knowledge, who is thoroughly versed in the art of physiognomy." The king was overjoyed, equipped a white elephant carriage, and went to Asita. The holy man parted the fine cotton cloth to examine the prince's marks and saw the thirty-two marks: his body was golden; upon his crown was a fleshy protuberance (uṣṇīṣa); his hair was deep blue-black; between his brows was a white tuft of hair (ūrṇā); from the nape of his neck issued sunlight; his eyes were brilliant and deep blue, blinking simultaneously above and below; his mouth had forty teeth, white, even, and flat; his jaw was broad and long; his tongue was full and soft, fitting seven places; he had the chest of a lion; his body was upright and symmetrical; his arms were long and his fingers slender; his heels were full, flat, and steady; his fingers clasped firmly within and without; his hands had webbed membranes; on the soles of his feet were thousand-spoked wheel markings; his genitals were retracted like a horse's; his shanks were like those of an antelope; his bones were interlocked like links of a chain; his hairs curled to the right, with a single hair growing from each pore; his skin and hair were fine and soft, repelling dust and water; and upon his breast was a svastika mark (all identical in the Ruiying benqi jing). Seeing this, Asita sighed all the more, weeping in sorrow and unable to speak. The king asked in alarm and fear: "Is there an ill omen? Please tell me what it means." Raising his hand, [Asita] replied: "It is auspicious and entirely favorable. I dare to congratulate the Great King on the birth of this divine man! Yesterday heaven and earth shook violently precisely because of this. According to the art of physiognomy, when a king has a son possessing the thirty-two marks: if he remains in the realm, he will become a wheel-turning sage king (cakravartin), and the seven treasures will arrive of themselves; if he renounces the realm to leave home, he will become a self-arisen Buddha. I grieve that my years are already in their twilight; I shall pass to the next life and not witness the Buddha's arising. Therefore, I weep for myself." The king, deeply convinced of his skill in physiognomy, built three season palaces for him, and selected five hundred dancing girls, choosing those who were graceful, talented, and charming to stand guard in alternate shifts. The king told Mahāprajāpatī: "Protect the prince and take him to the deva temple." While the prince was in the carriage, he smiled and his face showed delight. As soon as he entered the deva temple, the statues of the various devas left their pedestals and paid homage at the Bodhisattva's feet. When the prince was seven years old, accompanied by the Śākyas, he rode in a goat-cart to go to the writing master. The master's name was Viśvāmitra. The Bodhisattva held in his hand a gold pen, a sandalwood writing tablet, and a bright pearl desk, and asked Master Viśvāmitra: "What scripts will the master teach me today?" The master replied: "I will teach you Brāhmī and Kharoṣṭhī." The Bodhisattva replied: "There are sixty-four distinct scripts; why does the master say there are only two?" The master asked: "What are their names?" He answered: "Brāhmī script, Kharoṣṭhī script, the script of protecting the multitude, the swift and solid script, the nāga and ghost script, the gandharva script, the asura script, the deer-wheel script, the heavenly-belly script, the wheel-number script, the rolling-eye script, the contemplating-emptiness script, the seizing script... (the text is voluminous and not fully recorded). Among these sixty-four, which script do you wish to teach me?" The master was delighted, spoke verses praising the Bodhisattva, and for the boys explained the origins and details of the various letters one by one, inspiring them to develop the aspiration for supreme, correct, and true enlightenment.