釋迦譜 2.15

2.15

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.