釋迦譜 3.27

3.27

At that time the king invited the Buddha to enter the city. The dragon king said angrily, "You rob me of my gain; I shall destroy your kingdom!" The Buddha told the great king, "Your Majesty should return to your kingdom first. The Buddha himself knows the proper time." Thereupon the Buddha preached the three refuges and the five precepts for the dragon king and the rākṣasī, and their hearts were filled with great joy. The dragon king's retinue, hundreds of thousands of dragons, also emerged from the pool. The Buddha commanded Maudgalyāyana to bestow the precept methods upon them. At that time the dragon king said to the Buddha, "We pray only that the Tathāgata will constantly dwell here. If the Buddha is not present, evil thoughts will arise in me and I will have no way to attain the Way. We pray only that you will leave your spirit!" He earnestly requested three times: "Constantly dwell here!" At that time Brahmā Sahāmpati and hundreds of thousands of Brahmā deities came again to urge and entreat him: "We pray that for the sake of all sentient beings, you do not dwell here solely and partially for a single dragon." The Buddha then smiled, and light issued from his mouth, with immeasurable transformed Buddhas and bodhisattvas as his retinue. From within the pool, the dragon king brought forth a seven-jeweled terrace and offered it up to the Tathāgata: "We pray only that the Heavenly Honored One will accept this terrace of mine." The Buddha said, "There is no need for this terrace. You have only to give me the rākṣasa stone cave." Hearing this, the devas each took off their jeweled garments to sweep and dust the cave. The Buddha withdrew his supernatural feet, entered the stone chamber alone, and spread his sitting mat himself, causing this stone cave temporarily to become [made of] the seven jewels. Then the rākṣasī and the dragon king made five stone caves for the four great disciples and Ānanda. At that time the World-Honoured One sat in the dragon king's cave without moving from his seat, yet he also accepted the king's invitation and entered the city of Nagarahāra and various countries; everywhere, the Buddha was seen on a flower seat in the empty sky, filled with transformed Buddhas. The dragon king rejoiced and made a great vow: "May I in a future life attain Buddhahood such as this!" The Buddha accepted the king's invitation. After seven days had passed, the king dispatched a man riding an eight-thousand-li elephant, carrying all manner of offerings to go throughout all the countries to make offerings to the saṅgha, and everywhere he saw the Buddha. The messenger returned and reported to the king, "Śākya is not only in this country; he is in other countries as well, everywhere preaching suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and the six pāramitās." When the king heard this, his mind opened in clear understanding, and he attained the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. At that time the World-Honoured One once again withdrew his supernatural power, came out of the stone cave, and together with the bhikṣus traveled to various places, with the dragons all following him. When the dragon king heard that the Buddha was returning to his country, he wept tears like rain and said, "I pray that the Buddha will constantly dwell [here]; why do you abandon me? If I do not see the Buddha, I will commit evil deeds and fall into the evil destinies." At that time the World-Honoured One consoled the dragon king: "I accept your request; I shall sit in your cave for one thousand five hundred years." Then the dragon kings joined their palms and urged him to return into the cave. When the Buddha was seated, within the cave he performed eighteen transformations, leaping into the stone like a clear mirror; while inside the stone, he was reflected on the outside. Viewed from afar he was seen, but up close he was not visible. Hundreds of thousands of devas made offerings to the Buddha's shadow, and the shadow also preached the Dharma. The stone cave was one zhang and eight chi high, and twenty-four paces deep; the stone was clear white. (The cave is in the country of Nagarahāra, beside the pool of the poisonous dragon in the campaka flower forest of the ancient seers, north of the Blue Lotus Spring in the rākṣasa cavern, south of the cliff of Mount Anasi.)