釋迦譜 5.19

5.19

At that time, after the king had made offerings of all kinds everywhere, he arrived at the Bodhi tree at the site of awakening. It was beneath this tree that the Tathāgata attained unexcelled, perfect awakening. He made offerings to the Bodhi tree with rare and precious treasures of the world. At that time, the king's queen was named Tiṣyarakṣitā. The queen thought to herself: 'The king loves and dotes on me deeply, and I too am devoted to the king. Now the king has forsaken me and, taking all kinds of treasures, has gone among the Bodhi trees. I must now devise an expedient means to kill the Bodhi tree. Once the tree withers and dies and its leaves fall, the king will no longer go there, and will be able to make merry with me constantly.' The queen then sent someone to pour boiling milk over it, and the tree immediately withered. Then the messengers reported to the king: 'The Bodhi tree has suddenly withered and died; leaf after leaf turns and falls.' When the king heard these words, he fell into a faint upon the ground. Seeing the king so dejected and unhappy, the queen said to him: 'Do not grieve and worry, Your Majesty; I shall gladden your heart.' The king replied: 'If that tree is gone, my life is gone as well. Beneath that tree, the Tathāgata attained unexcelled, perfect awakening. If that tree is no more, what use is there in my living?' Hearing the king's resolute words, the queen again ordered it to be watered with cold milk. The tree then revived and sprouted anew. Hearing this, the king rejoiced and went beneath the Bodhi tree, gazing at it without turning his eyes away for even an instant. Then the king prepared urns of the four jewels—gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal—filled with fragrant milk and fragrant water, and brought one thousand kinds each of diverse foods and drinks, banners, flags, and jewelled canopies, as well as various flowers, incenses, and music. He observed the eightfold poṣadha fast, put on pure white garments, held an incense burner, and stood in the palace hall. Bowing toward the four directions, he thought in his mind and spoke aloud: 'May the noble and holy disciples of the Tathāgata in all directions, out of pity for me, accept my offering.' When the king spoke thus, three hundred thousand bhikṣus all assembled. Among that great assembly, one hundred thousand were arhats, and two hundred thousand were trainees and ordinary bhikṣus. The seat of the senior elder was unoccupied. The king asked the bhikṣus: 'Why is the senior elder's seat unoccupied?' In that great assembly there was a bhikṣu named Yaśas, a great arhat possessed of the six supernormal powers, who said to the king: 'This seat is the seat of the senior elder; how could any of the rest dare sit in it?' The king asked again: 'Is there an elder even more senior than the Venerable One?' The Venerable One replied: 'There is a more senior elder, spoken of by the Buddha, named Piṇḍola. This senior elder should sit in this place.' The king greatly rejoiced and said: 'Is there among them any bhikṣu who has seen the Buddha?' The Venerable One replied: 'Yes, Great King, Piṇḍola is still in the world.' The king asked again: 'May I see that bhikṣu?' The Venerable One said: 'Great King, you will see him before long; he will arrive shortly.' The king greatly rejoiced. Then the Venerable Piṇḍola, leading countless arhats following one after another, arrived riding through the empty air like the king of geese. When he sat in the senior elder's place, the community of bhikṣus each paid homage and sat in their proper order. When the king saw that the hair and beard of the Venerable Piṇḍola were completely white, with the bodily marks of a pratyekabuddha, he bowed his head to his feet, knelt on both knees with palms joined, and said to the Venerable One: 'Did you see the World-Honoured One?' Then the Venerable Piṇḍola raised his eyebrows with his hand, looked at the king, and said: 'Formerly, when the Tathāgata, together with five hundred arhats, first observed the rainy-season retreat at Rājagṛha, I was also among them. Furthermore, when the World-Honoured One was dwelling in the kingdom of Śrāvastī, the daughter of the elder Anāthapiṇḍada invited the Buddha and the community of bhikṣus. The bhikṣus each flew through the air to go there. At that time, I used my supernormal powers to bring a great mountain together and went there to accept the invitation. Then the World-Honoured One reproached me: "How can you display such supernormal powers in the true Dharma? I now punish you: you shall remain constantly in the world and must not enter nirvāṇa, so that you may protect and uphold my true Dharma and not let it perish." Furthermore, when the Tathāgata led the community of bhikṣus into the city to beg for alms, you, Great King, were playing in the sand with another boy. Seeing the Buddha approach from afar, you scooped up earth and sand and offered it to the Buddha. Then the World-Honoured One prophesied regarding that boy: "A hundred years after my extinction, this boy will ascend the throne in the city of Pāṭaliputra and rule over Jambudvīpa, named Aśoka. He will widely disperse my relics and in a single day build eighty-four thousand stūpas." You are that person now. I was also present at that time.' Then the king said to the Venerable One: 'Where does the Venerable One reside now?' The Venerable One replied to the king: 'On the northern mountain named Gandhamādana, together with my fellow practitioners of the pure life.' The king asked again: 'How many followers do you have?' The Venerable One answered: 'Sixty thousand arhats.' The Venerable One said: 'Why must the king ask so many questions? Now you should present offerings to the saṅgha. Once the meal is finished, I will bring you joy.' The king said: 'So it is, Venerable One. However, I must first make offerings to the Bodhi tree of awakening that the Buddha held in mind, and afterward present fragrant, delicious food and drink to the saṅgha.' He ordered his ministers to proclaim throughout the realm that the king was now donating one hundred thousand ounces of gold as an offering to the saṅgha, and one thousand urns of fragrant water to bathe the Bodhi tree, summoning the fivefold assembly. At that time, the prince named Kuṇāla, who was on the king's right side, raised two fingers without speaking, intending to double the offering. When the assembly saw this, they all burst out laughing. The king also laughed and said: 'Ah, the prince would multiply the merit!' The king said further: 'I shall offer another three hundred thousand ounces of gold to the saṅgha, and add another thousand urns of fragrant water to bathe the Bodhi tree.' The prince then raised four fingers, meaning four times as much. The king grew angry and said to his ministers: 'Who taught the prince to do this and compete with me?' The ministers reported to the king: 'Who would dare compete with the king? But the prince is intelligent and of sharp faculties; it is only to multiply merit that he does this.' Then the king looked to the right at the prince and said to the senior elder: 'Excepting the contents of my storehouses, all other possessions, Jambudvīpa itself, the queen, the palace ladies, the ministers and retinue, and my son Kuṇāla, are all bestowed upon the noble and holy assembly of monks! Proclaim this throughout the realm.' When the king, the senior elder, and the community of bhikṣus washed and bathed the Bodhi tree with the thousand urns of fragrant water, the Bodhi tree became twice as magnificent, flourishing and luxuriant. The king and all his ministers gave rise to great joy. After the king finished bathing the Bodhi tree, he next made offerings to the saṅgha. Then the senior elder Yaśas said to the king: 'Great King, now that a vast community of bhikṣus has gathered, you should generate a pure and faithful mind to make offerings.' The king then served the offerings with his own hands from top to bottom. There were two śrāmaṇeras who, upon receiving their food, shared flour dumplings, cakes, and sweet laddu balls back and forth with each other. Seeing this, the king laughed and said: 'These śrāmaṇeras are playing children's games.' When the offering was complete, the king returned to stand before the senior elder. The senior elder said to the king: 'Great King, do not give rise to a lack of faith and reverence.' The king replied to the senior elder: 'I did not have any lack of faith and reverence; it was just that I saw the two'