[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [付法藏因緣傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058) › 5.4.3 # 付法藏因緣傳 5.4.3 付法藏因緣傳 5.4.3 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.4.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4.3) 時有羅漢為僧維那。 王即白言。 今此劍輪聞犍椎音即便停止。 於其中間苦痛小息。 唯願大德垂哀矜愍。 若鳴犍椎延令長久。 羅漢愍念為長打之。 過七日已受苦便畢。 而此寺上因彼王故。 次第相傳長打犍椎。 至於今日猶故如本。 如是馬鳴以大行願演甘露味。 為罽昵吒王興大饒益。 其所度脫無量億人。 所應作已便捨命行。 集其舍利起塔供養。 馬鳴菩薩臨欲捨命。 告一比丘名曰比羅。 長老當知。 佛法純淨能除煩惱垢。 汝宜於後流布供養。 比羅答言。 善哉受教。 從是已後廣宣正法。 微妙功德而自莊嚴。 巧說言辭智慧淵遠。 外道邪論無不摧伏。 於南天竺興大饒益。 造無我論足一百偈。 此論至處莫不摧靡。 譬如金剛所擬斯壞。 臨當滅時便以法藏付一大士。 名曰龍樹。 然後捨命。 龍樹於後廣為眾生流布勝眼。 以妙功德用自莊嚴。 天聰奇悟事不再問。 建立法幢降伏異道。 如是功德不可稱說。 今當隨順顯其因緣。 託生初在南天竺國出梵志種大豪貴家。 始生之時在於樹下。 由龍成道因號龍樹。 少小聰哲才學超世。 本童子時處在襁抱聞諸梵志誦四韋陀。 其典淵博有四萬偈。 偈各滿足三十二字。 皆即照了達其句味。 弱冠馳名擅步諸國。 天文地理星緯圖讖。 及餘道術無不綜練。 有友三人天姿奇秀。 相與議曰。 天下理義開悟神明。 開發幽旨增長智慧。 若斯之事吾等悉達。 更以何方而自娛樂。 復作是言。 世間唯有追求好色。 縱情極欲最是一生上妙快樂。 然梵志道勢非自在。 不為奇策斯樂難辦。 宜可共求隱身之藥。 事若得果此願必就。 咸曰善哉。 斯言為快。 即至術家求隱身法。 術師念曰。 此四梵志才智高遠。 生大憍慢草芥群生。 今以術故屈辱就我。 然此人輩研窮博達。 所不知者唯此賤法。 若授其方則永見棄。 且與彼藥使不知之。 藥盡必來師諮可久。 即便各授青藥一丸。 而告之曰。 汝持此藥以水磨之用塗眼瞼。 形當自隱。 尋受師教各磨此藥。 龍樹聞香即便識之。 分數多少錙銖無失。 還向其師具陳斯事。 此藥滿足有七十種。 名字兩數皆如其方。 師聞驚愕問其所由。 龍樹答言。 大師當知。 一切諸藥自有氣分。 因此知之何足為怪。 師聞其言歎未曾有。 即作是念。 若此人者聞之猶難。 況我親遇而惜斯術。 即以其法具授四人。 四人依方和合此藥自翳其身。 遊行自在即共相將入王後宮。 宮中美人皆被侵掠。 百餘日後懷妊者眾。 尋往白王庶免罪咎。 王聞是已心甚不悅。 此何不祥為怪乃爾。 召諸智臣共謀斯事。 時有一臣即白王言。 凡此之事應有二種。 一是鬼魅。 二是方術。 可以細土置諸門中。 令人守衛斷往來者。 若是方術。 其跡自現。 設是鬼魅。 入必無跡。 人可兵除。 鬼當呪滅。 王用其計備法為之。 見四人跡從門而入。 時防衛者驟以聞王。 王將勇士凡數百人。 揮刀空中斬三人首。 近王七尺刀所不至。 龍樹斂身依王而立。 於是始悟欲為苦本。 敗德危身污辱梵行。 即自誓曰。 我若得脫免斯厄難。 當詣沙門受出家法。 既出入山至一佛塔。 捨離欲愛出家為道。 於九十日誦閻浮提所有經論皆悉通達。 更求異典都無得處。 遂向雪山見一比丘。 以摩訶衍而授與之。 讀誦愛樂恭敬供養。 雖達實義未獲道證。 辯才無盡善能言論。 外道異學沙門義士。 咸皆摧伏請為師範。 即便自謂一切智人。 心生憍慢甚大貢高。 便欲往從瞿曇門入。 爾時門神告龍樹曰。 今汝智慧猶如蚊虻。 比於如來非言能辯。 無異螢火齊輝日月。 以須彌山等葶藶子。 我觀仁者非一切智。 云何欲從此門而入。 聞是語已赧然有愧。 時有弟子白龍樹言。 師恒自謂一切智人今來屈辱為佛弟子。 弟子之法諮承於師。 > At that time there was an arhat serving as the monastery’s karmadāna. The king said to him, “Now, whenever this wheel of swords hears the sound of the gaṇḍī, it stops at once, and in the meantime my suffering abates a little. I only pray that the venerable one, showing pity and compassion, will prolong the striking of the gaṇḍī whenever it is sounded.” The arhat, feeling pity, struck it for a prolonged time for him. When seven days had passed, his suffering was at an end. Because of that king, the monks of this monastery passed down the practice of striking the gaṇḍī for a long duration, and down to the present day it remains just as it originally was. In this way Aśvaghoṣa expounded the flavor of the nectar of Dharma with great practices and vows, bringing great benefit to King Kaniṣka. Having delivered countless hundreds of millions of people and completed what he had to do, he relinquished his life-faculty. His relics were collected, and a stupa was erected to make offerings to them. When the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa was about to relinquish his life, he told a monk named Kapimala, “Āyusmat, you should know: the Buddha-Dharma is pure and able to remove the defilements of affliction. You must later disseminate and revere it.” Kapimala replied, “Excellent; I receive your instruction.” From then on, he widely proclaimed the true Dharma, adorning himself with subtle and wondrous merits. Skillful in his speech and deep in wisdom, there were no non-Buddhist heterodox treatises that he did not defeat. In South India he brought great benefit, composing the Treatise on Non-Self (Anātman-śāstra) in a full one hundred verses. Wherever this treatise reached, all were swept away in defeat, just as whatever a diamond strikes is shattered. When Kapimala was about to enter extinction, he entrusted the Dharma-treasury to a great being named Nāgārjuna, and only then relinquished his life. Later, Nāgārjuna widely spread the supreme eye for the sake of sentient beings, adorning himself with marvelous merits. Possessing heavenly intelligence and extraordinary comprehension, he never needed to ask twice about any matter. Erecting the Dharma banner, he subjugated heterodox paths; his merits such as these cannot be fully praised. Now I shall faithfully set forth the circumstances of his life. He was first born in South India into a great, noble, and wealthy family of the brāhmaṇa caste. At the time of his birth, he was beneath an arjuna tree; and because he attained the path through a nāga, he was named Nāgārjuna. From his youth he was intelligent and wise, his talent and learning surpassing the world. When he was still a child in swaddling clothes, he heard the brāhmaṇas reciting the four Vedas; these scriptures were profound and vast, consisting of forty thousand verses, each verse fully having thirty-two syllables, and he immediately illuminated and penetrated their phrases and meanings. Upon coming of age, his fame spread, and he traveled freely through various countries. In astronomy, geography, the constellations and prognostic charts, as well as the other arts and sciences, there was nothing he had not thoroughly mastered. He had three friends, all of extraordinary natural talent. They conferred with one another, saying, “The principles and meanings of the world that awaken the spirit, reveal the hidden purports, and increase wisdom—matters such as these we have completely mastered. By what other means shall we now amuse ourselves?” They said further, “In this world, pursuing beautiful women and giving free rein to extreme desires is the most supreme, marvelous pleasure of a lifetime. However, the position of a brāhmaṇa does not afford unchecked power; without some extraordinary stratagem, this pleasure will be difficult to attain. We should together seek an invisibility elixir; if that succeeds, this wish will surely be fulfilled.” All said, “Excellent! These words bring joy.” Thereupon they went to an occult master to seek the art of invisibility. The master thought to himself, “These four brāhmaṇas have lofty talents and deep wisdom, and they are extremely arrogant, treating all sentient beings like weeds. Now, solely on account of this art, they humble themselves to come to me. Yet these people investigate everything exhaustively and broadly; the only thing they do not know is this lowly art. If I teach them the formula, they will cast me aside forever. I will just give them the medicine without letting them know \[the recipe\]; when the medicine is exhausted, they will surely come back, and their discipleship will last a long time.” He then gave each of them a blue pill and said to them, “Take this pill, grind it with water, and smear it on your eyelids; your forms will naturally be concealed.” Having received the master's instruction, each ground the medicine. When Nāgārjuna smelled its fragrance, he immediately recognized it, without mistaking a single ounce or grain of the proportions and quantities. He returned to the master and explained the matter in full: “This medicine consists of a full seventy ingredients, and their names and amounts are all in accordance with the formula.” Hearing this, the master was astonished and asked how he knew it. Nāgārjuna answered, “Great master, you should know that all medicines naturally have their distinct odors; through them I knew it—why should it be considered strange?” When the master heard his words, he marveled at what he had never seen before and thought, “Even to hear of a person like this is rare, how much more so when I have met him in person—how could I begrudge this art?” He then transmitted the complete method to the four men. Following the formula, the four men compounded the medicine and concealed their bodies. Roaming about at will, they went together into the king's inner palace, where all the beautiful palace women were violated. After more than a hundred days, many of them were pregnant. They soon went to report it to the king in the hope of avoiding punishment. When the king heard this, he was deeply displeased: “What kind of inauspicious omen is this, that such a bizarre thing should happen?” He summoned all his wise ministers to deliberate on the matter. At that time, a minister said to the king, “This kind of occurrence can only be of two types: first, ghosts and spirits; second, occult arts. Fine soil can be scattered in the doorways, and guards can be posted to cut off those passing to and fro. If it is an occult art, their footprints will naturally appear; if it is ghosts and spirits, they will leave no footprints when entering. Human beings can be removed with weapons, while ghosts should be destroyed by mantras.” The king employed his plan and made full preparations according to the method. They saw four sets of footprints entering through the gate. The guards immediately reported it to the king. The king led several hundred brave warriors, who swung their swords in the air and severed the heads of three men. Within seven feet of the king, the swords did not strike; Nāgārjuna drew in his body and stood leaning close to the king. Thereupon he first realized that desire is the root of suffering, ruining virtue, endangering the body, and defiling pure conduct. He then vowed to himself, “If I can escape and avoid this disaster, I will surely go to a śramaṇa and receive the rules for leaving the household.” Having escaped, he entered the mountains, went to a Buddhist stupa, abandoned desire and affection, and left the household to follow the path. Within ninety days, he recited and fully mastered all the sūtras and treatises in Jambudvīpa. Seeking other scriptures further, he could find none anywhere. He then went toward the Snow Mountains and met a monk, who transmitted the Mahāyāna to him. He read, recited, delighted in, revered, and made offerings to it. Although he penetrated the true meaning, he had not yet obtained realization of the path. With endless eloquence, he was skilled in debate; non-Buddhists of heterodox learning, śramaṇas, and doctrinal masters were all subjugated by him and begged to take him as their teacher. He then thought of himself as an omniscient person, conceiving extreme arrogance and becoming exceedingly boastful. He then wanted to enter through Gautama's gate. At that time, the gate deity told Nāgārjuna, “Now your wisdom is like a mosquito or gnat; compared to the Tathāgata, it cannot be expressed in words. It is no different from a firefly matching its light with the sun and moon, or equating Mount Sumeru with a mustard seed. As I see it, worthy sir, you are not omniscient. Why do you wish to enter through this gate?” Hearing these words, he felt flushed with shame. At that time, a disciple said to Nāgārjuna, “Master, you always called yourself an omniscient person, yet now you humble yourself to become a disciple of the Buddha. The way of a disciple is to receive instruction from his teacher.” > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.4.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4.2) - [Next: 5.4.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4.4) - [Up: 5.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058~en-mt.5.4.3) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2058.5.4.3) · Pramāṇa