付法藏因緣傳 5.4.4

5.4.4

諮承不足非一切智。 於時龍樹辭窮情屈。 心自念言。 世界法中津塗無量。 佛經雖妙句義未盡。 我今宜可更敷演之開悟後學饒益眾生。 作是念已便欲為之立師教誡更造衣服。 令附佛法而少不同欲除眾情示不受學。 選擇良日便欲成建獨處靜室水精房中。 大龍菩薩愍其若此。 即以神力接入大海。 至其宮殿開七寶函。 以諸方等深奧經典。 無量妙法授與龍樹。 九十日中通解甚多。 其心深入體得實利。 龍知心念而問之曰。 汝今看經為遍未耶龍樹答言。 汝經無量不可得盡。 我所讀者足滿十倍過閻浮提。 龍王語言。 忉利天上釋提桓因所有經典。 倍過此宮百千萬倍。 諸處此比不可稱數。 爾時龍樹既得諸經。 豁然通達善解一相。 深入無生二忍具足。 龍知悟道還送出宮。 時南天竺王甚邪見。 承事外道毀謗正法。 龍樹菩薩為化彼故。 躬持赤幡在王前行。 經歷七年。 王始怪問。 汝是何人在吾前行。 答曰。 我是一切智人。 王聞是已甚大驚愕而問之言。 一切智人甚為希有。 汝自言是何以取驗。 龍樹答曰王欲知者宜當見問。 既說之後乃可證知。 王聞是語便作是念。 我為智主大論議師。 問之能屈未足為奇。 脫不如彼所損甚多。 默然無言亦復非理。 如是思惟良久不決。 事既窮迫俛仰問之。 諸天今者為何所作。 答言大王。 天今正與阿修羅戰。 王既聞已譬如人噎。 既不得吐又不得出。 設非其言無以為證。 欲納彼說事又難明。 龍樹復言。 此非虛論。 王且待之須臾當驗。 語訖空中刀劍飛下。 長戟短兵相繼而落。 王復語言。 干戈矛矟雖為戰器。 何必是天阿修羅也。 龍樹答曰。 雖若虛言當驗以實。 作是語已修羅耳鼻從空而下。 王始驚悟稽首為禮。 恭敬尊重受其道化。 爾時殿。 上萬婆羅門。 見其神德歎未曾有。 剃除鬚髮而就出家。 時諸外道聞是事已悉來雲集含怒懷嫉求競言辯。 於是龍樹以大智慧方便言辭。 與諸外道廣共論議。 其愚短者。 一言便屈。 小有聰慧。 極至二日。 辭理俱盡。 皆悉摧伏。 剃除鬚髮。 就其出家。 如是所度無量邪道。 王家常送十車衣鉢。 終竟一月皆悉都盡。 如是展轉。 乃至無數。 廣開分別摩訶衍義。 造優波提舍十有萬偈。 莊嚴佛道。 大慈方便如是等論。 各五千偈。 令摩訶衍光宣於世。 造無畏論滿十萬偈。 中論出於無畏部中。 凡五百偈。 其所敷演義味深邃。 摧伏一切外道勝幢。 時天竺國有婆羅門。 邪見熾盛善知呪術。 欲以己能競名龍樹。 白彼王言。 唯願大王。 垂哀聽我與此沙門諍捔道力。 若彼勝我我當屬之。 我若勝彼當見屬我。 王言大德。 汝甚愚癡。 此菩薩者。 明同日月智齊眾聖。 汝今庸劣豈可為比。 欲以藕絲懸須彌山。 牛跡之水等量大海。 我今觀仁亦復如是。 幸自思惟無虧高德。 婆羅門言。 王為智人一切瞻仰。 猶如日月莫不觀察。 吾言虛實宜以理驗。 大王云何逆見陵蔑。 爾時彼王見其至意。 嚴駕往請龍樹菩薩。 清旦俱集正德殿上。 時婆羅門即以呪力。 化作大池廣長清淨。 池中出生千葉蓮華。 自坐其上語龍樹曰。 汝處於地類同畜生。 我居花上智慧清淨。 寧敢與吾抗言議論。 爾時龍樹復以呪力化為白象。 象有六牙金銀校絡。 徐行詣池趣其花座。 以鼻絞拔高舉擲地。 時婆羅門傷背委困。 即便摧伏歸命龍樹。 我甚頑嚚犯逆大師。 唯願愍哀聽吾悔過。 龍樹慈矜度令出家。 是時有一小乘法師。 見其高明常懷忿嫉。 龍樹菩薩所作已辦將去此土。 問法師言。 汝今樂我久住世不。 答曰仁者。 實不願也。 即入閑室經日不現。 弟子咸怪破戶看之。 遂見其師蟬蛻而去。 天竺諸國並為立廟。 種種供養敬事如佛。

'What I consulted and received is insufficient, and he is not omniscient.' At that time, Nāgārjuna was reduced to silence, his reasoning exhausted, and he reflected: 'Among worldly teachings, paths are measureless. Though the Buddhist scriptures are marvelous, their verbal meanings are not exhaustive. I should now further expound them to awaken later students and benefit sentient beings.' Having thought this, he wished to establish a master's precepts and create different robes for them, making them adhere to the Buddha's Dharma yet slightly different, wishing to remove the people's feelings [of doubt] and show that he did not receive tuition [from others]. Choosing an auspicious day, he was about to establish them, dwelling alone in a quiet chamber of crystal. The great Nāga Bodhisattva took pity on his doing so, and immediately used his supernatural powers to bring him into the great ocean. Arriving at his palace, he opened boxes of the seven jewels, and gave Nāgārjuna deep and profound sūtras of all the Vaipulya teachings and measureless wondrous Dharmas. Within ninety days he thoroughly understood a great deal, his mind penetrating deeply and grasping true benefit. The nāga, knowing his thoughts, asked him: 'Have you now read the sūtras completely?' Nāgārjuna replied: 'Your sūtras are measureless and cannot be exhausted. What I have read is already fully ten times more than all in Jambudvīpa.' The nāga king said: 'The scriptures possessed by Śakra Devānām Indra in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven exceed those in this palace by hundreds of thousands of millions of times. Those in other places are similarly innumerable.' At that time, having received the sūtras, Nāgārjuna clearly comprehended them, skillfully understood the single mark, deeply penetrated the non-arising, and was fully endowed with the two forbearances. Knowing that he had awakened to the Way, the nāga escorted him back out of the palace. At that time, the king of South India held strong false views, serving heterodox ways and slandering the true Dharma. In order to transform him, Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva personally held a red banner and walked before the king. Seven years passed, and only then did the king wonder and ask: 'Who are you, walking before me?' He replied: 'I am an omniscient person.' Hearing this, the king was greatly astonished and asked him: 'An omniscient person is extremely rare. You claim to be one yourself; by what may this be verified?' Nāgārjuna replied: 'If the King wishes to know, he should ask me; after I have spoken, you may then verify it.' Hearing these words, the king thought: 'I am a master of wisdom and a great disputant. If I ask and can confound him, it will not be extraordinary; but if I am not his match, the loss will be very great. Yet remaining silent without a word is also not proper.' Having deliberated like this for a long time without resolving it, hard-pressed by circumstance, he reluctantly looked up and asked him: 'What are the devas doing now?' He replied: 'Great King, the devas are now battling with the asuras.' Having heard this, the king was like a choking man who can neither spit it out nor swallow it down: if he did not believe his words, he had no proof; if he wished to accept his statement, the matter was difficult to clarify. Nāgārjuna further said: 'This is not empty talk. Let the King wait a moment, and it shall immediately be verified.' When he finished speaking, swords and blades flew down from the sky; long halberds and short weapons fell one after another. The king said again: 'Shields, spears, pikes, and lances, though they are weapons of war, why must they belong to the devas and asuras?' Nāgārjuna replied: 'Though it seems an empty claim, it shall be verified in truth.' Having spoken these words, the ears and noses of asuras fell from the sky. The king was then startled into awakening, bowed his head in veneration, and respectfully revered and received his conversion. At that time, ten thousand brāhmaṇas in the palace, seeing his spiritual power and virtue, praised it as unprecedented, shaved off their hair and beards, and went forth into homelessness. When the heterodox teachers heard of this, they all gathered like clouds, harboring anger and jealousy, seeking to compete in debate. Thereupon Nāgārjuna, with great wisdom and skillful words, engaged in extensive debate with the heterodox teachers. Those of dull wit were confounded with a single word; those with a little intelligence lasted at most two days, their words and logic both exhausted, and all were subdued. Shaving off their hair and beards, they followed him into homelessness. In this way, countless followers of false ways were delivered. The king's house constantly sent ten carts of robes and bowls, which were entirely used up within a month. In this manner it went on, even to an innumerable degree. He broadly explained and distinguished the meaning of Mahāyāna, composing upadeśas of one hundred thousand verses, treatises such as Adorning the Buddha Way and Great Compassion and Expedient Means of five thousand verses each, causing Mahāyāna to be gloriously proclaimed in the world. He composed the Treatise of Fearlessness in full one hundred thousand verses; the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā was produced from within the Fearlessness section, consisting of five hundred verses in all. Its exposition of meanings and flavor was profound and deep, subduing the victory banners of all heterodox paths. At that time, in India there was a brāhmaṇa whose false views were raging and who was skilled in incantations. Wishing to compete in fame with Nāgārjuna through his own ability, he said to the king: 'May the Great King graciously permit me to contest spiritual power with this śramaṇa. If he defeats me, I shall submit to him; if I defeat him, he shall submit to me.' The king said: 'Venerable one, you are very foolish. This Bodhisattva's brilliance equals the sun and moon, and his wisdom matches all the sages. Now, base as you are, how could you compare to him? Wishing to suspend Mount Sumeru with a lotus thread, or measure the great ocean against water in a cow's hoofprint—I see you, good sir, as just like that. Fortunately reconsider it for yourself, and do not impair high virtue.' The brāhmaṇa said: 'The King is a wise man whom all look up to, just as none fail to observe the sun and moon. Whether my words are true or false should be tested by reason. Why does the Great King preemptively humiliate me?' Then the king, seeing his earnest intention, prepared his carriage and went to invite Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva. At dawn they all gathered in the Hall of Upright Virtue. Then the brāhmaṇa, using the power of his incantations, conjured a large pond, broad, long, and pure, in which grew a thousand-petaled lotus blossom. Sitting upon it himself, he said to Nāgārjuna: 'You dwell on the ground like a beast; I reside upon the flower, pure in wisdom. How dare you raise words to debate with me?' At that time, Nāgārjuna also used the power of incantations to transform into a white elephant. The elephant had six tusks, adorned with gold and silver. Walking slowly, it approached the pond, went to his flower seat, entwined and uprooted it with its trunk, raised it high, and dashed it to the ground. Then the brāhmaṇa, his back injured and thoroughly exhausted, was immediately subdued and took refuge in Nāgārjuna: 'I was very obstinate and stupid to oppose the Great Master. I only pray you take pity and allow me to repent.' Nāgārjuna compassionately accepted him and ordained him. At that time, there was a Hīnayāna Dharma master who, seeing his eminence and brilliance, always harbored anger and jealousy. Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, having completed what had to be done, was about to depart from this land. He asked the Dharma master: 'Do you now wish me to remain long in the world or not?' He answered: 'Good sir, in truth I do not.' Thereupon [Nāgārjuna] entered a quiet room and did not appear for a day. His disciples all wondered at it, broke down the door, and looked in; they then saw that their master had shed his mortal frame like a cicada and departed. The countries of India all erected shrines for him, offering various kinds of worship and revering him like a Buddha.