付法藏因緣傳 1.18

1.18

At that time, Kāśyapa entered the samādhi of knowledge through vow and contemplated whether the Dharma he had compiled had any omission or deficiency. Having finished reflecting, he knew it was entirely complete, and then had this thought: “The Tathāgata, the Great Master, is my spiritual friend; he benefited and brought welfare [to me] just as a mother loves her child. Now, by using the Dharma to benefit my fellow practitioners of the religious life and displaying it for future generations out of great compassion, I desire to cause the Great Dharma to spread without interruption, only now repaying the Tathāgata's benevolence. My years are decrepit, and my body is broken by old age; this foul and rotting physical frame is utterly loathsome. Impermanent, precarious, and ruinous, it cannot be relied upon, and is constantly tormented by diverse sufferings. What wise person could delight in such a body? It is fitting that I now enter parinirvāṇa.”
He further reflected: “I should now visit, pay homage to, revere, and make offerings at every place where the wondrous śarīras—imbued with the boundless pure and wholesome merit of the Bhagavat Buddha, the true spiritual friend of great benevolence and great compassion—are present.”
He then flew into the sky to the four stūpas, paying homage and making offerings; he further went to the eight stūpas with utmost reverence. Like a king of geese flying to Sāgara’s palace in the great ocean to revere the Buddha’s tooth relic, or like a strong man bending and extending his arm, in an instant he arrived at the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. Śakra Devānām Indra and the celestial assembly came forth to welcome Kāśyapa, paying homage and making offerings. Mahākāśyapa said to Śakra: “I desire to enter nirvāṇa; having come here to pay homage to the Tathāgata's hair relic, I have arrived.” Hearing these words, Śakra Devānām Indra felt dejected, wept, and grieved. He personally retrieved the Buddha's hair relic and respectfully presented it to Kāśyapa. Having received it, Kāśyapa paid homage with utmost devotion and made offerings with ox-head sandalwood. When the offerings were complete, he addressed the devaputras: “The five desires are impermanent and cannot be preserved for long; they are like dew upon a flower, evaporating as soon as it meets the sun. Only wholesome Dharma is deeply to be desired. You should contemplate suffering and emptiness, and take care not to be heedless.” Having spoken these words, he vanished from that heaven and returned to Rājagṛha.
Ānanda followed him closely, never leaving his side, fearing that [Kāśyapa] might enter nirvāṇa without his being able to see him. After a short while, Mahākāśyapa said to Ānanda: “Go into the city alone; I too shall go.”
At that time, Kāśyapa put on his robes, took his bowl, and entered Rājagṛha, thinking to himself: “King Ajātaśatru previously made a pact with me, saying, ‘When you enter nirvāṇa, you must come see me.’ Should I now go and inform him?” Reaching the king’s gate, he said to the gatekeeper: “Tell the king for me that Mahākāśyapa is now outside the gate wishing to see him.”
The gatekeeper said: “The king is currently asleep. If I wake him, I fear I will incur punishment.”
Kāśyapa said to him: “When the king awakes, tell him properly: ‘Mahākāśyapa wished to enter nirvāṇa, and came to bid farewell to the king; not seeing you, he departed.’”
Thereupon Kāśyapa went to Mount Kukkuṭapāda, sat cross-legged upon a grass mat, and made this vow: “May this body of mine, wearing the rag-robes given by the Buddha and holding my own bowl, remain undecayed until the time of Maitreya, so that his disciples may all behold my body and give rise to revulsion [toward worldly existence].” He further thought: “If King Ajātaśatru does not see me, boiling blood will burst from his face and his life will not be spared. If that king comes with Ānanda, the mountain shall open for them to let them enter; when they depart, it shall close again.”
He then relinquished his life-formations, retaining only a small lifespan. Immediately, the great earth shook in six ways. Śakra Devānām Indra and the devaputras, using māndārava flowers and celestial powdered incense, made offerings to the śarīra and gave rise to great grief and anguish, saying: “Our longing since the Tathāgata's extinction has not yet ceased, and Kāśyapa's nirvāṇa adds to our grief. The Pippala cave is now desolate. Those in the alleys and lanes who are destitute, tormented, and frail, poor, exposed, and solitary—he always took pity on them; now that he has abandoned them and departed, who will shelter and protect them? Just as on the fifteenth day, when the sky is cloudless, the moon and the host of stars appear clearly in the void, so too was the Tathāgata's holy assembly: abiding in the world, they were like the stars and the moon. How could the cloud of impermanence and death suddenly arise, concealing in a single morning the supreme field of merit?” In this way the devas gave rise to extreme grief; broken by sorrow, wailing and weeping in anguish, they restrained one another and returned to heaven.
King Ajātaśatru, while lying asleep, dreamed that the roof-beam of his house snapped. He immediately awoke with a start, his heart filled with terror. The gatekeeper reported to the king: “Mahākāśyapa wished to enter nirvāṇa and came to bid farewell to the king. It coincided with your resting in sleep; he had me convey his regards and then turned back.” When the king heard this, he fell to the ground in a faint. Only when cold water was sprinkled on his face did he regain consciousness. Raising his voice in loud lamentation, tears filling his eyes, [he said]: “How meager are my blessings, and how thick are my defilements and obstructions! At the nirvāṇa of the holy ones, I did not witness a single one.”
He went at once to the Bamboo Grove, bowed at Ānanda's feet, and asked: “Has Kāśyapa passed into extinction?”
Ānanda answered: “He has already entered nirvāṇa.”
“Where is he now? I wish to make offerings.”
Thereupon Ānanda and King Ajātaśatru set out for Mount Kukkuṭapāda. When the king arrived, the mountain opened of itself. Kāśyapa was inside, his whole body intact, covered by māndārava flowers. Seeing this, the king cried out weeping and threw himself to the ground. He gathered various fragrant woods, intending to cremate him. Ānanda asked: “What do you intend to do?”
He replied: “I intend to burn him.”
Ānanda said: “Mahākāśyapa has stabilized his body through concentration to await Maitreya; he cannot be burned. When Maitreya appears, he will lead an assembly of nine billion six hundred million to this mountain to see Kāśyapa. At that time, Maitreya’s assembly will all think: ‘The disciples of Śākya Tathāgata were of such small and base stature; that Buddha too must have been no different.’ Thereupon Kāśyapa will leap into the void, display the eighteen miraculous transformations, and transform into a vast form filling the world. Then Maitreya Buddha will approach Kāśyapa and take the saṅghāṭī robe. At that time, seeing his supernatural power, the great assembly will eliminate their pride and become arhats.”
After making offerings, the king returned to his own country. Then Mount Kukkuṭapāda closed again as before.