付法藏因緣傳 5.4.4

5.4.4

'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.