續高僧傳 26.50

26.50

Jātisenā dwelt in the kingdom of Magadha in Central India. His learning spanned the canonical collections, and he was universally versed in worldly arts and extraordinary skills. Suddenly, in his home country, a great earthquake tore open the ground, and the fissure was fathomless in its depth. Along the edge of the chasm, a stone stele was discovered. Its inscription read: 'In the eastern land of Cīnasthāna, the country is named the Great Sui, the city is named Daxing, and the king is named Jianyi ("Firm Will"). He establishes the Triratna and erects relic stūpas.' The ruler and ministers of that country were filled with joyful admiration at this auspicious omen and congratulated one another on such a rare event. Thereupon, more than fifty clerics and laymen were enlisted to seek out this spiritual sign. When they first set out, their farewell party was sent off from the royal palace. But the journey was long, and bandits plundered them; what was left was thoroughly stripped away, and only a few persons remained. Fleeing and concealing themselves, they arrived here, reaching the Renshou Palace in the second year of the Renshou era [602]. Calculating the time when the earth originally cracked open and the stele was found, it corresponded to the fourteenth year of the Kaihuang era [594] in this land. It had taken nine years of travel to finally reach the Eastern Land. They arrived just as the Son of Heaven, spiritually moved, had obtained relics and was erecting stūpas across the various prefectures. Celestial auspicious signs descended and earthly omens welled up, with several hundred spiritual marvels appearing in succession. The entire nation rejoiced, and the Buddha-Dharma flourished anew. The responsible officials memorialised the matter to the throne. The Emperor, seeing that the event matched the ancient traces of the Great Xia in the Eastern Efflorescence, praised his far-off journey and suspected that he was an attested sage. He had him ushered into the Hall of the Great Treasure, bent four of his own fingers, and looked around at his ministers, asking, 'Do you understand our meaning?' None of them knew. He then asked [Jāti]senā, 'Do you understand my meaning?' He answered, 'Does the dānapati suppose that this poor monk is a person of the fourth fruit? Truly, I am not.' The Emperor found him most extraordinary and lodged him in a separate guest mansion, bestowing magnificent and lavish provisions upon him. The cook kneaded flour with wine yeast intending to make leavened bread, but when the moment came, it did not rise; he then asked Senā about it. Senā replied, 'This is unfit to eat.' He then mixed it with water and boiled it, and it was no different from ordinary leavened bread. The Emperor asked, 'Now spiritual stūpas are being built throughout all the prefectures, yet Cao and Shan prefectures have especially many auspicious signs. Who has brought this about?' He answered, 'Shan Prefecture manifested a tree through Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva; Cao Prefecture manifested luminous flowers through Ākāśagarbha.' He also asked, 'What do heavenly flowers look like?' He replied, 'They resemble thin mica. Sometimes they fly without falling to the ground; though they may fall to the ground, their radiance is extraordinarily wondrous.' The Emperor secretly had one box of fine mica and one box of the offered heavenly flowers presented to show to everyone, and none could tell them apart. He then directly asked Senā; Senā recognised the heavenly flowers and rejected the mica. When Empress Xian died, musical sounds arose in the empty air and rare fragrances were sensed. When the Emperor asked thoroughly about the reason, he answered, 'The Western Pure Land is named Amitābha. The Empress has been reborn there; hence the devas have come to welcome her rebirth.' The Emperor marvelled at his discerning insight and bestowed over two thousand bolts of silk and pongee upon him. He declined and would not accept them; when pressed, he distributed them across various fields of merit. This is seen in the Records of Resonances.