續高僧傳 4.6.2

4.6.2

[These] were built at the place of his original residence. The stone chamber in the northern cliff was more than two hundred feet high and thirty paces across. Not far to its side were the place where the monkey fell into the pit, the places where the four Buddhas circumambulated, and the place where sages and worthies dwelt; numinous signs were manifold. Continuing southeast, he passed through seven countries and arrived at the country of Kapiṭha. The folk custom was to serve Maheśvara. Their shrine was more than a hundred feet high, inside of which was a likeness of the deva, exceedingly vast in form; it was said that all the destinies of rebirth are born from him. Kings and commoners revered it together without finding it base or shameful; the shrines to devas throughout various countries mostly set up this form. Generally speaking, there were roughly a hundred heterodox traditions, and among them the revered one was mostly Maheśvara. There was a great monastery with five hundred monks, while the pure attendants and servants numbered several tens of thousands, all residing beside the monastery. Inside were three flights of steps, arranged from south to north; these were made by Śakra when the Buddha spent the summer retreat in Trāyastriṃśa for his mother's sake and descended from heaven at the summer's end. The original foundation of the jeweled steps had sunk and disappeared entirely; later kings modeled [steps] after them on their ancient site, still more than seventy feet high. King Aśoka had erected for them a stone pillar, more than seventy feet tall, brightly polished and clear, within which the shadow of human transgressions and merits was reflected. Beside it was the stone foundation where the four Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa circumambulated, some fifty paces in length and over seven feet high; wherever their feet had trodden, lotus patterns arose. Not far to the northwest of the country, some two hundred li, one reaches the country of Kanyākubja—which in Tang speech is Qunücheng (City of Hunchbacked Maidens). The royal capital overlooks the Gaṅgā River, which is the correct name for the Henghe (Ganges). Its source comes from the north, emerging from the great Snow Mountains (Himālaya). In that land, false and correct [teachings] are both revered; the monks exceed ten thousand. There are many holy traces: places where the four Buddhas walked and sat, places where the Dharma was preached for seven days, and stūpas for the Buddha's teeth, hair, and nails; shrines number over a thousand. Famous monasteries of extraordinary appearance mostly overlook the north of the river. Xuanzang studied the two Vibhāṣās of Buddhadāsa and Sūryavaṃśa under the Tripiṭaka Master Vīryasena in this country for three months. The king's title was Śīlāditya; he governed the world with the true Dharma for nearly fifty years. The name 'Śīlāditya' was a posthumous-style name; in this land, after someone passes away, their virtue is weighed to confer it, whereas in that land, upon first ascending [the throne], they are first presented with the title, considering that praise after demise is merely empty fame. He still governs the world today, commanding the Five Indias. In the beginning, he governed a border territory as a minor kingdom. Previously there was King Śaśāṅka, whose authority held sway across the seas; cruel, tyrannical, and devoid of the Way, he slaughtered the Śākya clan, uprooted the bodhi tree, and severed its roots and shoots, choosing only some three hundred famous and virtuous ones to retain, while the rest were turned into slaves. Śīlāditya keenly knew that the misfortune originated with the tree; he went with various officials to the bodhi pit and took a great vow, saying: 'If I have the merit to reign over all within the seas and can truly elevate and build the Buddha-dharma, may the bodhi tree sprout forth from the earth!' Having spoken, he looked around and saw a bodhi sprout leaping up from inside the pit. He then turned his troops and horses and marched to Śaśāṅka's place; through the power of his majesty and merit, he promptly eliminated him. It was on account of this that he embraced a sincere faith that redoubled compared to before. He returned to rule the five regions with eighty thousand war elephants; wherever his military might reached, it relied upon their power. By nature, he did not eat blood; where sheep existed within his transformed realm, he redeemed them all and gave them to the monks to provide milk and curd. Once every five years he held an almsgiving, emptying his treasuries; once the treasuries were exhausted, he replenished them again, and when the time arrived, he carried it out once more, using this as a regular rule. For those who violated royal law or even committed rebellion, whose crime deserved death, he banished them to distant borderlands; as for other punishments, they are hardly worth speaking of. For this reason, thefts and robberies were frequent throughout the countries; unless one relied on companions and assistance, one could not venture forward rashly. Going further southeast for more than two thousand li across four countries, following the bank of the Gaṅgā River, [he] was suddenly captured by autumn bandits who needed a person to sacrifice to heaven. Some eighty people aboard the same boat were all bound and seized; they chose only Master Xuanzang as fit to serve as food for the deity. Thereupon they erected an altar by the river and placed Xuanzang upon it; at first, they intended to feast on him raw, and then plunge him into a cauldron. At that very moment, there was no way to seek rescue. He directed his contemplation to the Merciful Honoured One, the Tathāgata Maitreya, and to the Triple Gem preserved in the Eastern Xia, privately making a vow: 'If my remaining karmic fortune has not run out, may I receive release; if I am bound not to meet it, what can be done about fate?' The people on the boat wept and wailed aloud together. Suddenly an evil wind arose from all sides, and the bandits' boat was overturned and sunk; flying sand and snapping branches filled them all with terror. The people also addressed the bandits, saying: 'This person is to be pitied; he did not shun danger and hardship, and his mind is solely devoted to the Dharma to benefit the border regions. If you kill him, your crime will be supreme! Rather kill us; you must not harm him.' Hearing this, the bandits dropped their blades, bowed in shame, received the precepts, repented their faults, and released him to go wherever he wished. He arrived at Kauśāmbī. The heterodox were flourishing. In the royal capital was a Buddha shrine sixty feet high, housing a sandalwood image made in antiquity by the Great King Udayana, modeled after his reflection in heaven. Beside it were many dragon caves and holy traces. Further northeast for more than a thousand li, he reached the country of Śrāvastī—which is the correct name for Shewei and Shepoti. Looking around in all directions, it was ruined and destroyed, with only ancient foundations remaining. The palace where Prasenajit ruled and the former mansion of Sudatta still had their foundation stones preserved. Five li south of the city was the Jetavana—that is, the Jeta Grove, built by the minister Sudatta for King Prasenajit. The entire monastery had collapsed, but there remained a stone pillar, seventy feet tall, erected by King Aśoka. Beside it was a brick chamber housing a statue of the Tathāgata preaching the Dharma for his mother. The rest of the courtyards and halls had all vanished and been swept away; there was only the place where the Buddha washed the sick bhikṣu, the place where Maudgalyāyana lifted Śāriputra's robes, the old well where the Buddha and monks regularly drew water, the place where the heterodox secretly slandered [him] by murdering the courtesan, the place where the Buddha debated heterodox doctrines, the place where Śāriputra debated, the place where Virūḍhaka sank [into hell], the Grove of Regaining Sight, and the birthplace of Kāśyapa Buddha. Stone stūpas were erected at all of the above places, all constructed by King Aśoka. Not far east of the monastery were three great deep pits: these were the places where Devadatta, Gopā, and the woman Ciñcā were swallowed up. The pits were exceedingly deep; looking down, they had no bottom. From antiquity down to the present, even with great torrents of rain pouring in, they have never overflowed. Further east for nearly seven hundred li, he arrived at the country of Kapilavastu, which was the capital governed by King Śuddhodana of Kapilavastu. There were more than ten empty towns with no one dwelling in them. The brick walls of the old palace were fifteen li in circumference, with more than a thousand desolate monasteries, of which only one remained within the palace. On the foundation of the king's bedchamber was an inscribed stūpa: this was the place where the Tathāgata descended in spirit. There they have an account saying that his spirit descended on the eighth day of the fifth month; the Sthaviras say it was on the fifteenth day, which also differs slightly from the accounts in this land. How could there be discrepancies?