弘贊法華傳 10.15

10.15

陳法藏。雍州萬年縣霸曲人也。身為供膳。貞觀十八年。洛州上番。去後妻亡。下番迴道。離本住村。可十餘里。路逢亡妻。妻云。我今已死。經於數日。須臾之間。藏忽見八九家。如貧人宅。藏坐一間編茨屋。少時。其妻被喚將去。藏隨後看。見妻。被牛頭獄卒䥫釵貫之。內鑵湯中。骨肉分散。釵出還活。如是七返訖。放來相見。形容頓惡。語藏云。與君為後妻。前婦自死。非妾所害。君襆內有五百錢。家中有牛。可直千五百。至家𧫎阿婆。努力為妾。寫法花經。妾即得離此苦。將妾此語。諮請阿婆。藏歸咨母賣牛。恰得千五百當。即喚經生買紙。藏因行。更尋妻住處。藏始扣門。便聞此家遙報云。君新婦。昨買紙時。以即生天。其人驚喜。信奉增至。所得財利。每寫法花。十九年。向興善寺。供官行道。具向諸僧說之。

Chen Fazang was a native of Baqu in Wannian County, Yongzhou, and served as a palace caterer. In the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, he went on duty in Luozhou. After he departed, his wife died. When his shift ended and he was on his return journey, about ten li from his home village, he met his deceased wife on the road. The wife said: 'I am now dead; several days have passed.' In an instant, Fazang suddenly saw eight or nine houses resembling the dwellings of the poor. Fazang sat in a thatched hut. Shortly thereafter, his wife was called away. Fazang followed behind to look, and saw his wife being pierced through with an iron fork by an ox-headed jailer and thrust into a cauldron of boiling soup, her bones and flesh separating; when the fork was pulled out, she revived. After this was repeated seven times, she was released to meet him. Her appearance was terribly gaunt and haggard. She said to Fazang: 'I became your second wife; your first wife died on her own, not because I harmed her. You have five hundred coins in your bundle, and at home there is an ox worth about one thousand five hundred. When you reach home, speak to mother and urge her to copy the Lotus Sūtra on my behalf; then I can escape this suffering. Take these words of mine and consult mother.'

Fazang returned home, consulted his mother, and sold the ox, obtaining exactly one thousand five hundred coins. He immediately summoned a scribe and purchased paper. Fazang then walked out to search again for the place where his wife had stayed. As soon as Fazang knocked on the gate, he heard someone from inside this house call out from afar: 'Your bride was already reborn in heaven yesterday when the paper was bought!' The man was startled and delighted, and his faith grew even more earnest. With whatever wealth he acquired, he constantly copied the Lotus Sūtra. In the nineteenth year, he went to Xingshan Monastery to provide for officials and practice the Dharma, recounting the entire affair to the monks.