弘贊法華傳 6.20

6.20

釋某。失其名。住秦郡東寺。有一沙彌。誦法華甚通利。唯到藥草喻品。靉靆二字。隨教隨忘。如是至千。師苦責之曰。汝誦一部經。熟利如此。豈不能作意憶此二字耶。師。夜即夢見一僧。謂之曰。汝不應責此沙彌。沙彌前生在寺側東村。受優婆夷身。本誦法華一部。但其家法華。當時藥草喻品。白魚食去靉靆二字。于時經本無此二字。為其今生新受。習未成耳。其姓名某。經亦見在。脫不信者。可往驗之。師明旦就彼村。訪問此家。言畢。問主人云。有可供養處不。答曰。有之。問曰。有若為經盡。答云。有法華經一部。師索取看。藥草喻品。果缺二字。訪云。是大兒亡婦。生存受持之經。計亡。已得一十七年。果與此沙彌。年時胎月相應也。自後頻移歲稔。始得精熟。不知所終。

Shi [So-and-so], whose name has been lost, lived at Dong Monastery in Qin Commandery. There was a śrāmaṇera who recited the Lotus Sūtra with great fluency; only when he reached the two characters ai dai (cloudy) in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter did he forget them as soon as he was taught, up to a thousand times. The master reproached him severely, saying: "You recite the entire sūtra with such fluency; can you not apply your mind to remember these two characters?" That night, the master dreamed of a monk who said to him: "You should not reproach this śrāmaṇera. In a previous life, the śrāmaṇera was born as an upāsikā in the eastern village beside the monastery. She originally recited one copy of the Lotus Sūtra, but in her family's Lotus Sūtra, silverfish had eaten away the two characters ai dai in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter at that time. Since the text lacked these two characters then, he has only received them anew in this life and the habit is not yet formed. Her surname was So-and-so, and the sūtra is still extant. If you do not believe it, you may go and verify it." The next morning, the master went to that village and sought out this household. After speaking, he asked the master of the house, "Is there a place for offering?" The reply was, "There is." He asked, "What sūtras are there?" The reply was, "There is one set of the Lotus Sūtra." The master asked to see it, and in the Medicinal Herbs Chapter the two characters were indeed missing. Upon inquiry, he was told that it was the sūtra held and recited by the eldest son's deceased wife during her lifetime. Calculating from her death, it had been seventeen years, which indeed corresponded to this śrāmaṇera's age and months of gestation. From then on, after many years passed, he finally became proficient. Later it was not known where he ended his days.