弘贊法華傳 9.4

9.4

大智度論云。昔有一國中一阿蘭若比丘。大讀摩訶衍。其國王。常解髮。令其蹈過。又有一比丘。乃語王言。此摩訶盧。不多讀經。何以大供養如是。王言。我一日。半夜欲見此比丘。即往到其住處。見此比丘在窟中。讀法華經。見一金色光明人。騎白象合掌供養。我來轉迴。便滅不現。我即問。大德。以我來故。光明人滅。何也。比丘言。此即遍吉菩薩。自言。若有人讀誦法華經者。我當乘白象來教導之。我誦此經故。遍吉自來。遍吉。即普賢也。

The Dà zhìdù lùn states: In the past, in a certain country, there was an āraṇyaka bhikṣu who extensively read the Mahāyāna. The king of that country would regularly undo his hair and have him walk upon it. Another bhikṣu said to the king, "This mahāthera does not read the sūtras much; why do you make such great offerings to him?" The king said, "One day at midnight, wishing to see this bhikṣu, I went straight to his dwelling. I saw this bhikṣu inside his cave reading the Lotus Sūtra, and I saw a person of golden radiance riding a white elephant, joining his palms in offering. When I arrived, he turned about and vanished, no longer appearing. I immediately asked, 'Venerable, why did that radiant person disappear because I came?' The bhikṣu said, 'This was Samantabhadra Bodhisattva. He himself said that if there is anyone who reads and recites the Lotus Sūtra, he would come riding a white elephant to teach and guide them. Because I recite this sūtra, Samantabhadra came of his own accord.' Bianji is Samantabhadra."