景德傳燈錄 3.7

3.7

王聞偈已心即開悟。乃悔謝前非咨詢法要。朝夕忘倦。迄于九旬。時宗勝既被斥逐。退藏深山。念曰。我今百歲八十為非。二十年來方歸佛道。性雖愚昧行絕瑕疵。不能禦難生何如死。言訖即自投崖。俄有一神人以手捧承。置于巖石之上安然無損。宗勝曰。我忝沙門當與正法為主。不能抑絕王非。是以捐身自責。何神祐助一至於斯。願垂一語以保餘年。於是神人乃說偈曰。

When the king heard the verse, his mind was instantly awakened. He apologized for his past errors and inquired about the essentials of the Dharma, tirelessly from morning till night, for as long as ninety days. Meanwhile, having been driven out, Zongsheng retreated to hide in the deep mountains. He thought: "I am now one hundred years old; for eighty years I did wrong, and only in the last twenty years did I take refuge in the Buddha's way. Though my nature is dull, my conduct is free of blemish. Unable to resist this calamity, how can living compare to dying?" Having said this, he threw himself off a cliff. Suddenly a spirit held him up with his hands, placing him on a boulder safe and unharmed. Zongsheng said: "I am unworthily a śramaṇa and ought to be a master of the correct Dharma. Unable to suppress the king's error, I cast away my body in self-reproach. What spirit has assisted me to such an extent? I pray you grant me a word to preserve my remaining years." Thereupon the spirit spoke a verse: