景德傳燈錄 1.84

1.84

The Seventh Patriarch, Vasumitra, was a native of northern India, surnamed Bhāradvāja. He always wore clean garments and carried a wine vessel, wandering through villages and alleys, sometimes chanting, sometimes whistling, so that people called him mad. When he met the Venerable Miccaka, who proclaimed the Tathāgata's past prediction, he awakened to his former affinities, threw away the vessel, and left home. After receiving the Dharma, he travelled to teach, arriving in the kingdom of Kāmarūpa, where he broadly promoted Buddhist activities. Before his Dharma seat there suddenly appeared a wise man who announced himself, saying, “My name is Buddhanandi, and I have come now to debate doctrines with the Master.” The Master said, “Kind sir, debate is not the doctrine, and the doctrine is not debated. If one attempts to debate doctrine, in the end it is not doctrinal debate.” Buddhanandi realised the Master's doctrine was superior; his mind immediately submitted with reverence, and he said, “I wish to seek the Way and be moistened with the taste of amṛta.” The Venerable One thereupon shaved his head and conferred full ordination upon him. He further told him, “The Tathāgata's treasury of the eye of the correct Dharma I now entrust to you; you must protect and uphold it.” He then spoke a verse: