傳法正宗記 3.42

3.42

初父母不從。苦求方得其志。王遂命沙門禪利多為其落髮。師留宮中九年。始會勝僧與之受戒。一夕大士乃自警曰。我已具戒而尚處俗舍。年復二十六矣。何遇聖者而得聞道乎。遽感天光下照。俄見一坦路。而前有大山。大士即趣之。以往至其山而天色亦曉。自視已坐於石窟間。及旦王以亡子求不能得。遂擯去禪利多。然大士於此修禪。方且十年。而徒稍歸之。一日因見瑞氣。忽謂之曰。將有聖人為我而來。汝速潔前窟待之。未幾羅睺羅多果至。是時大士在定。候七日會其起。相與問答。凡數百言。而羅睺羅多義勝。大士伏膺。遂從其求道。羅多曰。如來記汝當為十七世祖。尋命之傳大法眼。大士一旦謂其眾曰。羅睺羅多大士嘗說。摩提國當出聖士。號伽耶舍多。繼吾傳法。今與汝等往訪其人。行之無何有祥風自西而來清襲眾人。大士曰。此道德風也。西之三千里必得聖者相會。然是風不類天龍鬼神阿須倫之風者。雖有吹揚而不損萬物。病遇則愈。學遇則通。惡業遇之則無。於是以神通攝眾。少選偕至一山。謂眾曰。此山之頂有紫雲如蓋。必聖人在茲。眾四顧。不遠果有山舍。進之方及其門。俄見一童子持鑑趨迎於前。大士即問曰。汝幾歲耶。答曰。百歲。又曰。汝方童幼何謂百歲。答曰。我不解理正若百歲。又曰。汝善機耶。答曰。佛偈豈不云。若人生百歲。不會諸佛機。未若生一日。而得決了之。大士復問曰。汝持圓鑑。意欲何為。童子乃以偈答曰。

At first his parents would not consent, but after he pleaded bitterly, he finally attained his wish. The king then ordered the śramaṇa Dhyānalata to shave his head. The master remained in the palace for nine years, and only then did [the king] assemble superior monks to administer the precepts to him. One night the Great Being admonished himself, saying, 'I have already received the full precepts, yet I still abide in a worldly house, and I am now twenty-six years old. How will I ever encounter a sage and hear the Way?' Instantly moved [by this thought], a divine light shone down from above. Suddenly he saw a level road, and ahead was a great mountain. The Great Being immediately hastened toward it. By the time he reached that mountain, the sky was already dawning. Looking at himself, he was already seated within a stone cave. When morning came, the king sought his lost son but could not find him, and thereupon banished Dhyānalata. Meanwhile, the Great Being cultivated dhyāna here; just as ten years had passed, disciples gradually gathered around him. One day, seeing an auspicious vapor, he suddenly said to them, 'A sage will soon come for my sake. Make haste to cleanse the cave ahead and await him.' Before long, Rāhulata indeed arrived. At that time, the Great Being was in meditation; [Rāhulata] waited seven days until he arose. They exchanged questions and answers totaling several hundred words, and Rāhulata's understanding proved superior. Submitting wholeheartedly, the Great Being thereupon sought the Way from him. Rāhulata said, 'The Tathāgata predicted that you would become the seventeenth patriarch.' Soon he instructed him to transmit the great Dharma-eye. One day the Great Being said to his assembly, 'The Great Being Rāhulata once said that in the land of Mātī a sage would appear named Gayāśata, who would succeed me in transmitting the Dharma. Today I shall go with you to seek him out.' When they had walked for some time, an auspicious wind came from the west, purely brushing past everyone. The Great Being said, 'This is the wind of the Way and virtue. Three thousand li to the west, we will surely meet the sage. Yet this wind is unlike the wind of gods, dragons, ghosts, spirits, or asuras: though it blows and stirs, it does not harm the myriad things. When the sick meet it, they are healed; when scholars meet it, they gain thorough penetration; when bad karma meets it, it is eliminated.' Thereupon, gathering the assembly with supernatural powers, in a short while they reached a mountain together. He said to the assembly, 'The peak of this mountain has purple clouds like a canopy; a sage must surely be here.' The assembly looked in all directions, and not far away there was indeed a mountain dwelling. Approaching its gate, they suddenly saw a young boy holding a mirror, hastening forward to greet them. The Great Being immediately asked, 'How old are you?' He replied, 'A hundred years old.' He asked again, 'You are only a young child; why do you say a hundred years old?' He replied, 'If I do not understand the principle, it is just like being a hundred years old.' He asked again, 'Are you skilled in spiritual capacity?' He replied, 'Does not a verse of the Buddha say: If a person lives a hundred years / without understanding the capacity of the Buddhas, / it is not as good as living for a single day / and gaining decisive comprehension of it?' The Great Being asked again, 'Holding a round mirror, what is your intention?' The young boy then replied with a verse, saying: