[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [傳法正宗記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078) › 3.52 # 傳法正宗記 3.52 傳法正宗記 3.52 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3.52) 鳩摩羅多者。月支國人也。姓婆羅門氏。往世嘗生於梵天。洎以貪愛菩薩瓔珞。乃墮于欲界他天。於彼為一天人說佛知見。彼天人因之證遂成初果。以故得其天眾尊為導師。其時適有天玉女來禮其法會。會之眾有千二百人。未之成果。輒起情愛。故相牽累。亦其紹祖之冥數適至。復示今之所生。然其天女亦墮。偕生此國。為梵志氏。初大士之家巨富。金寶不可勝數。而其父貪悋不知紀極。會其國有羅難曰海勝者。往在彼天。得大士說法乃證今果。至此思報其往德。恐大士汩沒於俗富故。從之乞金。實欲導而出之。遂至其家。適見大士為童。即語之曰。汝能施我之金。當得福利。大士曰。我方十五。未專家事。雖父不在。俟聞於母。遂以告其母。母從其所施。大士遂以金一斤施之。羅漢尋為記曰。更十五年。汝當遇菩薩得證聖道。然小有難。亦折大業。及其父還。大士以此建白。父怒笞之一百。其父既死。大士亦得決所疑於伽耶舍多。即伏膺為師。尋預傳法。後行教化至中天竺國。會一智士曰闍夜多。先此客遊。輒來禮之。而致問曰。我家父母素敬三寶如法修行。而乃多疾病。所縈不遂。我隣之人。兇暴殺害作惡日甚。而其身康寧。所求如意。善惡報應豈非虛說乎。我甚惑此。願仁者一為決之。大士曰。佛說業通三世者。蓋以前世所作善業。而報在此生。此生苟為不善。則應在來世。故人有此生雖為善世不得其福者。前惡之報勝也。今世雖作惡而不受其殃者。前善之勝也。苟以今生非得福報復務為惡。而來世益墮惡趣也。苟以此世得其福報復務為善。而來世益得善趣也。又前世為善其德方半。而改志為惡。及此生也先福而後禍。此生為惡其事方半。而變行為善。及來世也先禍而後福。適今汝父與汝之隣。其善惡之應。不以類至蓋先業而致然也。豈可以一世求之耶。夜多聞其說頓解所疑。大士復曰。汝雖已信三世之業。而未明業從惑生。惑因識有。識依不覺。不覺依心。然心本清淨。無生滅無造作。無報應無勝負。寂寂然靈靈然。汝若入此法門。可同諸佛。一切善惡有為無為。皆如夢幻。夜多承其言。即發宿慧。遂求出家。大士曰。汝何許人。父母在乎。誠欲入道可返汝國白之父母。得志却來未晚。夜多曰。我國北印度也。去之三千餘里。豈宜却來。願屈仁者。就之供養。因得度脫。大士曰。我往雖遠不難。汝何以去。夜多曰。我有小術。亦可從之。少頃而至。大士曰。何術。曰我兄闍夜摩。先為比丘。於國嘗主俱那含佛塔。得其塔前末訶木子。然此神物。用之塗足。須臾可以致遠。欲止則以其葉拭去塗油。足乃不舉。大士從用其法。與之偕去。詣禮其塔。佛即放光遍照其眾。夜多既聞父母。即就剃度。於佛塔之前會聖僧與之受戒。大士乃為說偈曰。 > Kumāralāta was a native of the Yuezhi kingdom, surnamed Brāhmaṇa. In a past life he had once been born in the Brahmā Heaven. Thereafter, because of his covetous attachment to a bodhisattva's necklace, he fell into another heaven of the desire realm. There he expounded the Buddha’s insight to a deva, and because of this that deva attained realization and achieved the first fruit \[of stream-entry\]. Consequently, the heavenly host revered him as their guide. At that time, a celestial jade maiden happened to come and pay homage at his Dharma assembly. In the assembly there were one thousand two hundred persons who had not yet attained the fruit; suddenly emotional love arose, and thus they became entangled with one another. It was also that the unseen destined count for succeeding to the patriarchate had just arrived, so he manifested his present birth. That celestial maiden also fell, and was born alongside him in this country into the family of a brahmacārin. Initially, the Mahāsattva's household was immensely wealthy, with gold and jewels beyond count, yet his father was covetous and stingy, knowing no bounds. It happened that in that country there was an arhat named Sāgarajaya, who formerly in that heaven had attained his present fruit from the Mahāsattva’s preaching of the Dharma. Coming here, he wished to repay that past virtue; fearing that the Mahāsattva would sink into secular wealth, he begged gold from him, truly desiring to guide him toward renunciation. He arrived at the house just as he saw the Mahāsattva as a youth, and said to him: 'If you can bestow gold upon me as an alms-gift, you shall obtain blessing and benefit.' The Mahāsattva said: 'I am only fifteen and do not control household affairs. Although my father is away, I must ask my mother.' He then told his mother, and his mother consented to the donation. The Mahāsattva thereupon gave him one catty of gold. The arhat immediately prophesied for him, saying: 'In another fifteen years, you shall meet a bodhisattva and realize the sacred path. However, there will be a minor hardship, which will also diminish your great karmic obstacles.' When his father returned, the Mahāsattva reported this to him; his father was furious and gave him one hundred lashes. After his father died, the Mahāsattva was able to have his doubts resolved by Gayāśata, and reverently took him as his master, soon taking part in the transmission of the Dharma. Later, while traveling to teach and transform beings, he reached the kingdom of Central India. He met an intelligent man named Jayata, who was then sojourning there, who came to pay homage to him and asked: 'My parents have always revered the Three Jewels and practiced according to the Dharma, yet they suffer from many illnesses and are entangled in adversity; while our neighbor is violent, kills, and commits evil ever more severely each day, yet his body is healthy and peaceful, and everything he seeks goes as he wishes. Is the retribution of good and evil not an empty claim? I am deeply bewildered by this; I pray the Benevolent One will resolve it for me once and for all.' The Mahāsattva said: 'When the Buddha taught that karma connects the three time periods, it is because good karma created in a past life yields retribution in this life; if in this life one acts unvirtuously, the response will be in a future life. Therefore, among people there are those who, though doing good in this life, do not obtain its blessings, because the retribution of past evil is predominant. Those who in this life commit evil yet suffer no disaster do so because past good is predominant. If because one does not obtain blessed retribution in this life, one further applies oneself to evil, in the future life one will sink further into evil destinies. If because one obtains blessed retribution in this life, one further applies oneself to good, in the future life one will all the more obtain good destinies. Moreover, if in a past life one practiced good and the virtue was only half complete before turning one’s intention to evil, then in this life one will experience blessings first and disaster later. If in this life one commits evil and the deed is only half complete before turning one’s conduct to good, then in a future life one will experience disaster first and blessings later. Just now, regarding your father and your neighbor, the retribution of their good and evil does not arrive according to their current kind because it is brought about by past karma. How could one look for it within a single lifetime?' Hearing this explanation, Jayata's doubts were instantly dispelled. The Mahāsattva further said: 'Although you now believe in the karma of the three times, you do not yet understand that karma arises from delusion, delusion exists on account of consciousness, consciousness relies on non-enlightenment, and non-enlightenment relies on mind. Yet mind is originally pure: without arising or ceasing, without making or doing, without retribution, without victory or defeat, utterly silent and utterly luminous. If you enter this Dharma gate, you can be the same as all buddhas; all good and evil, conditioned and unconditioned, are like dreams and illusions.' Upon hearing these words, Jayata awakened his past wisdom and requested to leave home. The Mahāsattva said: 'Where are you from? Are your parents living? If you truly wish to enter the Way, you may return to your country and inform your parents; once you have obtained their consent, it will not be too late to return.' Jayata said: 'My country is Northern India, more than three thousand li away. How could I go and come back? I pray that the Benevolent One will condescend to go there to receive offerings, and that I may thereby obtain deliverance.' The Mahāsattva said: 'Though the journey is distant, it is not difficult for me; how will you go?' Jayata said: 'I have a minor art, which can also be followed to arrive in a short while.' The Mahāsattva said: 'What art?' He said: 'My elder brother Jāyama was formerly a monk, who once took charge of the stūpa of Kanakamuni Buddha in our country, and obtained the seeds of the mahā tree in front of the stūpa. This is a divine object: smeared on the feet, in an instant one can reach far away; when one wishes to stop, one wipes away the smeared oil with its leaves, and the feet will no longer lift.' The Mahāsattva made use of his method and accompanied him there. They arrived and paid homage to the stūpa, and the Buddha emitted light that shone everywhere upon the assembly. After Jayata informed his parents, he shaved his head and took the precepts before the Buddha’s stūpa in an assembly of holy monks. The Mahāsattva then spoke a verse for him, saying: > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3.51) - [Next: 3.53](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3.53) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078~en-mt.3.52) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (3) - [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.5.25) — 志磐, Classical Chinese - [景德傳燈錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2076.2.20) — Classical Chinese - [釋氏稽古略](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2037.1.486) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3.52](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2078.3.52) · Pramāṇa