傳法正宗記 4.4

4.4

婆修盤頭者。羅閱國人也。姓毘舍佉氏。父曰光蓋。母曰嚴一。大士與其弟偕生。俱有瑞事。而大士尤勝。初光蓋以家巨富而未始有嗣。與妻嚴一謀偕往求子於城北佛塔。既禱之。其夕嚴一果夢二珠。一長明。一或明或晦。皆得吞之。即覺有娠。後七日會有羅漢比丘賢眾者至其家曰。我自他國尋異氣至此。汝家謂誰光蓋即延之。與其妻俱拜。賢眾獨避嚴一而不當其禮。夫竊怪曰。鄙哉比丘禮。不讓丈夫而恭女子。佯施寶珠欲驗其識量。賢眾皆受之亦不辭讓。光蓋見其不動如初。遂以實問之曰。尊者不讓我丈夫之禮而避婦人何耶。賢眾曰。我以汝凡夫當汝之禮。受其所施欲資汝福耳。汝妻方孕菩薩。乃上乘法器。其將出世號婆修盤頭者。其所度之人。如我輩無量。我故避之。非重女人也。光蓋即謝之曰。尊者聖人也。能知未然。賢眾復曰。復有一子。與其同孕者。夙曰芻尼。嘗為野鵲。往於雪山巢如來頂。尋以遇佛之緣。生為那提國王。及如來至其國。為說夙因。復記曰。吾滅之後。後五百年外。汝却生羅閱城毘舍佉家。與聖者婆修盤頭同胎。彼聖者乃賢劫二十一世之祖師也。其人復出聖弟子。號大力尊者。那提王稱幸。遂以寶蓋獻之。佛復記曰。汝後以會此菩薩。得生忉利天也。王乃說偈讚歎。其後嚴一果誕二子。而大士先之在襁褓。令淑易育。不類凡孺。稍長其志超然高勝。年十五求從光度羅漢出家。毘婆訶菩薩為之受戒。乃慕飲光。專以杜多行自修。故時人高之。號為遍行頭陀。尋會闍夜多大士激發大慧。乃得付法。因歷化諸方至那提國。初其國素多惡象為害。而物不聊生。及其王號常自在。生二子。長曰摩訶羅。其年四十。次曰摩拏羅。其年三十。當拏羅三十載。而象害遂弭。國人安之。然皆不知其所賴。至大士入其國。王請供於宮中。因問曰。敝國風俗曷若羅閱城之淳美耶。大士曰。羅閱昔有三佛德庇。而此國適有二賢福之。王曰。二賢誰耶。曰昔佛記云。吾滅後又後五百歲後。那提國王姓剎帝利號多滿。有子曰摩拏羅。得大神力勝十那羅延。此其一也。其二則吾亦與焉。未幾俄有使入奏曰。有象巨萬將逼國城。王憂之。以問盤頭曰。此何以禦之。大士曰。不須用兵。但命王子拏羅當之。其難自解王曰可乎。曰此子非直威巨萬之象。益多益可。遂命拏羅出其城之南。拏羅乃嚮象撫其腹。發聲大喝。雖城廬為之動。群象即仆地不能興。少時皆馳去。至是而國人方知三十年所安乃其庇也。王以子道勝。遂大奇之。謂大士曰。此子佛昔所記。亦其神通之力非俗可留。願尊者受之出家。大士亦謂。此非我為師。後莫能度者。即命聖眾於王宮與摩拏羅落髮受戒。拏羅得度忻然。乃以偈讚曰。

Vasubandhu was a native of the kingdom of Rājagṛha, surnamed Viśākha. His father was called Guang Gai (Bright Canopy), and his mother was called Yan Yi (Solemnity and Singleness). The Mahāsattva was born together with his younger brother; both had auspicious portents, but the Mahāsattva's were particularly superior. Originally, because Guang Gai was extremely wealthy yet had never had an heir, he planned with his wife, Yan Yi, to go together to pray for a son at the stupa of the Buddha north of the city. After they prayed, that night Yan Yi indeed dreamed of two pearls: one was constantly bright, and the other was sometimes bright and sometimes dim; she swallowed both of them. Thereupon she became aware that she was pregnant. Seven days later, an arhat monk named Xianzhong happened to arrive at their house and said: 'I followed an extraordinary aura from another country to this place. Who is in your household?' Guang Gai immediately invited him in and bowed together with his wife. Xianzhong avoided Yan Yi alone and would not accept her bow. The husband secretly found it strange, saying: 'How base is this monk's etiquette! He does not yield to a man, yet shows respect to a woman.' He feigned making an offering of a precious pearl, wishing to test his discernment and capacity. Xianzhong accepted it without declining. Seeing that he remained as unmoved as before, Guang Gai then asked him truthfully: 'Venerable Sir, why do you not accept the bow of me, a man, yet avoid a woman?' Xianzhong said: 'Because you are an ordinary mortal, I accepted your bow and received what was offered only to aid your merit. Your wife is currently pregnant with a bodhisattva, a vessel of the Supreme Vehicle. When he appears in the world, he will be named Vasubandhu. The people he will liberate will be as limitless as multitudes of my kind. Therefore I avoided her; it was not out of esteem for a woman.' Guang Gai then apologized to him, saying: 'The Venerable Sir is a sage who can know what has not yet happened.' Xianzhong spoke again: 'There is yet another son conceived with him, whose past name was Cuni. He was once a wild magpie that went to the Snow Mountains and nested upon the crown of the Tathāgata's head. Soon, through the condition of meeting the Buddha, he was reborn as the king of the kingdom of Nadī. When the Tathāgata came to his country, he explained his past causes to him and further prophesied: "More than five hundred years after my demise, you will again be born into the Viśākha family of the city of Rājagṛha, sharing the same womb with the holy Vasubandhu. That holy one is the patriarchal master of the twenty-first generation of the Bhadrakalpa. That man will further produce a holy disciple named the Venerable Mahābala." The king of Nadī rejoiced at his fortune and thereupon offered a jeweled canopy to him. The Buddha further prophesied: "Because you will later meet this bodhisattva, you will obtain rebirth in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven."' The king then recited a verse in praise. Later, Yan Yi indeed gave birth to two sons, with the Mahāsattva born first. While in swaddling clothes, he was gentle, virtuous, and easy to rear, unlike ordinary infants. As he grew a little older, his aspirations were transcendent and lofty. At the age of fifteen, he sought to leave the household under the arhat Guangdu. Bodhisattva Vibhāha conferred the precepts upon him. He admired Kāśyapa and cultivated himself exclusively through dhūta practices; hence the people of the time esteemed him, calling him the 'Universal Dhūta'. Soon he met the Mahāsattva Jayata, who stimulated his great wisdom, and he thus received the entrustment of the Dharma. He subsequently traveled to convert various regions, arriving at the kingdom of Nadī. Originally, that country was plagued by vicious elephants that wrought destruction, so that living beings could not sustain their lives. When its king, named Changzizai (Always Sovereign), had two sons—the elder was named Mahāra, aged forty, and the younger was named Manorhita, aged thirty—as Manorhita reached thirty years of age, the harm from the elephants ceased, and the people of the country were at peace; yet none knew upon whom they depended. When the Mahāsattva entered his country, the king invited him to receive offerings in the palace, and thereupon asked: 'How do the customs of my humble country compare with the purity and beauty of Rājagṛha?' The Mahāsattva said: 'Rājagṛha was formerly sheltered by the virtues of three Buddhas, whereas this country happens to be blessed by the merit of two sages.' The king asked: 'Who are the two sages?' He replied: 'Formerly the Buddha's prophecy stated: "Again five hundred years after my demise, the king of the kingdom of Nadī, of the kṣatriya clan and named Duoman, will have a son named Manorhita, who will possess great supernatural power surpassing ten Nārāyaṇas." This is the first. As for the second, I too am included among them.' Shortly thereafter, a messenger rushed in to report: 'Myriads of elephants are about to press upon the capital city.' The king was anxious and asked Vasubandhu: 'How can this be resisted?' The Mahāsattva said: 'There is no need to deploy troops; merely command Prince Norhita to face them, and the peril will resolve itself.' The king asked: 'Is that possible?' He replied: 'This boy will not only intimidate myriads of elephants; the more there are, the more he can handle.' Thereupon he ordered Norhita to go out south of the city. Norhita faced the elephants, patted his belly, and let out a great roar. Even the city walls and houses shook; the herds of elephants collapsed to the ground, unable to rise, and after a short while they all galloped away. Only then did the people of the country realize that their thirty years of peace were due to his protection. Because his son's spiritual power was so superior, the king marveled greatly at him and said to the Mahāsattva: 'This son was prophesied by the Buddha in the past, and moreover, his supernatural power is not something the mundane world can retain. I pray the Venerable Sir accept him to leave the household.' The Mahāsattva also thought: 'If I do not become his master, no one later will be able to liberate him.' He immediately commanded the holy assembly to shave Manorhita's hair and confer the precepts upon him in the royal palace. Manorhita was delighted to obtain liberation, and thereupon praised him with a verse: