傳法正宗記 3.19

3.19

Thereupon, those people were all greatly moved and awakened, and immediately sought to take him as their master. The Great Being conferred ordination on all of them. He assembled the host of noble ones to bestow the precepts upon them, with Deva as their leader. It happened that there were five thousand outsiders who had previously promoted great illusory arts in that country; the king and the people of the country all followed them in swept-away fashion, and the Buddha-path was about to be obstructed. At this, the Great Being felt deep regret and indignation; he thereupon changed his deportment, wore white clothes and held a banner, and whenever the king went out, he ran in front of his procession, sometimes hidden, sometimes manifest. This went on for seven years in all. One day, the king found it very strange, and using gentle words summoned him and asked, "Who on earth are you, that you constantly walk in front of me? When pursued you cannot be caught, and when let go you do not depart." The Great Being said, "I am a man of wisdom who knows all things." The king was again startled by his words, and wishing to test him, said, "What are the devas doing right now?" He said, "The devas are right now fighting with the asuras." The king said, "How could affairs of the heavens be easily made clear?" He said, "Just wait a moment, and there will be proof." Before long, halberds and lances, mixed with human hands and feet, suddenly fell down from the sky in profusion. When the king saw this, he believed it, sighed in admiration, and submitted, commanding the host of outsiders to take refuge in and pay homage to the Great Being. The outsiders all sought to rectify their views. The Great Being thereupon composed various treatises, such as the *Prajñāpāramitā-śāstra*, the *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā*, and the *Dvādaśamukha-śāstra*, not merely tens of thousands of verses; all of them expediently explained and revealed the correct Dharma to correspond with their capacities. Later, he commanded Kāṇadeva, saying, "The Tathāgata entrusted the great Dharma-eye treasury to Kāśyapa, down to myself. I now entrust it to you. Listen to my verse:"