傳法正宗記 3.52

3.52

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: