傳法正宗記 4.4

4.4

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: