雜譬喻經 1.21

1.21

Kāśyapa's father was named Nyagrodha, a man of Magadha who came from a brahman clan. Due to past merit, he was born into great worldly wealth; his rare treasures and precious gems were the foremost in that land, only one-thousandth less than the riches of the king of the country. The couple was alone, lacking any children. Close beside their house stood a great tree spirit. Wishing to have a child, the couple prayed to the tree spirit, offering animal sacrifices year after year without interruption. Yet what they sought was completely without result from beginning to end. The man grew furious and gave an ultimatum, warning the tree spirit: "I shall serve you with full devotion for seven more days. If there is still no response, I will cut you down, cast you at the head of the main highway, and burn you with fire!" Hearing his words, the tree spirit was greatly terrified, not knowing by what means to procure a son for him. He immediately went up and reported to the Heavenly King Xiyi, recounting the matter in full to the heavenly king. The Heavenly King Xiyi took the tree spirit to Śakra Devānām Indra and reported to him what had been said. Śakra then observed the desire realm with his divine eye, but there was no one capable of becoming his son. Śakra then reported to the Brahma King, recounting the matter in full to the Brahma King. The Brahma King then observed his own realm with his divine eye and saw a Brahmā deity whose lifespan was about to end. He said to him: "You may descend to be born in Jambudvīpa, to become the son of the brahman Nyagrodha of Magadha." The Brahmā deity replied, "Brahmans hold many wrong views. If I descend to be born, I cannot become his son." The Brahma King answered, "That brahman possesses great past virtue, and no being in the desire realm is capable of becoming his son. If you go to be born there, I will command Śakra Devānām Indra to protect and watch over you, so that you do not fall into wrong views along the way." The Brahmā deity said, "Yes, I shall not disobey your noble instruction." Śakra Devānām Indra then returned to the desire realm and conveyed this intention to the tree spirit. Joyful, the tree spirit returned to inform the śreṣṭhin: "Do not worry, do not fear, and harbor no anger! Seven days from now you will surely have a son." Just as he said, when the seven days were completed, the woman felt she was pregnant. After ten months had passed, the child was born, his body golden in color and radiant with light. A physiognomist divined: "This child has great majesty and virtue from past merit; his aspiration is lofty and untainted, not coveting worldly affairs. If he later leaves home, he will surely attain the holy path." Hearing this, the parents were again filled with great sorrow and worry: "We fear that when the child grows up, he will abandon us and leave home. By what means can we restrain him?" They reflected again: "What is valued in the desire realm is ultimately beautiful form. We should select a graceful, beautiful woman for him to bind him." When he reached the age of fifteen, they wished to arrange a marriage for him. Hearing this, Kāśyapa was filled with deep grief. He said to his parents, "My aspiration delights in purity; I have no need for a wife." Kāśyapa declined three times, but his parents' answer remained as before. Kāśyapa then said to his parents, "I will not take an ordinary woman as my wife. Only if you can find a woman of purple-golden color, matchlessly beautiful, will I take her." The reason he did so was that he wanted to ensure the matter could never be accomplished.