三寶感應要略錄 2.102

2.102

唐豫州有一老母。不知俗姓。唯事神通。不信三寶。人舉名稱神母。邪見覆心。不往詣塔寺邊。若行路時。遇比丘僧。掩目而還。時忽一頭黃牛。在女門外而立。經於三日。更無牛主。神母自謂神助。自往牽牛。牛力強遂不隨之。女解衣帶繫牛鼻。牛牽入佛寺。女人惜牛及帶故。掩眼入寺。背佛而立。爾時眾僧驚出。生悲愍故。各稱南謨大般若波羅蜜多經。神母捨牛走出。臨小河洗耳云。我聞不祥事。所謂南無大般若波羅密多經。三稱此言。自謂與水墮。即還其家。牛忽不見。後時神母遭疾而死。嫡女思慕之。夢告曰。我死至于閻魔法王處。唯有惡業莊嚴身。全無少分善根。國王捻札而徵嘆云。汝有聞般若稱名善。還於人間。應持般若。然人業盡遂生忉利天。不應生憂念。夢覺而寫般若將三百餘卷見在矣。

In Yuzhou during the Tang, there was an old mother whose lay surname was unknown. She exclusively served divine spirits and did not believe in the Three Jewels. People universally called her "the spirit-mother." With wrong views veiling her mind, she would not go near stupas or monasteries. When walking on the road, if she encountered a bhikṣu, she would cover her eyes and turn back. At that time, a yellow ox suddenly stood outside the woman's gate. After three days, there was still no owner for the ox. The spirit-mother thought to herself that it was a divine aid, and went personally to pull the ox. The ox's strength was great, and it would not follow her. The woman untied her sash and tied it to the ox's nose. The ox pulled her into a Buddhist monastery. Because the woman begrudged losing the ox and the sash, she covered her eyes, entered the monastery, and stood with her back to the Buddha. At that time, the monks came out in surprise and, giving rise to compassion, each chanted, "Namo Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra." The spirit-mother abandoned the ox, ran out, went to a small river, and washed her ears, saying: "I have heard an inauspicious thing, namely: 'Namo Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra.'" Having chanted these words three times, she thought to herself that they would wash away with the water, and immediately returned home. The ox suddenly vanished. Later, the spirit-mother fell ill and died. Her eldest daughter mourned for her, and [the mother] told her in a dream: "When I died, I arrived at the place of King Yama. I had only evil karma adorning my body, with not the slightest bit of wholesome roots. The king picked up his records, investigated, and sighed, saying, 'You have the good of hearing the Prajñā and chanting its title; returning to the human world, you should uphold the Prajñā.' However, as my human karma was exhausted, I have now been born in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. You should not harbor sorrowful thoughts." Awakening from the dream, she copied nearly three hundred scrolls of the Prajñā, which still exist.