三寶感應要略錄 2.33

2.33

釋迦昔無數劫中。在凡夫時名遮他。在加倫羅國。作於商客販賣活。虛妄無實。造諸惡行。害父愛母。逕由數年。舉國人民一皆知之。稱聲唱言。遮他陀害父愛母。爾時思念。與畜無異。時夜跳城。奔走趣於深澤。國王毘闍羅。告國人民。此又婬癡無道。其有能得者。當重賜寶物。國人各各受募。欲捕其身。即出國作沙門。在於他國。坐禪學道。晝夜泣淚。逕三十七年。以五逆障故。心不得三十七年。在於山窟。舉聲泣哭悲歎。下窟乞食。時道中地得一大鉢。中有一函經。更無餘經。唯有大集法悅捨苦陀羅尼經。此經能除百億劫生死五逆大罪。若有受持讀誦者。終不墮三途。何以故。過恒河沙諸佛所說故。是時得此經已。即不乞食。歡喜向窟中。燒香禮拜。悲淚讚仰。於窟中修習讀誦。經一年始得。以罪業障故。不能入心懷更數年修行。飛行無礙。見十方諸佛。復有行者。如法行之云云。

Formerly, countless kalpas ago, when Śākyamuni was an ordinary person, his name was Cheda. In the country of Kālunluo, he made his living as a merchant by trading. He was deceitful and untrue, committed various evil deeds, killed his father, and lusted after his mother. After several years had passed, all the people throughout the country knew of it, calling out aloud, "Chedatha has killed his father and lusted after his mother!" He then thought to himself that he was no different from a beast. Then, by night, he leaped over the city wall and fled into deep marshes. The king of the country, Vijaya, proclaimed to the people of the country, "This man is moreover lustful, foolish, and devoid of the Way. Whoever can capture him will be richly rewarded with treasures." The people of the country each accepted the enlistment, wishing to arrest him. He then left the country and became a śramaṇa. In another country, he practiced seated meditation and studied the Way, weeping tears day and night. Thirty-seven years passed; because of the obstacle of the five inexpiable sins, for thirty-seven years his mind could not attain [peace]. In a mountain cave, he wailed aloud and lamented sorrowfully. Descending from the cave to beg for food, he found a large almsbowl on the road, inside which was a box containing a sūtra. There was no other scripture, only the Mahāsaṃnipāta-dhāraṇī-sūtra on Gathering Dharma Delight and Renouncing Suffering. This sūtra can eliminate the great sins of the five inexpiable offenses in birth and death for hundreds of billions of kalpas. If anyone receives, upholds, reads, and recites it, they will never fall into the three wretched realms. Why? Because it was spoken by Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. When he obtained this scripture, he immediately gave up begging for food. With joy, he faced the cave, burned incense, paid homage, and with sorrowful tears praised and gazed up at it. Practicing, reading, and reciting it in the cave, it was only after one year that he first mastered it. Because of the obstacle of his sinful karma, it could not enter his heart. After several more years of cultivation, he flew through the air without hindrance and saw the Buddhas of the ten directions. Furthermore, there are practitioners who practice it in accordance with the Dharma, and so forth.