三寶感應要略錄 3.41

3.41

秦姚興京兆沙門釋智猛。往遊西域。少年至南天竺尸利密多羅菩薩塔。側有精舍。破壞日久。中有金色觀世音菩薩像。雨霜不濕像身。誠心祈請。見空中蓋。傳聞於耆舊曰。昔有菩薩。名曰尸利密多。利生為懷。慈悲兼濟。最悲三途受苦眾生。更發造觀世音像。三年功畢。靈異感動。若專心祈請。為現妙身。指誨所願。菩薩於其像前。而作是念。觀世音菩薩。能滅二十五有苦。於中三途最重。靈像感通。助我誓願。將救重苦。至夜二更。靈像放光明。天地朗然。光中見十八泥梨受苦。及三十六餓鬼城苦。四十億畜生苦。靈像頓現百千軍帶金甲。各各執持杖刃戈棒。入十八泥梨。始自阿鼻旨。次第而摧破鑊器。苦具尋斷壞。爾時牛頭等一切獄率。皆生恐怖心。投捨苦器。馳走向閻魔城。而白王言。忽有百千騎兵軍眾。帶金甲執持戈刃。摧破鑊器。斷壞苦具。地獄反作涼池。苦器悉作蓮花。一切罪人。皆離苦惱。未曾見是事。如何所作。王曰。將非是觀世音所作事耶。我等不及也。即合掌向彼方說偈言。

During the Qin dynasty of Yao Xing, the śramaṇa Shi Zhimeng from Jingzhao travelled to the Western Regions. In his youth he arrived at the stūpa of the Bodhisattva Śrīmitra in South India. Beside it was a vihāra, which had long been in ruins. Inside was a golden statue of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara; rain and frost did not wet the body of the statue. He prayed with a sincere mind and saw a canopy in the air. He heard from the elders: 'In the past there was a bodhisattva named Śrīmitra, who took benefiting sentient beings to heart and possessed both loving-kindness and compassion to save them. Having the greatest pity for the sentient beings suffering in the three wretched realms, he further resolved to make a statue of Avalokiteśvara. In three years the work was completed. Its efficacious wonders moved people; if one prayed with focused mind, it would manifest a wondrous body to instruct and fulfill what was wished.' Before that statue, the Bodhisattva had thought: 'The Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara can eradicate the sufferings of the twenty-five states of existence; among them, those of the three wretched realms are the heaviest. May the efficacious statue respond and assist my vow to rescue them from heavy suffering.' In the second watch of the night, the efficacious statue radiated light, making heaven and earth bright. In the light were seen the sufferings of the eighteen naraka hells, the sufferings of the thirty-six hungry ghost cities, and the sufferings of the forty billion beasts. The efficacious statue suddenly manifested hundreds of thousands of troops wearing golden armor, each holding staves, blades, halberds, and clubs, who entered the eighteen naraka hells. Beginning from Avīci, they destroyed the cauldrons one after another, and the instruments of torture were immediately broken and destroyed. At that time, all the hell wardens, such as the ox-headed ones, felt fear; casting aside their torture implements, they ran to King Yama's city and reported to the king, saying: 'Suddenly there are hundreds of thousands of cavalry and troops, clad in golden armor and wielding halberds and blades, who have destroyed the cauldrons and smashed the instruments of torture. The hells have instead become cool ponds, the torture cauldrons have all turned into lotus flowers, and all the sinners have been freed from suffering. We have never seen such a thing! What should be done?' The king said: 'Could this not be the work of Avalokiteśvara? It is beyond our power.' Then, pressing his palms together toward that direction, he spoke a verse: