三寶感應要略錄 3.73

3.73

蕳州金水縣侍郎。姓劉氏。有因緣往隣家。途中拾杖。見頭刻像。不知其何像。持歸插壁中。多歲不念所置。後遭疾而死。心胸少暖不葬之。經一日二夜。還活流淚。悔過自責。投身大地。家人問。主何故爾。答吾初死之時。兩騎冥官。介前與後。驅去至王廳。怒目呵視。時有一沙門形貌醜鄙。來至廳。王見敬之。從座而下。胡跪白沙門言。大士何因緣來至此。沙門曰。汝所召侍郎。是年來施主也。今欲救之。王言。業既決定。此事云何。沙門曰。吾昔於忉利天上。受釋迦如來付屬。能救定業眾生。豈捨侍郎。王言。大士志願堅固。不動如金剛山。須放還人間。沙門歡喜。執郎手還至生路。辭郎而別。郎白沙門言。不知君何人乎。沙門曰。吾是地藏菩薩也。汝平生時。途中見我像。持歸置壁中。能憶念不忘。作是言已。忽然不見。既見此勝利。憶昔怠過自責而已。聞者嘆異見壁。有杖頭像。苦加刻綵。高五寸像放光。安置家內。捨為精舍。號地藏院矣。

A vice director of Jinshui County in Jianzhou was surnamed Liu. Having business, he went to a neighbor's house, and along the way he picked up a walking stick. Seeing an image carved upon its head, he did not know what image it was. He brought it back and inserted it into a wall, not thinking of where it was placed for many years. Later, he fell ill and died. Because his chest remained slightly warm, he was not buried. After a day and two nights, he revived, weeping, repenting, reproaching himself, and throwing himself to the ground. His family asked: "Master, why are you doing this?" He replied: "When I first died, two underworld officers on horseback escorted me in front and behind, driving me to the king's hall, glaring angrily and scolding me. At that time, there was a śramaṇa of ugly and base appearance who came to the hall. The king showed him reverence upon seeing him, descended from his seat, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and said to the śramaṇa: 'Mahāsattva, for what reason have you come here?' The śramaṇa said: 'The vice director you have summoned has been my donor for years; I now wish to save him.' The king said: 'His karma is already fixed; how can this be?' The śramaṇa said: 'Formerly in Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, I received the entrustment of Śākyamuni Tathāgata to be able to save sentient beings of fixed karma; how could I abandon the vice director?' The king said: 'The Mahāsattva's resolution is firm, immovable like a diamond mountain; he must be released to return to the human realm.' The śramaṇa rejoiced, took the vice director by the hand, returned to the road of the living, and took his leave of the vice director. The vice director said to the śramaṇa: 'I do not know who you are, sir?' The śramaṇa said: 'I am Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. During your life, you saw my image on the road, brought it home, and placed it in the wall; you were able to be mindful of it without forgetting.' Having said these words, he suddenly vanished. Having seen this superior benefit, he merely reproached himself, recalling his past negligence." Those who heard of it marveled at it. Looking at the wall, they found the image atop the staff; with diligent effort they carved and colored it, and the five-inch-high image emitted light. They enshrined it in the house and relinquished the dwelling as a vihāra, calling it Kṣitigarbha Cloister.