三寶感應要略錄 2.33

2.33

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.