三寶感應要略錄 3.3

3.3

Mañjuśrī was formerly translated as Miaode ("Wondrous Virtue") and newly translated as Miaojixiang ("Wondrous Auspiciousness"). There are two aspects to establishing his name. First, in terms of conventional reality, his name is revealed through auspicious signs. This bodhisattva possesses great compassion and was born in the house of the brahman Brahmavajra (Fande) in the village of Tāro in the kingdom of Śrāvastī. At the time of his birth, the rooms inside the house transformed entirely like lotuses. He was born from his mother's right side, his body was purple-golden, and when he fell to the ground he was able to speak like a divine boy. A canopy of seven jewels followed and covered him from above. He possessed ten kinds of sympathetic response events, and so was named Miaojixiang: first, the heavens rained sweet dew; second, hidden treasures welled up from the earth; third, the granaries turned into golden grain; fourth, golden lotuses grew in the courtyard; fifth, bright light filled the chambers; sixth, chickens gave birth to phoenixes; seventh, horses gave birth to qilin; eighth, cows gave birth to white yaks; ninth, pigs gave birth to dragon piglets; tenth, a six-tusked elephant appeared. Thus, the bodhisattva's name was revealed through auspicious signs. Second, the name is established according to ultimate truth: as the Vajraśekhara-sūtra says, because the bodhisattva's body universally gathers the Tathāgata-bodies equal to the entire Dharma-realm, all Tathāgatas' wisdom, and all Tathāgatas' supernormal transformations and sports, and is already exceedingly wondrous and auspicious, he is called Miaojixiang ("Wondrous Auspiciousness").