三寶感應要略錄 3.43

3.43

Having thus destroyed the eighteen naraka hells, he gathered and transformed them, preaching the Dharma for them. Next he entered the hungry ghost cities; from his right hand flowed five hundred rivers, and from his left hand flowed five hundred rivers, and in the sky he rained down sweet dew, so that all were fully satisfied, and he preached the Dharma for them. Furthermore, he entered among the animals, and with the light of wisdom broke their minds of ignorance, and preached the Dharma for them. The three wretched realms [were delivered] in a single instant. Śrīmitra, seeing this extraordinary event, personally painted the circumstances of the statue and inscribed them in carved stone. As for that efficacious statue, it is this very event. (The compiler notes: This matter is extraordinary; unless it were the solemn command of the Great Sage, it is inconceivable. Later, examining the newly translated Mahāyāna-kāraṇḍavyūha-sūtra, there is this manifestation of benefiting sentient beings; I have further compared it with that text. Wishing now to encourage the making of statues, I record this tradition for the time being. It is also said nowadays: In the Hongshi era, the Tang bhikṣu Śīla went to South India to the Avalokiteśvara Monastery at the site of Bodhisattva Mitra, and it was said to be this.)