大唐西域記 10.28

10.28

龍猛菩薩善閑藥術，飡餌養生，壽年數百，志貌不衰。引正王既得妙藥，壽亦數百。王有稚子，謂其母曰：「如我何時得嗣王位？」母曰：「以今觀之，未有期也。父王年壽已數百歲，子孫老終者蓋亦多矣。斯皆龍猛福力所加，藥術所致。菩薩寂滅，王必殂落。夫龍猛菩薩智慧弘遠，慈悲深厚，周給群有，身命若遺。汝宜往彼，試從乞頭，若遂此志，當果所願。」王子恭承母命，來至伽藍，門者敬懼，故得入焉。時龍猛菩薩方讚誦經行，忽見王子，佇而謂曰：「今夕何因，降跡僧坊，若危若懼，疾驅而至？」對曰：「我承慈母餘論，語及行捨之士，以為含生寶命，經語格言，未有輕捨報身，施諸求欲。我慈母曰：『不然。十方善逝，三世如來，在昔發心，逮乎證果，勤求佛道，修習戒忍。或投身𩚅獸，或割肌救鴿，月光王施婆羅門頭，慈力王飲餓藥叉血，諸若此類，羌難備舉。求之先覺，何代無人？』今龍猛菩薩篤斯高志，我有所求，人頭為用，招募累歲，未之有捨。欲行暴劫殺，則罪累尤多，虐害無辜，穢德彰顯。惟菩薩修習聖道，遠期佛果，慈霑有識，惠及無邊，輕生若浮，賤身如朽，不違本願，垂允所求！」龍猛曰：「俞，誠哉是言也！我求佛聖果，我學佛能捨，是身如響，是身如泡，流轉四生，去來六趣，宿契弘誓，不違物欲。然王子！有一不可者，其將若何？我身既終，汝父亦喪，顧斯為意，誰能濟之？」龍猛俳佪顧視，求所絕命，以乾茅葉自刎其頸，若利劍斷割，身首異處。王子見已，驚奔而去。門者上白，具陳始末，王聞哀感，果亦命終。

Nagarjuna Bodhisattva was well practised in the art of compounding medicines; by taking a preparation (pill or cake), he nourished the years of life for many hundreds of years, so that neither the mind nor appearance decayed. Sadvaha-raja had partaken of this mysterious medicine, and his years were already several hundred in number. The king had a young son who one day addressed his mother thus, "When shall I succeed to the royal estate?" His mother said, "There seems to me to be no chance of that yet; your father the king is now several hundred years old, his sons and grandsons are many of them dead and gone through old age. This is the result of the religious power of Nagarjuna, and the intimate knowledge he has of compounding medicines. The day the Bodhisattva dies the king will also succumb. Now the wisdom of this Nagarjuna is great and extensive, and his love and compassion very deep; he would give up for the benefit of living creatures his body and life. You ought, therefore, to go, and when you meet him, ask him to give you his head. If you do this, then you will get your desire."

The king's son, obedient to his mother's instructions, went to the gate of the convent. The doorkeeper, alarmed, ran away, and so he entered at once. Then Nagarjuna Bodhisattva was chanting as he walked up and down. Seeing the king's son he stopped, and said, "It is evening time now; why do you at such a time come so hastily to the priests' quarters? has some accident happened, or are you afraid of some calamity that you have hastened here at such a time?" He answered, "I was considering with my dear mother the words of different śāstras, and the examples (therein given) of sages who had forsaken (given up) the world, and I was led to remark on the great value set on life by all creatures, and that the scriptures, in their examples given of sacrifice, had not enforced this duty of giving up life readily for the sake of those who desired it. Then my dear mother said, 'Not so; the Sugatas (shen shi) of the ten regions, the Tathāgatas of the three ages, whilst living in the world and giving their hearts to the object, have obtained the fruit. They diligently sought the way of Buddha; practising the precepts, exercising patience, they gave up their bodies to feed wild beasts, cut their flesh to deliver the dove. Thus Rāja Chandraprabha (Yueh-kwang) gave up his head to the Brāhman; Maitribala (Ts'e li) rāja fed the hungry Yaksha with his blood.

To recite every similar example would be difficult, but in searching through the history of previous sages, what age is there that affords not examples? And so Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva is now actuated by similar high principles; as for myself, I have sought a man who for my advantage would give me his head, but have never yet found such a person for years. If I had wished to act with violence and take the life of a man (commit murder), the crime would have been great and entailed dreadful consequences. To have taken the life of an innocent child would have been infamous and disgraced my character. But the Bodhisattva diligently practises the holy way and aspires after a while to the fruit of Buddha. His love extends to all beings and his goodness knows no bounds. He esteems life as a bubble, his body as decaying wood. He would not contradict his purpose in refusing such a gift, if requested.'" Nagarjuna said, "Your comparisons and your words are true. I seek the holy fruit of a Buddha. I have learnt that a Buddha is able to give up all things, regarding the body as an echo, a bubble, passing through the four forms of life, continually coming and going in the six ways. My constant vow has been not to oppose the desires of living things. But there is one difficulty in the way of the king's son, and what is that? If I were to give up my life your father also would die. Think well of this, for who could then deliver him?"

Nagarjuna, irresolute, walked to and fro, seeking for something to end his life with; then taking a dry reed leaf, he cut his neck as if with a sword, and his head fell from his body. Having seen this, he (the royal prince) fled precipitately and returned. The guardian of the gate informed the king of the event from first to last, who whilst listening was so affected that he died.