大唐西域記 3.30

3.30

此太子正后生也，儀貌妍雅，慈仁夙著。正后終沒，繼室憍婬，縱其惛愚，私逼太子。太子瀝泣引責，退身謝罪。繼母見違，彌增忿怒，候王閑隙，從容言曰：「夫呾叉始羅，國之要領，非親子弟，其可寄乎？今者，太子仁孝著聞，親賢之故，物議斯在。」王或聞說，雅悅姦謀，即命太子，而誡之曰：「吾承餘緒，垂統繼業，唯恐失墜，忝負先王。呾叉始羅國之襟帶，吾今命爾作鎮彼國。國事殷重，人情詭雜，無妄去就，有虧基緒。凡有召命，驗吾齒印。印在吾口，其有謬乎？」於是太子銜命來鎮。歲月雖淹，繼室彌怒，詐發制書，紫泥封記，候王眠睡，竊齒為印，馳使而往，賜以責書。輔臣跪讀，相顧失圖。太子問曰：「何所悲乎？」曰：「大王有命，書責太子，抉去兩目，逐棄山谷，任其夫妻，隨時生死。雖有此命，尚未可依。今宜重請，面縛待罪。」太子曰：「父而賜死，其可辭乎？齒印為封，誠無謬矣。」命旃荼羅抉去其眼。眼既失明，乞貸自濟，流離展轉，至父都城。其妻告曰：「此是王城。嗟乎，飢寒良苦！昔為王子，今作乞人！願得聞知，重申先責。」於是謀計，入王內廐，於夜後分，泣對清風，長嘯悲吟，箜篌鼓和。王在高樓，聞其雅唱，辭甚怨悲，怪而問曰：「箜篌歌聲，似是吾子，今以何故而來此乎？」即問內廐：「誰為歌嘯？」遂將盲人，而來對旨。王見太子，銜悲問曰：「誰害汝身，遭此禍釁？愛子喪明，猶自不覺，凡百黎元，如何究察？天乎，天乎，何德之衰！」太子悲泣，謝而對曰：「誠以不孝，負責於天，某年日月，忽奉慈旨，無由致辭，不敢逃責。」其王心知繼室為不軌也，無所究察，便加刑辟。時菩提樹伽藍有瞿沙（唐言妙音）大阿羅漢者，四辯無礙，三明具足。王將盲子，陳告其事，唯願慈悲，令得復明。時彼羅漢受王請已，即於是日宣令國人：「吾於後日，欲說妙理，人持一器，來此聽法，以盛泣淚也。」於是遠近相趨，士女雲集。是時阿羅漢說十二因緣，凡厥聞法，莫不悲耿，以所持器，盛其瀝泣。說法既已，總收眾淚，置之金盤，而自誓曰：「凡吾所說，諸佛至理。理若不真，說有紕繆，斯則已矣；如其不爾，願以眾淚，洗彼盲眼，眼得復明，明視如昔。」發是語訖，持淚洗眼，眼遂復明。王乃責彼輔臣，詰諸僚佐，或黜或放，或遷或死。諸豪世俗移居雪山東北沙磧之中。

because of his attachment to the good his fame is in every mouth." The king listening to her seducing words, agreed willingly with the vile plot, and forthwith gave orders to his eldest son in these words : "I have received my royal inheritance in succession, and I desire to hand it down to those who follow me ; my only fear is lest I should lose aught of it and so dishonour my ancestors. I now confide to you the government of Ta-ch'a-shi-lo. The affairs of a country are of serious importance ; the feelings of men are contradictory ; undertake nothing rashly, so as to endanger your authority ; verify the orders sent you ; my seal is the impression of my teeth ; here in my mouth is my seal. There can be no mistake." On this the prince, receiving his orders, went to establish order. And so months passed on, yet the step-mother's hatred did but increase. Accordingly she wrote a dispatch and sealed it with red wax, and then, waiting till the king was asleep, she stamped it secretly with his tooth impression, and sent it off by a messenger with all dispatch as a letter of accusation. His ministers having read the letter, were confused, and looked at one another with dismay.

The prince then asked them what moved them so. They said, "The Maharaja has sent a dispatch accusing the prince, and ordering both his eyes to be put out, and that he be taken with his wife to the mountains, and there left to die. Although this order has come, we dare not obey it ; but we will ask afresh for directions, and keep you bound till the reply comes." The prince said, "My father, if he has ordered my death, must be obeyed ; and the seal of his teeth is a sure sign of the truth of the order. There can be no error." Then he ordered a Chandala to pluck out his eyes ; and having thus lost his sight, he wandered forth to beg for his daily support. As he travelled on far away, he came to his father's capital town. His wife said to him, "There is the royal city." "Alas!" he said, "what pain I endure from hunger and cold. I was a prince; I am a beggar. Oh, that I could make myself known and get redress for the false charge formerly brought against me!" On this he contrived to enter the king's inner bureau, and in the after part of the night he began to weep, and with a plaintive voice, accompanied with the sound of a lute, he sang a mournful song. The king, who was in an upper chamber, hearing these wonderful strains full of sadness and suffering, was surprised, and inquired, "From the notes of the lute and the sound of the voice I take this to be my son; but why has he come here?" He immediately said to his court attendant, "Who is that singing so?"

Forthwith he brought the blind man into his presence and placed him before the king. The king, seeing the prince, overwhelmed with grief, exclaimed, "Who has thus injured you? Who has caused this misery, that my beloved son should be deprived of sight? Not one of all his people can he see. Alas! what an end to come to! O heavens! O heavens! what a misfortune is this!" yielding to his tears, thanked (his father) and replied, "In truth, for want of filial piety have I thus been punished by Heaven. In such a year and such a month and such a day suddenly there came a loving order (or an order from my mother). Having no means of excusing myself, I dared not shrink from the punishment." The king's heart, knowing that the second wife had committed this crime, without any further inquiry caused her to be put to death.

By the side of the stūpa of the "sacrificed head" is a saṅghārāma, of which the surrounding courts are deserted and overgrown; there are (nevertheless) a few priests. It was here in old days the master of sastras Kumaralabdha, belonging to the school of Sutras (Sautrantikas), composed several treatises. Outside the city to the south-east, on the shady side of a mountain, there is a stupa, in height 100 feet or so; this is the place where they put out the eyes of Ku-lang-na (for Ku-na-lang-na, Kunala), who had been unjustly accused by his step-mother; it was built by Asoka-raja. When the blind pray to it (or before it) with fervent faith, many of them recover their sight. This prince (Kunala) was the son of the rightful queen. His person was graceful and his disposition loving and humane. When the queen-royal was dead, her successor (the step-mother) was dissolute and unprincipled. Following her wild and foolish preference, she made proposals to the prince; he, when she solicited him, reproached her with tears, and departed, refusing to be guilty of such a crime. The step-mother, seeing that he rejected her, was filled with wrath and hatred; waiting for an interval when she was with the king, she addressed him thus: "To whom should your majesty intrust the government of Ta-ch'a-shi-lo but to your own son? The prince is renowned for his humanity and obedience;