大唐西域記 8.37

8.37

金剛座上菩提樹者，即畢鉢羅之樹也。昔佛在世，高數百尺，屢經殘伐，猶高四五丈。佛坐其下成等正覺，因而謂之菩提樹焉。莖幹黃白，枝葉青翠，冬夏不凋，光鮮無變。每至如來涅槃之日，葉皆凋落，頃之復故。是日也，諸國君王，異方法俗，數千萬眾，不召而集，香水香乳，以溉以洗，於是奏音樂，列香花，燈炬繼日，競修供養。如來寂滅之後，無憂王之初嗣位也，信受邪道，毀佛遺迹，興發兵徒，躬臨剪伐。根莖枝葉，分寸斬截，次西數十步而積聚焉，令事火婆羅門燒以祠天，煙焰未靜，忽生兩樹，猛火之中，茂葉含翠，因而謂之灰菩提樹。無憂王覩異悔過，以香乳溉餘根，洎乎將旦，樹生如本。王見靈怪，重深欣慶，躬修供養，樂以忘歸。王妃素信外道，密遣使人，夜分之後，重伐其樹。無憂王旦將禮敬，唯見櫱株，深增悲慨，至誠祈請，香乳溉灌，不日還生。王深敬異，壘石周垣，其高十餘尺，今猶見在。近設賞迦王者，信受外道，毀嫉佛法，壞僧伽藍，伐菩提樹，掘至泉水，不盡根柢，乃縱火焚燒，以甘蔗汁沃之，欲其燋爛，絕滅遺萌。數月後，摩揭陀國補剌拏伐摩王（唐言滿胄），無憂王之末孫也，聞而歎曰：「慧日已隱，唯餘佛樹，今復摧殘，生靈何覩！」舉身投地，哀感動物。以數千牛搆乳而溉，經夜樹生，其高丈餘。恐後剪伐，周峙石垣，高二丈四尺。故今菩提樹隱於石壁，出一丈餘。

so he raised an army, and himself taking the lead, he came here for the purpose of destroying (the tree). He cut through the roots; the trunk, branches, and leaves were all divided into small bits and heaped up in a pile a few tens of paces to the west of the place. Then he ordered a Brahman who sacrificed to fire to burn them in the discharge of his religious worship. Scarcely had the smoke cleared away, when lo! a double tree burst forth from the flaming fire, and because the leaves and branches were shining like feathers, it was called the "ashes bodhi tree." Asoka-raja, seeing the miracle, repented of his crime. He bathed the roots (of the old tree) with perfumed milk to fertilise them, when lo! on the morning of the next day, the tree sprang up as before. The king, seeing the miraculous portent, was overpowered with deep emotion, and himself offered religious gifts, and was so overjoyed that he forgot to return (to the palace). The queen, who was an adherent of the heretics, sent secretly a messenger, who, after the first division of night, once more cut it down. Asoka-raja in the morning coming again to worship at the tree, seeing only the mutilated trunk, was filled with exceeding grief. With the utmost sincerity he prayed as he worshipped; he bathed the roots with perfumed milk, and in less than a day again the tree was restored. The king, moved by deep reverence at the prodigy, surrounded the tree with a stone (brick) wall above 10 feet, which still remains visible.

The old people say that "as soon as the figures of this Bodhisattva sink in the ground and disappear, the law of Buddha will come to an end." The figure at the south angle is now buried up to its breast. The Bodhi tree above the diamond throne is the same as the Pippala tree. In old days, when Buddha was alive, it was several hundred feet high. Although it has often been injured by cutting, it still is 40 or 50 feet in height. Buddha sitting under this tree reached perfect wisdom, and therefore it is called the (Samyak-sambodhi) tree of knowledge (Pu-ti—Bodhi). The bark is of a yellowish-white colour, the leaves and twigs of a dark green. The leaves wither not either in winter or summer, but they remain shining and glistening all the year round without change. But at every successive Nirvana-day (of the Buddhas) the leaves wither and fall, and then in a moment revive as before. On this day (of the Nirvana?) the princes of different countries and the religious multitude from different quarters assemble by thousands and ten thousands unbidden, and bathe (the roots) with scented water and perfumed milk; whilst they raise the sounds of music and scatter flowers and perfumes, and whilst the light of day is continued by the burning torches, they offer their religious gifts. After the Nirvana of Tathagata, when Asoka-raja began to reign, he was an unbeliever (a believer in heresy), and he desired to destroy the bequeathed traces of Buddha;

In late times Sas'anka-raja (She-shang-kia), being a believer in heresy, slandered the religion of Buddha, and through envy destroyed the convents and cut down the Bodhi tree, digging it up to the very springs of the earth; but yet he did not get to the bottom of the roots. Then he burnt it with fire and sprinkled it with the juice of the sugar-cane, desiring to destroy it entirely, and not leave a trace of it behind. Some months afterwards, the king of Magadha, called Purnavarma (Pu-la-na-fa-mo), the last of the race of Asoka-raja, hearing of it, sighed and said, "The sun of wisdom having set, nothing is left but the tree of Buddha, and this they now have destroyed, what source of spiritual life is there now?" He then cast his body on the ground overcome with pity; then with the milk of a thousand cows he again bathed the roots of the tree, and in a night it once more revived and grew to the height of some 10 feet. Fearing lest it should be again cut down, he surrounded it with a wall of stone 24 feet high. So the tree is now encircled with a wall about 20 feet high. To the east of the Bodhi tree there is a vihara about 160 or 170 feet high. Its lower foundation-wall is 20 or more paces in its face. The building (pile) is of blue tiles (bricks) covered with chunam (burnt stone, lime); all the niches in the different storeys hold golden figures. The four sides of the building are covered with wonderful ornamental work;