集神州三寶感通錄 2.5

2.5

Second: During the Wu, on the level ground of a rear garden in Jianye, a gold image was discovered. Investigating its origin, it had in fact been made by King Aśoka at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty to guard the river commandery. How is this known to be so? From the Qin, Han, and Wei dynasties there had not yet been the Buddhist Dharma; how could there have been an image buried in the ground south of the Yangtze? When Sun Hao obtained it, he had never believed in the Dharma and did not venerate it greatly. He placed it in a privy and had it hold the toilet spatulas. On the eighth day of the fourth month, Hao went to the privy and jokingly said, 'Today is the eighth day, the time to bathe the Buddha,' and then urinated on the head of the image. Soon thereafter, his entire body swelled, particularly severely in his private parts, and he cried out in agonizing pain. The Grand Astrologer divined: 'This is caused by offending a great deity.' He then offered sacrifices to the various gods and spirits everywhere, but in the end there was no effect. Among the singing women was one who had always believed in the Buddha, who said: 'The Buddha is a great deity. Your Majesty previously defiled him; you may now pray to him.' Hao believed her, prostrated on his pillow, and took refuge. After a short while he recovered. Thereupon, he dispatched a horse-drawn carriage to welcome the śramaṇa Seng Hui into the palace, washed the image with fragrant water, expressed remorse and apologies, renewed the cultivation of merit, and sent it to Jianchu Temple.