道宣律師感通錄 1.31

1.31

Afterward, another deva came and said: "Your disciple is Huang Qiong." Having paid homage, he said: "The explanation of the sitting mat just given was exceptionally admirable, based upon the sūtras and treatises, without contradiction. Yet from beginning to end it was incomplete, and so I discuss it again. Originally, when the Buddha first delivered the five men and then the Kāśyapa brothers, he instituted the rule that the kaṣāya be on the left arm and the sitting mat beneath the kaṣāya. In the Western Regions, kings and ministers wore white fine cotton draped over their left shoulders. Therefore, the Buddha regulated that the robe be placed on the left arm to differ from the laity. When the monk Assaji converts beings through his deportment, the Dharma robes at that time were still not draped over the shoulder. Later, as more assemblies were delivered, the disciples gradually grew numerous. Young monks were dignified and handsome; entering the city to beg for food, they were widely admired by people. On this account, the Buddha instituted that the corner of the robe rest on the shoulder. Afterward, it was blown by the wind, so he permitted placing a heavy object on top to weigh it down. The monks did not grasp the Buddha's intention, and made things themselves to weigh down the robes, ornamenting them in various ways. The laity ridiculed them. The monks reported the matter to the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'What I previously permitted to be placed as a heavy object was precisely the sitting mat (niṣīdana); other things are impermissible.' Later, in Rājagṛha, there was a non-Buddhist named Dharmata who claimed omniscience. The clothes he wore were all fresh and white. He changed his clothes once a day and bathed thirty times a day. What he ate was all prepared with fragrant firewood and fragrant charcoal. The places where he dwelt were made of fragrant timbers, and the plaster was mixed with fragrant juices. In his gardens he planted only fragrant trees, and the flowers and medicinal herbs he cultivated were all fragrant. The flowing springs and pond waters were filled with gośīrṣa sandalwood to make the water within clean and fragrant. Even Śakra's Garden of Joy could not surpass it. At that time, the World-Honoured One was leading the monks into the city to beg for food, holding robes and bowls, with their sitting mats upon their shoulders. Some non-Buddhists said to Dharmata: 'Now the recluse Gautama has entered the city to beg for food. You may go debate with him and subdue him to follow you, the great master.' Then Dharmata led his disciples, wearing a fine cotton cloth worth a thousand liang of purple-sheen refined gold, and approached the Buddha's place. At that time, the great Brahmā King invited the Buddha to ascend to heaven. When the non-Buddhists arrived, they saw only the monks. He then asked the monks: 'What is the piece of cloth on your shoulders used for?' They replied: 'It is intended for sitting upon.' He also asked: 'What is the robe you wear called?' They replied: 'The armor of forbearance.'