辯正論 7.4.5

7.4.5

毀壞浮圖。 尊像縱橫瓦木傾墜。 俄而雲霧暗天風塵勃起。 晦即怖走。 隊人驚散莫知去所。 晦等夜夢。 咸見沙門飛騰空中光明顯赫。 又見二人形悉丈餘。 雄姿甚偉厲聲瞋目。 君所行違道。 尋當自見。 其後隊人吏皆身著癩病經時而死。 餘人並犯法就終。 謝晦連年瘠病。 後因謀叛合家被誅皆非命而卒也）孫皓溺像陰疼累月（宣驗記云。 吳主孫皓性甚暴虐。 作事不近人情。 與婇女看治園地土。 下忽得一軀金像。 形相明嚴。 皓令置像廁傍。 使持屏籌。 到四月八日。 皓乃溺像頭上。 笑而言曰。 今是八日為儞灌頂。 對諸婇女以為戲樂。 在後經時陰囊忽腫。 疼痛壯熱不可堪任。 自夜達晨苦痛求死。 名醫上藥治而轉增。 太史占曰犯大神所為勅令祈禱靈廟。 一禱一劇上下無計。 中宮有一婇女。 先奉佛法。 內有所知。 凡所記事往往甚中。 奏云。 陛下求佛圖未。 皓問。 佛大神耶。 女曰。 天上天下尊莫過佛。 陛下前所得像猶在廁傍。 請收供養。 腫必立差。 皓以痛急即具香湯。 手自洗像置之殿上。 叩頭謝過一心求哀。 當夜痛止腫即隨消。 即於康僧會請受五戒。 起大佛寺供養眾僧也）朱恭殺尼而墮廁（宋有惡人朱恭。 每以殺盜為業。 夜至蓮花寺殺尼盜物。 一夜遶院而走不知出處。 遂墮露廁而死。 背猶負物。 出搜神錄）董禮劫僧而殞牛（董禮常以盜僧為業。 得財於家盛命賓客。 忽有狂牛自外而入。 於坐觸禮戴角而死。 出梁後記）平業融像而眼盲（梁人崔平業善弓馬。 為武士監軍。 一生以偷佛融銅為業。 賣銅以供酒肉心無慚懼。 至年五十妻子兄弟並亡。 唯業一身。 忽病目障。 飢寒並至致餓而死。 出梁後記也）鎮惡盜鍾而舌縮（梁人道士王鎮惡。 有學問而無善心。 出言多所非毀。 亦為時人所嫌。 輕慢佛法見僧必哢。 後以教學為業。 時有鹿溪寺僧法滿。 寄銅鍾一口於其學內。 未取之間。 鎮惡盜以鑄錢。 後與法滿對誓。 經年重病而舌攣縮口不得言。 既知負誓。 乃捨資財鑄鍾贖罪。 至死口不得語。 出王氏家誡也）祖深獻書而著白癩（梁人郭祖深。 上梁武帝一十八條事。 請廢墎內小寺及無案業僧尼。 梁武不納。 後夢見善神唾之。 遂著白癩。 雖悔不差。 出冤魂記也）元嵩上法而患熱風（衛元嵩毀法之後。 身著熱風委頓而死也）上客死而羊鳴（顏氏云。 王克為永嘉郡。 有人攘羊集賓欲讌。 而羊繩解來投一客。 先跪兩拜便入衣中。 此客竟不言之。 固無救請。 須臾宰為炙先行至客。 一臠入口便下皮內。 周行遍體痛楚號叫。 方復說之。 還作羊鳴而死）縣令醒而瘡發（梁時有人為縣令寄在寺。 住民將牛酒祚令。 令便以牛繫剎柱。 屏除佛像布設床座。 於佛堂上接賓。 未殺之頃牛解徑來至階而拜。 縣令大笑。 命左右宰之。 飲噉飽醉便臥簷下。 投醒即覺體痒。 爬搔隱軫因。 爾成癩。 十年方死。 出顏氏家訓也）部曲生男自然無手。 朝請噉炙如劍入身（楊思達為西陽郡。 值侯景亂。 時復旱儉。 民盜田中麥。 思達遣一部曲守視。 所得盜者輙截手臂。 凡截十餘人部曲後生一男。 自然無手。 齊國有一奉朝請家甚豪侈。 非手殺牛則噉之不美。 年三十許病篤便見牛來觸膚體。 如被刀刺叫呼而死。 出顏氏家語也）梁人沐髮頂上雞聲（梁世有人常以雞卵白和沐。 云使髮光。 每沐輙破二三十枚雞子。 臨終髮中但聞啾啾數千雞兒聲。 出顏氏家語）劉氏賣羹兒頭似鱓（江陵劉氏以賣鱓羹為業。 後生一兒。 頭真是鱓。 自頸已下方為人身出顏氏家語）觀夫信毀之迹。 寔由影之附形。 谷之傳響也。 耳聞之與目驗。 可略而言。 勗哉吾子。 幸能自免。 儒生曰。 察師誠旨。 則善惡孱然信毀交報。 竊見顏回德行反值殀年。

destroyed the stupas. Venerable images were strewn about; tiles and timbers collapsed. In an instant, clouds and mist darkened the sky, and wind and dust swept up furiously. [Xie] Hui fled in terror, and his squad scattered in panic, none knowing where to go. That night, Hui and the others all dreamt of a śramaṇa soaring in the sky with brilliant, dazzling light. They also saw two figures, each over ten feet tall, of formidable and heroic bearing, who cast fierce looks and scolded in harsh voices: 'What you have done transgresses the Way; you will soon face the retribution yourself!' Thereafter, the squad members and officers were all stricken with leprosy and died in due course; the remaining men likewise ran afoul of the law and met their ends. Xie Hui suffered from wasting illness for consecutive years, and was later executed along with his entire clan for plotting rebellion—none died a natural death.) Sun Hao urinated on an image and suffered genital pain for successive months (The Xuan Yan Ji states: Sun Hao, the ruler of Wu, was extremely cruel and tyrannical, acting contrary to human sentiment. While supervising the clearing of ground in the garden with palace maidens, they suddenly unearthed a golden image from the soil, luminous and solemn in appearance. Hao ordered the image placed beside the privy, making it hold the cleansing sticks. When the eighth day of the fourth month arrived, Hao urinated onto the image's head, laughing and saying: 'Today is the eighth day, and I perform the lustration for you!' He treated this as a source of amusement before the palace maidens. Afterward, some time later, his scrotum suddenly swelled, causing agonizing, burning pain that was intolerable. From night until morning, he suffered so terribly that he begged for death. Famous physicians applied fine medicines, but his condition only worsened. The Grand Astrologer divined that he had offended a great spirit, whereupon an edict was issued commanding prayers at sacred shrines. Yet with each prayer the affliction grew more severe; high and low were at their wits' end. In the inner palace was a maiden who had previously revered the Buddha's Dharma and possessed inner discernment; whatever matters she recorded often proved remarkably accurate. She memorialized: 'Has Your Majesty sought the Buddha?' Hao asked: 'Is the Buddha a great spirit?' The maiden replied: 'In heaven and on earth, none is more revered than the Buddha. The image Your Majesty found earlier remains beside the privy; please retrieve and make offerings to it, and your swelling will surely cease at once.' In dire pain, Hao immediately prepared fragrant water, washed the image with his own hands, placed it in the palace hall, kowtowed in confession, and single-mindedly implored for mercy. That very night the pain stopped, and the swelling dissipated accordingly. Thereupon he requested to receive the five precepts from Kang Senghui, erected a great Buddhist monastery, and made offerings to the assembly of monks.) Zhu Gong killed a nun and fell into a privy (In the Song, there was an evil man named Zhu Gong who made robbery and murder his profession. One night he went to Lianhua Monastery, killed a nun, and stole goods. Throughout the night he ran around the courtyard, unable to find an exit. He eventually fell into an open privy and died, with the stolen goods still strapped to his back. This is from the Soushen lu.) Dong Li robbed monks and was slain by an ox (Dong Li habitually made his living by robbing monks. Having obtained wealth, he lavishly entertained guests at home. Suddenly a mad ox burst in from outside, charged at Li right at his seat, and gored him to death upon its horns. This is from the Liang Hou Ji.) Pingye melted statues and went blind (Cui Pingye of the Liang was skilled in archery and horsemanship, serving as a warrior supervisor. Throughout his life he made a trade of stealing Buddha statues and melting down the bronze, selling the metal to fund his wine and meat without shame or fear. By the age of fifty, his wife, children, and siblings had all died, leaving him entirely alone. He suddenly suffered cataracts, and with hunger and cold arriving together, he starved to death. This is from the Liang Hou Ji.) Zhen'e stole a bell and his tongue retracted (Wang Zhen'e, a Daoist master of the Liang, had learning but lacked a good heart. His speech consisted largely of slander and disparagement, and he was despised by his contemporaries. He showed contempt for the Buddha's Dharma and invariably mocked any monk he met. Later he made a living by teaching. At the time, the monk Faman of Luxi Monastery left a bronze bell in his schoolhouse. Before it was retrieved, Zhen'e stole it to cast coins. Later, he took an oath confronting Faman. Within a year he fell gravely ill, his tongue contracted, and he could not speak. Realizing he had broken his oath, he gave away his property to cast a bell to atone for his transgression, but he remained unable to speak until his death. This is from the Family Admonitions of Mr. Wang.) Zushen presented a memorial and contracted white leprosy (Guo Zushen of the Liang submitted eighteen points to Emperor Wu of Liang, requesting the abolition of small temples within the outer walls and the secularization of monks and nuns without recorded monastic duties. Emperor Wu did not adopt them. Later, Zushen dreamt of a benevolent deity spitting upon him; he consequently contracted white leprosy. Although he repented, he did not recover. This is from the Yuanhun ji.) Yuansong opposed the Dharma and suffered hot winds (After Wei Yuansong disparaged the Dharma, he contracted hot winds, fell into debilitation, and died.) The guest of honor died and bleated like a sheep (Yan [Zhitui] says: When Wang Ke served as governor of Yongjia Commandery, someone stole a sheep and gathered guests to hold a banquet. The sheep slipped its cord, came and threw itself before a guest, first kneeling in two prostrations and then crawling into his robes. The guest never said a word about it and certainly made no plea to save it. Soon afterward, it was slaughtered and roasted; the roast was first served to this guest. As soon as a piece entered his mouth, it went beneath his skin, traveling through his entire body with piercing agony so that he cried out. Only then did he recount what had happened; he died bleating like a sheep.) The magistrate sobered up and sores erupted (During the Liang, a man served as a county magistrate while staying in a monastery. The local residents brought an ox and wine to bless the magistrate. The magistrate then tied the ox to a stupa pillar, set aside the Buddha images, arranged benches and mats, and received his guests in the Buddha hall. Before the slaughter, the ox slipped its tether, went straight to the stairs, and bowed. The magistrate laughed aloud and commanded his attendants to butcher it. After eating and drinking to heavy intoxication, he lay down under the eaves. Upon awakening, he felt an itching all over his body, and scratch-marks erupted into swellings; from this, he contracted leprosy. He died ten years later. This is from the Family Instructions of the Yan Clan.) The retainer bore a son naturally lacking hands; the court attendant ate roasted meat as if a sword pierced his body (When Yang Sida served as governor of Xiyang Commandery, he met with the rebellion of Hou Jing. At the time there was also a drought and famine; the people stole wheat from the fields. Sida sent a retainer to guard it, who cut off the arms of every thief he caught, totaling more than ten people. Later, this retainer fathered a boy who was born without hands. In the state of Qi, there was an attendant-in-ordinary whose household was extremely extravagant; unless an ox was slaughtered by his own hand, he found its meat unpalatable. Around the age of thirty he fell gravely ill, and saw an ox charging to gore his body; shrieking as though pierced by blades, he died. This is from the Family Discourses of the Yan Clan.) A Liang man washed his hair with sounds of chicks on his crown (In the Liang era, there was a man who habitually blended chicken egg whites to wash his hair, saying it made hair glossy. Every time he washed, he cracked twenty to thirty eggs. As he lay dying, nothing could be heard from within his hair but the chirping of thousands of chicks. This is from the Family Discourses of the Yan Clan.) Madame Liu sold soup, and her child's head resembled an eel (Madame Liu of Jiangling made a living selling eel soup. Later, she gave birth to a child whose head was truly that of an eel, though from the neck down it had a human body. This is from the Family Discourses of the Yan Clan.) In observing the traces of faith and disparagement, they are indeed like a shadow following a form or an echo reverberating in a valley. Those heard with ears and verified with eyes can be recounted in brief. Exert yourself, my sir; may you fortunately avoid such calamity!' The Confucian scholar said: 'Examining the Master’s sincere intention, it would seem good and evil are distinct, and faith and disparagement each receive their retribution. Yet I observe that Yan Hui, despite his virtuous conduct, met an early death,