北山錄 3.2.1

3.2.1

劫初蒸民胥于粒食（蒸眾也。 胥相也。 地肥既盡則有自然粳米）香稻既盡。 分土作蓻（蓺治也。 人既侵奪。 乃分土田而各治之）為防疆里立大三末多王（三末多。 此乃聚落王慮有強者侵奪遂立一人為王供其輸貢令作民主）庶類欽承。 恩流率土。 重離繼體。 世祚天竺（君父繼紹作天竺之主也）至于淨飯。 凡八萬四千二百六十餘王（阿含經云。 過去有王名懿摩。 有四庶子。 一昭目。 二聯目。 三調伏象。 四尼樓聰。 並聰明神武有大威德。 第一夫人有子名生。 頑薄醜陋。 眾人所賤。 夫人慮四子奪其位。 遂譖王長黜之王即勅四子。 各速出國。 時諸力士一切人民願隨之去。 至雪山間住直樹林。 數年之內歸德若市。 遂為強國。 父思見之。 召而弗往。 父乃三歎我子有能。 以此命族為釋氏。 阿含經云。 釋林為姓。 故有釋姓。 釋即樹也）自懿師摩王之後有王名大善生。 凡七世姓瞿曇氏也（昔有國王。 父母早喪。 讓國焉弟。 捨位求道。 見一婆羅門。 姓瞿曇氏。 因從學道。 婆羅門言。 當解王衣如吾所服受瞿曇姓。 謂之小瞿曇菩薩也）自欝摩王之後有王名尼樓聰。 凡五世釋迦氏也（尼樓王生烏頭羅王。 烏頭羅王為迦維羅衛國主生瞿頭羅王。 瞿頭羅王生尸休羅王。 尸休羅王生四子。 一淨飯王。 二白飯王。 三斛飯王。 四甘露飯王。 淨飯王即佛父也）大士既百劫修相好（菩薩三大企耶劫修行至金剛喻定。 後百劫修相好。 千劫學威儀。 萬劫學化行也）而後相厥生莫如剎帝利婆羅門。 而剎帝利位重也（梵云剎帝利。 此云土田主。 則王種也）婆羅門德尊（梵語正云婆羅賀摩拏。 此云淨御。 是梵天苗裔。 唯五天有諸國所無。 為王者師故云德尊也）但劫濁澆微德不勝位。 故我不生婆羅門也。 雖微國無剎帝利（微無也）而世胄綿遠。 莫過於釋迦（自三末多王至淨飯王八萬四千二百六十餘王故）餘二姓卑寒生則不塞於人謗故大聖不生也（塞掩也。 二姓謂一鞞舍。 此云坐估俗多寶故以為名。 二戍達羅。 亦云首陀。 謂田農宦學者也）五天分野周九萬餘里。 三陲大海。 北背雪山。 有八大國十六大城七十餘小國。 時無輪王統御。 從于霸國之令（若有輪王。 小國咸服屬。 今既無輪王。 只以強者為霸者也）其猶諸夏春秋之時。 王道衰諸侯受制於桓文（周自幽王見殺之後。 平王東遷洛邑。 諸侯得以專征。 如晉文公齊桓公等）禮樂征伐非一人之由也（古者制禮作樂征伐之事。 皆須自於天子。 爾來專濫非從一人而出也）是摩竭提為大國（此云不至為此國將勇兵謀。 諸隣敵之兵皆不能至。 周五千里。 城少居人邑多編戶。 沃壤滋稼穡。 有香稻粒麤味殊。 彼俗謂之供大人米。 土地墊濕。 邑國居廛。 風淳俗質。 氣序溫和也）居海隅之中。 瓶沙王為君長（即頻婆娑羅。 此云顏色端正。 即阿闍世王父也）冠群后之列。 王舍城為法集勝會。 表萬派而朝宗也（王舍城。 梵云矩。 奢揭羅補羅城。 此云上茅城。 出最上茅也。 摩竭提國之中。 昔因遭火出居。 此遂城而舍之。 後無憂王遷居波吒釐。 此唯婆羅門千家而住也）靈鷲山為眾聖之奧府。 表群岳之相下也（俱蘇摩城。 既是山城。 近於王舍。 雖有五山此山獨勝。 高而且顯。 故表出過二乘。 多捿鷲鳥故名鷲峯）阿闍世思皇登庸（皇大也。 登升也。 庸用也。 大升用謂為君也）以弑父敗名。 雖有功德不足誦也（與提婆達多作謀弑父。 囚殺頻婆娑羅王。 又伏劍逐母韋提希等）至阿育王。 大業中昌。 威被海隅。 勢侔鐵輪。 而不即其真也（侔齊也。 即成也。 勢雖齊於銕輪而非銕輪也。 頻婆娑羅王曾孫也）初法象經中造地獄（法象依學也）峻垣重坎爍鐵流爛搏人以投。

At the beginning of the kalpa, the multitudinous people together fed on grain (the text notes: "'Multitudinous' means the masses. 'Together' means with one another. Once the fertility of the earth was exhausted, natural non-glutinous rice appeared"). When the fragrant rice was exhausted, they divided the land and cultivated it (the text notes: "Cultivation means management. As people encroached upon and seized [grain], they divided the fields and managed them individually"). To safeguard the territorial boundaries, King Mahāsammata was established (the text notes: "Sammata: he was the king of the settlements; fearing that the strong would encroach and plunder, they established one man as king, paid him taxes and tribute, and made him the ruler of the people"). The various classes respectfully submitted to him, and his kindness flowed across all the land. Double brilliance succeeded the dynastic line, and his lineage ruled in Tianzhu for generations (the text notes: "Fathers and sons succeeded one another as rulers of Tianzhu"), down to Śuddhodana, numbering altogether over eighty-four thousand two hundred and sixty kings. (The Āgama Sūtra states: "In the past there was a king named Ikṣvāku. He had four sons by concubines: the first was named Zhaomu, the second Lianmu, the third Tiaofuxiang, and the fourth Nilouchong. All were intelligent, divinely martial, and possessed great prestige and virtue. The principal queen had a son named Sheng, who was foolish, petty, ugly, and despised by everyone. The queen, fearing the four sons would usurp his position, slandered them to the king and urged him to banish them permanently. The king then commanded the four sons to leave the country at once. Thereupon, the mighty men and all the people wished to follow them. They reached the Himalayas and dwelt in an śāka forest. Within a few years, people flocked to their virtue like a marketplace, and it became a powerful kingdom. The father longed to see them, but when summoned, they would not come. The father sighed three times: 'My sons are capable!' For this reason, the clan was named Śākya." The Āgama Sūtra states: "The śāka forest provided the clan name, hence there is the Śākya clan; 'śāka' is the name of a tree.") After King Ikṣvāku, there was a king named Mahā-Kalyāṇa; for seven generations they held the Gautama clan name. (The text notes: "Long ago, there was a king whose parents died early. He yielded the kingdom to his younger brother, renounced the throne, and sought the Path. He met a brāhmaṇa surnamed Gautama and followed him to study the Path. The brāhmaṇa said: 'You should take off your royal garments, dress as I do, and receive the Gautama surname.' He was called the Lesser Gautama Bodhisattva.") After King Ulkāmukha, there was a king named Nilouchong; for five generations they held the Śākya clan name. (The text notes: "King Nilou begot King Ulkāmukha. King Ulkāmukha became the ruler of Kapilavastu and begot King Qutouluo. King Qutouluo begot King Shixiuluo. King Shixiuluo begot four sons: first, King Śuddhodana; second, King Śuklodana; third, King Droṇodana; and fourth, King Amṛtodana. King Śuddhodana was the father of the Buddha.") When the Great Being, having cultivated the primary and secondary marks for a hundred kalpas (the text notes: "A bodhisattva practices for three asaṃkhyeya kalpas up to the vajropama-samādhi; then for a hundred kalpas cultivates the primary and secondary marks, for a thousand kalpas studies the deportments, and for ten thousand kalpas studies conversion and practice"), observed where he should be born, none compared to the kṣatriyas and brāhmaṇas. Yet the position of the kṣatriyas was exalted (the text notes: "In Sanskrit, 'kṣatriya'; here translated as 'lord of the soil and fields', which is the royal caste"), while the virtue of the brāhmaṇas was honored (the text notes: "The correct Sanskrit is 'brāhmaṇa'; here translated as 'purely restrained'. They are the descendants of Brahmā; only the Five Indias have them, while other countries do not. Serving as teachers to kings, their virtue is thus honored"). However, in the turbidity and degeneration of the kalpa, virtue could not outweigh status; thus I was not born among the brāhmaṇas. Although insignificant lands lacked kṣatriyas (the text notes: "'Insignificant' means absent"), the lineage of none was as long-lasting as that of the Śākyas (the text notes: "Because from King Mahāsammata to King Śuddhodana there were over eighty-four thousand two hundred and sixty kings"). The remaining two castes were lowly and base; had he been born there, it would not have stopped people's slander, and therefore the Great Sage was not born among them. (The text notes: "To stop means to cover up. The two castes refer to: first, vaiśya, translated here as 'seated merchants', named thus because ordinary people among them possessed much wealth; second, śūdra, also called shuduo, meaning agriculturalists and servants.") The territory of the Five Indias encompasses over ninety thousand li, bordered on three sides by the great sea and backed in the north by the Himalayas. There are eight great kingdoms, sixteen great cities, and over seventy small kingdoms. At that time, there was no Cakravartin ruling over them, and they followed the mandates of the hegemonic states (the text notes: "Had there been a Cakravartin, the small states would all have submitted to him. Since there was no Cakravartin at that time, only the strong became hegemons"), just as during the Spring and Autumn period in the central lands of the Xia, when the royal way declined and the feudal lords were controlled by Huan and Wen (the text notes: "In the Zhou, after King You was killed, King Ping moved eastward to Luoyi, and the feudal lords were able to conduct military expeditions on their own authority, such as Duke Wen of Jin and Duke Huan of Qi"), and rites, music, and punitive expeditions did not emanate from a single person (the text notes: "In antiquity, the institution of rites, the creation of music, and punitive expeditions had to originate from the Son of Heaven. Thereafter, usurpation became rampant, and they did not proceed from a single man"). Magadha was a great kingdom (the text notes: "Translated here as 'unreached', because the generals of this country were brave and the soldiers resourceful, so the armies of neighboring rivals could not reach it. It has a circumference of five thousand li; few people live in cities, while many registered households dwell in villages. The fertile soil nurtures agriculture. There is fragrant rice with coarse grains and extraordinary flavor, called 'rice offered to great persons' by the locals. The ground is low and damp; cities and states dwell in marketplaces; the customs are pure and simple, and the weather is mild"), situated on the sea's edge. King Bimbisāra was its ruler (the text notes: "That is Bimbisāra; translated here as 'handsome of countenance'; he was the father of King Ajātaśatru"), head of the assembly of lords. Rājagṛha was the site of the sublime assembly for the gathering of the Dharma, representing the convergence of myriad streams toward the court. (The text notes: "Rājagṛha; Sanskrit Kuśāgrapura; translated here as 'City of Superior Kuśa Grass', because it produces the finest kuśa grass. In the center of Magadha, long ago due to a fire, people moved outside to live here and subsequently walled it into dwellings. Later, King Aśoka moved his residence to Pāṭaliputra; here only a thousand households of brāhmaṇas remained.") Vulture Peak was the deep storehouse of the multitude of sages, rising high above the surrounding peaks. (The text notes: "Kusumapura, being a mountain citadel, is close to Rājagṛha. Although there are five mountains, this mountain is uniquely superior, tall and prominent. Thus it symbolizes surpassing the Two Vehicles. Many vultures nest here, hence the name Vulture Peak.") Ajātaśatru, in aspiring to ascend to power (the text notes: "'Grand' means great; 'ascend' means to rise; 'power' means function; to greatly ascend to function means to become ruler"), ruined his reputation by parricide; although he possessed merits, they are not worth extolling (the text notes: "Plotting with Devadatta to commit parricide, he imprisoned and killed King Bimbisāra, and drew a sword to pursue his mother Vaidehī and others"). When it came to King Aśoka, the great enterprise flourished in the middle period; his awe-inspiring power reached the ocean's shores, and his might rivaled that of an Iron-Wheel King, though he did not fully embody it (the text notes: "'Rivalling' means equal to; 'embody' means attain. Though his might equaled that of an Iron-Wheel King, he was not an actual Iron-Wheel King. He was the great-grandson of King Bimbisāra"). In the beginning, he constructed a hell modeled upon the scriptures (the text notes: "'Modeled upon' means to emulate and learn from"), with high walls and deep moats, where molten iron scalded and ran, and people were seized and cast within.