辯偽錄 2.25

2.25

The forty-second transformation says: Laozi entered the realm of Magadha and manifested a rare form to convert its king, establishing the Buddhist teaching named Purity, with the Buddha titled Māmānī. Arriving in the realm of Śrāvastī, he transformed himself into a god and descended from heaven, escorted by devas and humans, manifesting a body hundreds of thousands of tens of thousands of yards in height. Further, arriving in Kapiśa, he subdued the barbarian king and the prince. Fire could not burn him, a cauldron could not boil him, and water could not drown him. The barbarian army of one million saw their bows, arrows, swords, and halberds fall and break all at once; flying lightning struck in eight directions with a sound like a thunderclap, and men and horses fell prostrate in terror. Master Beiguo chanted praises from mid-air. Further arriving in the realm of Tiaozhi, with his hand he brushed aside a great mountain. Arriving in Kosala, he subdued ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhist practitioners. Arriving in the realm of Gayā, with his left hand he grasped the sun and with his right hand he grasped the moon, concealing them inside his head: heaven and earth became pitch dark, mountains flew and rocks split asunder, the waters of the ocean flowed backward, and mountains and rivers traversed empty space. Further arriving in Khotan, at Mount Nanqu he gave instruction to the barbarian king, ordering Yin Xi to transform into a golden man, sixteen feet in height, wearing a round halo around his neck and treading upon lotus blossoms, descending from the sky to pay obeisance. Lord Lao said to the barbarian king: 'This is my disciple; he shall be your teacher.' He also left behind a divine bowl so that they might obtain the flavour of the Dharma. Furthermore, in the city of Bhīma the ground turned golden, and he emitted divine light of nine colours that illuminated dust-mote-like lands everywhere. Thereupon the Realised Man of the Red Spirit, the Elder of the Central Yellow, the True Lord of the Great Unity, the Nine Palaces and Six Ding, the Divine Lords of the Eight Trigrams, the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and flower-scattering jade maidens arrived on floating clouds. Lord Lao sat on a seven-jewelled throne, burning incense of a hundred blends and playing the music of the Vast Heaven. Furthermore, the kings, consorts, and queens of more than eighty kingdoms all came to listen to the Dharma. Leaving Yin Xi to act as Buddha, along with the bowl, in the city of Bhīma, he then ascended into heaven and departed. Lord Lao also subdued a great venomous dragon in the Pamirs. Wandering through the five Indias, beneath a lone tree on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa he conjured a jade throne and preached the Buddhist doctrine to the king to deliver monks (śramaṇas), bestowing the monastic precepts upon two thousand five hundred people. Furthermore, the sixty-sixth transformation says: The monastery in the city of Bhīma in the kingdom of Khotan is the place where Lord Lao converted the barbarians and became a Buddha. Inside, there is a stone pillar inscribed with an account of the event, saying: 'The sage of the east, titled Lord Lao, came to convert our country.' Below, it cites the deliberations of eight scholars to substantiate his deeds and traces.