經律異相 26.8

26.8

昔有國王。以袈裟上佛。因發無上平等度意。佛般泥洹自燒其身。袈裟不然。取佛舍利起塔。滅盡袈裟故在。後轉無塔供事。袈裟積有年歲。不復聞佛法。每到齋日。國王大臣無數人民。以香華幡蓋供養袈裟。轉相承續更相法效未曾有廢。後有國王。念言。先王及我敬事此衣。當得何福。為何等衣。莫有知者。佛國人來商販治生。以白王言。我國有王。名悅頭檀。生一聖子字為悉達。出家學道號名曰佛。身有三十二相。正著此衣。王聞歡喜。遣使請佛。商人言。若請佛者但燒香遙禮請之。即燒香熏請佛。願佛明日。勞屈精神。香煙趣佛繞佛七匝。即於虛空化成華蓋。時佛乃笑。口氣光炎照無數剎。上昇虛空與香共合。合成花蓋俱還入頂。阿難白佛。而此香烟從何方來。佛具告阿難。應時三千大千國土為大震動。彼國城門皆悉為金。箜篌樂器不鼓自鳴。婦女珠環皆悉作聲。百歲枯木更生。王大恐怖呼問人言。此何災怪。使我國動。商人白王。世尊所至之處先現善相。皆王功德之所致。王即踊躍。宣語臣民。燒香迎佛。王心願言。令我得如世尊侍者羅漢。王以袈裟奉上世尊。佛不能勝。下沒地中乃至下方無數佛剎。懸止空中。下剎菩薩白彼佛言。是袈裟從何所來。亦不墮地。佛言。須臾自當有應。釋迦文佛。教目連舍利弗等五百弟子行取袈裟。各盡神足都不能致。佛告文殊往取復不能勝。佛言。此袈裟。前世人持上先佛。發大道意。更無數世。復還屬王。今復上我。中欲取證。願為聲聞。是以袈裟故不可勝。所以者何。前意尊重則袈裟輕。後志於小故袈裟重。王聞佛教即自懺悔。我為國王。不欲令國內人願處我位。若有此意。我謂之逆。佛為世尊。是故不敢願求佛果。王及臣民皆發無上平等度意。袈裟自然於地踊出。王舉袈裟。擎以上佛。願為十方一切蠕動。受此袈裟。便為說經。王及群臣皆立不退轉地（出折伏羅漢經）。

Anciently, a king offered a kāṣāya to a Buddha, thereby generating the anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi-citta. When that Buddha entered parinirvāṇa, his body cremated itself, yet the kāṣāya did not burn. They took the Buddha's śarīra and erected a stūpa; after the stūpa fell into ruin, the kāṣāya remained as before. Later, as stūpa worship gradually ceased and the kāṣāya accumulated many years, the Buddha Dharma was heard no more. On every fast day, the king, ministers, and countless people would make offerings to the kāṣāya with incense, flowers, banners, and canopies, handing it down successively and emulating one another without ever neglecting it. Later, a king thought to himself: “The former kings and I have reverently served this robe. What blessing will be gained? What kind of robe is this?” None knew. A merchant from the Buddha’s land arrived to conduct trade, and reported to the king, saying: “In my country there is a king named Śuddhodana. He had a holy son named Siddhārtha, who left home to cultivate the Way and is titled the Buddha. His body possesses the thirty-two marks, and he wears precisely this kind of robe.” Hearing this, the king was delighted, and wished to send an envoy to invite the Buddha. The merchant said: “If you would invite him, simply burn incense and invite him while paying homage from afar.” He thereupon burned incense and made invitation to the Buddha: “May the Buddha tomorrow deign to exert his august presence.” The smoke of the incense sped toward the Buddha and circled him seven times, transforming in the sky into a canopy of flowers. At that moment the Buddha smiled; rays of light from his mouth illuminated countless realms, ascended into the sky, merged with the incense, formed a floral canopy together, and both returned, entering the crown of his head. Ānanda said to the Buddha: “From which direction does this smoke of incense come?” The Buddha told Ānanda in full. At that moment the great trichiliocosm quaked violently. The gates of the city in that country all turned to gold. Harp-like instruments sounded of their own accord without being plucked. The pearl rings of women all made music. Trees withered for a hundred years grew anew. Greatly terrified, the king cried out, asking his people: “What disaster or anomaly is this, that makes my country quake?” The merchant said to the king: “Wherever the Bhagavat arrives, good portents first appear; it is all brought about by the king's merit.” The king then leaped for joy. He proclaimed to his ministers and people that they should burn incense to welcome the Buddha. The king made a vow in his heart, saying: “May I become like the arhat who is the Bhagavat’s attendant.” The king presented the kāṣāya to the Bhagavat. The Buddha could not bear its weight; it sank into the ground, descending through countless Buddha realms below, where it hung suspended in mid-air. A bodhisattva of that lower realm said to the Buddha of that realm: “From where does this kāṣāya come, that it does not fall to the ground?” The Buddha said: “In an instant, there will naturally be a response.” Śākyamuni Buddha directed Maudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, and five hundred other disciples to go fetch the kāṣāya. Each exhausted his supernormal powers, yet none could bring it. The Buddha told Mañjuśrī to go fetch it, but he too could not lift it. The Buddha said: “In a past life, a man offered this kāṣāya to a former Buddha, generating the aspiration for the Great Path. After countless lifetimes, it returned to this king's possession. Now he offers it to me again, but along the way he wished to realize the fruit and vowed to become a śrāvaka. For this reason, the kāṣāya cannot be borne. Why is this? When the previous aspiration was lofty, the kāṣāya was light; because the later intent was focused on the small, the kāṣāya became heavy.” Hearing the Buddha's instruction, the king immediately repented: “As a king, I do not wish the people of my kingdom to aspire to my position; if they harbored such an intention, I would call it treason. The Buddha is the Bhagavat, and therefore I did not dare aspire to Buddhahood.” The king and his ministers and subjects all generated the anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi-citta. The kāṣāya spontaneously sprang forth from the earth. The king raised the kāṣāya and held it up to present to the Buddha, saying: “May it be for the sake of all squirming things in the ten directions.” Accepting this kāṣāya, the Buddha then expounded the sūtras for them. The king and his ministers all attained the stage of non-retrogression. (From the Zhefu luohan jing.)