經律異相 30.6

30.6

往昔波羅奈國王夫人懷𨉃。此夫人自知懷𨉃。而白王言。王即供給養視皆使調適。月滿生肉一段。赤如槿花。諸餘夫人生兒端正。我生段肉無有手足。心生羞恥。若王見者必生惡賤。盛貯器中打金作薄以朱沙題上。是波羅奈國王夫人所生。蓋覆器頭以王印印之。以金薄書置器外。送放江中。使人棄已。諸鬼神營護使無風浪。時一道士。依牧牛人住於江邊。清朝澡洗遙見此器。拾取見金薄書字。復見有王印印之。便開器看唯見肉段。而作是念。若是死肉久應爛臭。必有異相。將還住所善舉一處。過半月已而成二片。自爾之後復經半月。二片各生五胞。却後半月一片成男。一片成女。男色如黃金。女色如白銀。道士見之。心生愛重如自有子。兩手母指自然出乳。一指飲男。一指飲女。乳入子腹譬如清水摩尼之珠內外明徹。道士號兒。名為離車子（梁言皮薄亦言同皮）道士養此二子極為辛苦。旦入聚落乞食。兼為二子日晏方還。是時牧牛人。見道士為此二子辛苦如是。謂言。大德。出家人正應行道。何為二子妨廢道業。可收乞我我等為養活。道士言善哉。是牧牛人各還到家。明日與諸同伴平治道路。竪立幢幡散雜色花。鳴鼓來迎二子到道士處。白道士言。今此二子時可去矣。道士付囑。此二子者有大福德。不可度量。汝等善好料理。當以乳酪生熟酥五種而供養之。若此二子長大還自共匹對。覓好平博處所安立住止。可拜男為王女為夫人。牧牛人等受教而去。二子年至十六。以平博處縱廣一百由旬。中央起宅。以女嫁男。立為夫婦。後一產二兒一男一女。如是十六過生。諸牧牛人見王子漸多。更開舍宅造諸園地。合三十二人宅舍。如是遂乃三過開廣。故名為毘舍離（出善見律毘婆沙第十卷）。

In the past, the queen of the king of Vārāṇasī became pregnant. When this queen realized she was pregnant, she informed the king, and the king immediately provided for her and nurtured her, ensuring everything was harmonious and comfortable. When her months were complete, she gave birth to a lump of flesh, as red as a hibiscus flower. [She thought:] “Other consorts give birth to handsome children, yet I have given birth to a lump of flesh without hands or feet! I feel ashamed. If the king sees it, he will surely detest and despise me.” She placed it in a vessel, hammered gold into a foil, and inscribed upon it with cinnabar: “This was born of the queen of the king of Vārāṇasī.” She covered the mouth of the vessel, sealed it with the royal seal, placed the golden foil inscription on the outside of the vessel, and had it cast into the river. After the attendants discarded it, spirits and deities guarded it so that there were no winds or waves. At that time, a practitioner of the Path lived by the riverbank, depending on cowherds. Washing himself in the early morning, he saw this vessel from afar. He picked it up, saw the characters written on the golden foil, and also saw that it was sealed with the royal seal. He then opened the vessel to look, and saw only a lump of flesh. He thought to himself: “If this were dead flesh, it should have rotted and stunk long ago. There must be an extraordinary sign here.” He brought it back to his dwelling and carefully placed it in a safe spot. After half a month passed, it transformed into two pieces. After that, another half month passed, and each of the two pieces grew five swellings. Half a month later, one piece became a boy and one piece became a girl. The boy's complexion was like yellow gold, and the girl's complexion was like white silver. When the practitioner saw them, he felt love and esteem for them as if they were his own children. Milk spontaneously flowed from both of his thumbs; with one finger he nursed the boy, and with the other finger he nursed the girl. When the milk entered the children's stomachs, it was like clean water in a maṇi jewel, completely clear and transparent inside and out. The practitioner named the children the Licchavis (which in the Liang language means “thin skin”, or also “same skin”). The practitioner raised these two children with extreme hardship. In the morning, he would enter the village to beg for food for himself and the two children, returning only late in the day. At that time, the cowherds saw that the practitioner underwent such hardship for these two children, and said to him: “Venerable One, one who has left home ought only to practice the Path. Why should two children hinder and cause you to abandon your practice of the Path? You may hand them over to us, and we will nurture and raise them.” The practitioner said: “Excellent!” These cowherds each returned home. The next day, together with their companions, they leveled and swept the road, erected banners and streamers, scattered multicolored flowers, and beat drums as they came to the practitioner's place to welcome the two children. They said to the practitioner: “Now it is time for these two children to depart.” The practitioner entrusted them, saying: “These two children have great blessings and virtue beyond measure. You must care for them well, and you should sustain them with the five kinds of dairy: milk, curd, raw butter, clarified butter, and ghee. When these two children grow up, they should marry each other. Find a fine, wide, and level place to establish their dwelling; you may install the boy as king and the girl as queen.” The cowherds accepted his instructions and departed. When the two children reached the age of sixteen, [the cowherds took] a wide, level place one hundred yojanas in breadth and length, built a mansion in the center, married the girl to the boy, and established them as husband and wife. Later, each birth produced two children, one boy and one girl. In this manner, she gave birth sixteen times. Seeing that the royal children were gradually multiplying, the cowherds opened more residences and built gardens and grounds, making thirty-two mansions in all. In this way, the area was expanded three times, and therefore it was named Vaiśālī. (Extracted from the tenth fascicle of the Samantapāsādikā.)