經律異相 38.18

38.18

佛遊在給孤獨精舍。波斯匿王供養於佛及諸大眾眷屬。祇洹縱廣百六十里。波斯匿王周遍燃燈民人競看。貧女難陀居無舍宅。問行路者知。波斯匿王以油千斛為佛燃燈。難陀自責。我以何故獨貧如此。即入街里。家家乞匃得少雜飯。心自念言。我當賣之以為燈直。賣得一錢齎詣油家。油家問女持一錢油作何福德。難陀答言。欲為佛燃燈。油主聞之。助其喜踴持一燈油。即施與之。貧女歡喜受到祇𮁭。佛告阿難言。有大長者興無上福。不能自到開門使前。波斯匿王聞佛此教。尋自思惟。吾於舍衛一國之尊。興起道供豈殊我者。佛何以故。不讚於我復稱長者。須臾貧女來到佛所。燃所齎燈當佛之前。今發大願。並為一切。求佛知見。令此光明徹於十方。幽冥惡道悉皆休息。如是便退至明晨朝。賢者目連歷撿諸燈。難陀所燈光獨如故。目連即吹。吹不能滅。便以神力持五恒水澆亦復不滅。吹以隨藍大風漂不能滅。盡其神力竟不能滅。心懷恐懼。佛告目連。燃此燈者有慇重心。以是之故燈為常明。設羅漢舍利弗等及辟支佛。神化功德共滅此燈不能滅也。令金翅王搏大海水。若師子王振吼犇騰共滅此燈。燈不可滅。難陀女人以日出時。自往案行昨所燃燈。燈亦不滅。光不缺減。即大歡喜稽首佛足。佛知女心求無上道。放五色光從口中出。佛每說法三乘之業授聲聞別。光從頂入。授辟支佛別。光從兩眉間入。授菩薩別光從口入。佛之洪光上至三十三天。皆悉通達。已便迴還。繞佛三匝從口入。時阿難起問。佛言。阿難。汝見昨夜燃燈女不。此女壽終因是功德。轉女人身當作男子。却後二十劫不墮惡道。即生諸天及金輪王。二十劫後。當得作佛。號三曼陀優訶（出賢愚經又云比丘出貧女難陀經）。

The Buddha was staying at the Anāthapiṇḍada Hermitage. King Prasenajit made offerings to the Buddha and the great assembly of his retinue. The Jetavana was one hundred and sixty li in extent; King Prasenajit lit lamps all around it, and the populace competed to watch. The poor woman Nandā had no home or house. Asking passers-by on the road, she learned that King Prasenajit was lighting lamps for the Buddha with a thousand hu of oil. Nandā reproached herself: 'For what reason am I alone so poor as this?' She immediately went into the streets and lanes, begging from house to house, and obtained a little mixed rice. She thought to herself: 'I will sell this to pay for a lamp.' Selling it, she got one coin and took it to an oil dealer. The oil dealer asked the woman: 'What meritorious deed will you perform with one coin's worth of oil?' Nandā replied: 'I wish to light a lamp for the Buddha.' Hearing this, the oil master rejoiced with her in sympathy, took out oil for one lamp, and gave it to her as a gift. The poor woman rejoiced and carried it to the Jetavana. The Buddha said to Ānanda: 'There is a great elder who has aroused unsurpassed merit, but cannot enter by herself; open the door and let her come forward.' Hearing this instruction of the Buddha, King Prasenajit immediately pondered to himself: 'I am the most honoured in this state of Śrāvastī; in initiating this offering to the Way, could anyone surpass me? Why does the Buddha not praise me, but instead call someone an elder?' In a short while, the poor woman arrived before the Buddha. She lit the lamp she had brought before the Buddha, and now made a great vow: 'Together for all beings, I seek the knowledge and vision of the Buddha; may this radiant light penetrate the ten directions, and may the dark and evil realms all find cessation!' Having done so, she withdrew. When the next morning came, the worthy Maudgalyāyana went around inspecting the various lamps. Only the lamp lit by Nandā shone just as before. Maudgalyāyana blew on it, but blowing could not extinguish it. He then used his supernormal power to bring the waters of five Gaṅgās to douse it, but still it was not extinguished. He blew on it with the great Vairambha wind, but drifting and buffeting could not extinguish it. He exhausted his supernormal power, but in the end could not extinguish it, and was filled with dread in his heart. The Buddha said to Maudgalyāyana: 'The one who lit this lamp did so with a sincere mind; for this reason the lamp shines constantly. Even if arhats such as Śāriputra and pratyekabuddhas, with their supernormal transformations and merit, were together to extinguish this lamp, they could not extinguish it. Even if the Garuḍa King were to beat the great ocean waters, or the Lion King were to roar and stampede, and together they were to extinguish this lamp, the lamp could not be extinguished.' At sunrise, the woman Nandā went of herself to inspect the lamp she had lit yesterday; the lamp was still unextinguished, its light not diminished. She rejoiced greatly and bowed her head to the Buddha's feet. The Buddha knew that the woman's mind sought the unsurpassed Way, and emitted five-coloured light from his mouth. Whenever the Buddha preaches the Dharma on the works of the three vehicles, when conferring a prophecy on a śrāvaka, the light enters through the crown of his head; when conferring a prophecy on a pratyekabuddha, the light enters between his two eyebrows; when conferring a prophecy on a bodhisattva, the light enters through his mouth. The Buddha's vast light reached upward to the Thirty-three Heavens, penetrating everywhere; having done so, it returned, circled the Buddha three times, and entered through his mouth. At that time Ānanda arose and questioned him. The Buddha said: 'Ānanda, did you see the woman who lit the lamp last night? When this woman's life ends, through this merit she will turn her woman's body and become a man. For twenty kalpas hereafter she will not fall into evil realms, but will be born in the heavens and as a gold-wheel-turning king. After twenty kalpas, she will become a buddha named Samantaprabhāsa.' (From the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish; it is also said in the Sūtra of the Poor Woman Nandā that she became a bhikṣu.)