經律異相 45.26

45.26

昔有比丘精進守法。少持禁戒初不毀犯。所可諷誦是般若波羅蜜。其有聞此比丘音聲莫不歡喜。有一小兒厥年七歲城外牧牛遙聞比丘諷誦經聲。即詣精舍禮拜比丘。聽其經言。時說色空。卒聞即解。兒大歡喜。便問比丘。比丘應答不可兒意。是時小兒反為比丘解說其義。昔所希聞比丘歡喜。怪此小兒智慧非凡。時兒即去還至牛所。所牧牛犢散走入山。兒尋其迹追逐求索。時值一虎害此小兒。小兒命終生長者家。夫人懷𨉃。口便能說般若波羅蜜。從朝至暮初不懈息。其長者家怪。此夫人口為妄語謂呼鬼病。卜問譴祟無能知者。是時比丘入城分衛詣長者門。遙聞其聲心甚喜悅。即問長者。內中誰有說此深經。長者報言。我婦鬼病晝夜妄語口初不息。比丘報言。此非鬼病。但說尊經佛之大道。願得入內與共相見。長者言善。即至婦所。比丘難問反覆披解。即留比丘與作飲食。展轉相謂。夫人懷𨉃口誦尊經。其音妙好。後日長者復請比丘。悉令詣舍辦飯食具。時夫人出禮眾比丘復為說法。諸有疑難不能及者盡為解說。眾僧歡喜。日月滿足產得男兒。適生叉手長跪說波羅蜜。夫人產已還復如本。長者問言。此為何等。比丘答曰。真佛弟子好養護之。此兒後大當為一切眾人作師。吾等悉當從其啟受。時兒七歲道法悉備。舉眾超絕智度無極。經中誤脫。有所短少。皆為刪定足其所乏。兒母所至輒開化人。長者室家內外大小五百人眾皆從兒學。所開發者八萬四千人。皆發無上正真道。五百比丘聞兒所說盡漏意解志求大乘得法眼淨。是時兒者則吾身是。比丘者迦葉佛是（出度無極集第六卷）。

Formerly, there was a monk who was diligent and kept the Dharma; from his youth he maintained the prohibitive precepts and never violated them. What he chanted was the Prajñāpāramitā. Whoever heard this monk's voice was filled with joy. There was a young boy, seven years of age, herding cattle outside the city; hearing the sound of the monk reciting the scripture from afar, he went to the vihāra, bowed to the monk, and listened to his scriptural words. At that time, [the monk] was speaking of the emptiness of form; hearing it abruptly, he understood immediately. The boy was greatly delighted, and then questioned the monk, but the monk's responses did not satisfy the boy's mind. At that time, the young boy instead explained the meaning for the monk. Having rarely heard such things previously, the monk was joyful and marveled at this young boy's extraordinary wisdom. Then the boy departed and returned to the cattle. The calves he was herding had scattered and fled into the mountains. The boy followed their tracks and pursued them. He encountered a tiger that killed the young boy. When the young boy died, he was born into an elder's family. When the lady became pregnant, her mouth was immediately able to recite the Prajñāpāramitā, from morning to evening, never resting. That elder's family marveled at it, thinking this lady's speech was wild talk and calling it a demonic affliction. They divined and inquired about what spirit caused the misfortune, but no one could know. At that time, the monk entered the city to gather alms and came to the elder's gate. Hearing the sound from afar, his heart was very pleased. He immediately asked the elder: "Who within is speaking this profound scripture?" The elder replied: "My wife has a demonic affliction, uttering wild words day and night, her mouth never stopping." The monk replied: "This is not a demonic affliction; she is merely speaking the venerable scripture, the Buddha's Great Path. I wish to be permitted to enter inside and meet with her." The elder said: "Very well." He then went to the wife's quarters. The monk posed difficult questions, which she unraveled back and forth. They then retained the monk and provided food and drink for him, saying to one another: "The lady is pregnant, and her mouth recites the venerable scripture; her voice is wondrously fine!" On a later day, the elder invited the monk again, requesting all of them to go to his house and preparing food provisions. At that time, the lady came out, bowed to the monks, and again expounded the Dharma for them; wherever there were doubts or difficulties that could not be resolved, she explained them all. The saṅgha was joyful. When the months and days were fulfilled, she gave birth to a boy. As soon as he was born, he clasped his hands, knelt upright, and spoke the pāramitā. After the lady gave birth, she returned to as she was before. The elder asked: "What kind [of person] is this?" The monk answered: "A true disciple of the Buddha; nurture and protect him well! When this child grows up, he will become a teacher to all people. We all shall receive instruction from him." When the child was seven years old, he was fully equipped with the Dharma of the Path; exceeding the entire assembly, his perfection of wisdom was limitless. Wherever scriptures had errors, omissions, or shortages, he edited and corrected them all, supplying what was lacking. Wherever the child's mother went, she constantly converted people. The elder's household, internal and external, great and small, amounting to five hundred people, all learned from the child. Those he inspired were eighty-four thousand people, all of whom gave rise to the aspiration for supreme, correct, and true awakening. Five hundred monks, hearing what the child expounded, exhausted their taints, attained liberation of mind, aspired to seek the Mahāyāna, and attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. The child of that time was my own person; the monk was Kāśyapa Buddha. (Extracted from the Dumu ji jing, fascicle 6)