經律異相 1.88

1.88

From the beginning to the end of heaven and earth is called one kalpa. When the kalpa is exhausted and comes to destruction, the disaster of fire is about to arise. All the people turn their backs on the correct and incline toward the deviant, vying to practice the ten unwholesome deeds. For a long time it does not rain from heaven, and what has been planted does not grow. All the springs and water sources, up to the four great swift rivers, all dry up completely. After a very long time, wind enters the seabed, takes the great city-wall on the sun, and places it in its original path beside Mount Sumeru. (The Abhidharmasāra states: 'At the time when the kalpa is destroyed, there are seven sun discs dwelling on Mount Yugandhara and coming forth from there. It is also said that one sun is divided into seven suns. It is also said that they come forth from Avīci hell, brought about by the karmic power of sentient beings.') When the first sun comes out, the hundreds of grasses, trees, and woods wither and fall all at once. When the second sun comes out, within the four great oceans, from a hundred yojanas up to seven hundred yojanas, the waters naturally dry up. When the third sun comes out, within the four great oceans, from a thousand yojanas up to seven thousand yojanas, the waters progressively vanish and dry up. When the fourth sun comes out, the four great oceans are only a thousand yojanas deep. When the fifth sun comes out, the four great oceans remain only seven hundred yojanas across, and eventually run dry completely. When the sixth sun comes out, this earth, sixty-eight thousand yojanas thick, entirely emits smoke. From Mount Sumeru up to the three-thousand great-thousand lands and the eight hells, there are none that are not burned away, leaving nothing but smoke and ashes. As their lives end, the people all rely on Mount Sumeru. The five kinds of devas—the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the Yāma heaven, up to the Paranirmitavaśavartin heaven—all end their lives, and their palaces are all emptied. All is impermanent; none can remain long. When the seventh sun comes out, the great earth and Mount Sumeru gradually collapse and shatter; for a hundred yojanas, nothing ever remains. Metals like gold, silver, copper, and iron all melt and liquefy, gradually drying up, and the mountains are entirely consumed by fire. The various jewels burst and split, tumbling down with thunderous crashes, and the smoke and flames shake and vibrate up to the Brahma heaven. All the evil destinies and the asuras are utterly swept away. When their sins come to an end and their merits arrive, they all assemble above the fifteenth heaven. From the fourteenth down, all become flame and soot. The newly born devaputras have never seen this, and all harbor terror. The older devaputras each come to console them: 'Do not produce fear; it will never reach here.' When their lives end, the people are born in the Ābhāsvara heaven, taking thought as food, their radiance self-illuminating, flying with supernatural powers. Or they are born in other lands; or if they are born in the hells, once their hell sins are ended, they are also born in heaven. If their sins are not yet ended, they are also born in heaven [or] if their sins are not yet ended, they are transferred to other regions. There are no sun, moon, or constellations, nor day or night; there is only great darkness. This is called the fire kalpa, the disaster of fire. Causes, conditions, and retributions bring about this destruction. When the kalpa is about to form, the fire then extinguishes of itself. Further, great clouds arise, gradually sending down great rain, the drops like axle-trees. At this time, within this three-thousand great-thousand land, water fills everywhere up to the Brahma heaven. (The Abhidharmasāra states: 'That which the disaster of water destroys reaches up to the second dhyāna. Water rains down from the third dhyāna as hot ashy water. It is also said that the water disc emerges.') This is called the water kalpa, the disaster of water. Furthermore, there are four winds that hold the water so it does not disperse: the first is called Abiding, the second is called Assisting, the third is called Unmoving, and the fourth is called Firm. After hundreds of billions of years, the foam upon the water transforms into a thousand palaces of the fourteenth heaven, all made of various jewels. As the water gradually recedes, blown and stirred by the vairaṃbha wind, successively it turns into the various heavens beneath heaven, as well as the palaces of the sun and moon. Next, it makes a thousand Mount Sumerus, and successively up to the lands of a thousand four continents; the mountains, rivers, cities, and ponds are pure and clean upon the water. The heavenly palaces made first were formed of various jewels, and their radiance was supreme; gradually diminishing, it became ever more turbid. The radiance of the seven jewels of the heavenly palaces became gradually lower and inferior. When the earth was about to be exposed, the water and sand flowed swiftly, racing downwards to follow the lower parts, and thus became streams and rivers flowing into the ocean. The ocean is eighty-four thousand yojanas deep, and its breadth is boundless. (The Loutan jing says it is 8,400,000 yojanas deep.) Mount Sumeru is in the midst of the ocean, emerging eighty-four thousand yojanas out of the sea. The taste of the water is salty and bitter. When the kalpa first forms, clouds naturally arise up to the Ābhāsvara heaven, everywhere raining down to wash the heavenly palaces, sweeping away all the impure juices of the myriad things, which flow down into the sea and make it salty and bitter. Furthermore, there is a great ṛṣi who cursed it to be salty and bitter so that people would not drink it. Furthermore, there are assorted kinds of sentient beings living in it, excreting and urinating in it, so that it becomes salty and bitter. This is called the wind kalpa, the disaster of wind. (The Abhidharmasāra says: 'That which the disaster of wind destroys reaches up to the third dhyāna; ten billion four-continents are simultaneously destroyed.') These three together with the earth are the four disasters and the four kalpas. Excluding the earth, the remaining three are explained as the great kalpas. As for what surpasses the kalpa of the earth element: the reach of the kalpa's destruction has only never reached the fourth dhyāna, because it consists of the Śuddhāvāsa heavens; there is no higher plane to be born into, so right there they attain nirvāṇa and do not descend to be born [below]. Because they do not decrease by count, they transform into heaven and earth. Heaven and earth begin anew, vast and empty, completely void of anything, with neither sun nor moon. A sweet spring wells up from the earth, tasting like butter and honey. At that time, the devas of Ābhāsvara—some coming to be born because their merit was exhausted, some enjoying looking at the new land and having an impulsive nature—tasted it with a finger. In this way, tasting it two and three times, they gradually appreciated its flavor. Eating it without cease, they gradually grew coarse flesh, lost their heavenly wondrous complexion, supernatural powers, and radiance, and fell into great, pitch-black darkness. Later, a great black wind blew that seawater, wafting out the sun and moon, placing them beside Sumeru and setting them in the solar path, circling Mount Sumeru to illuminate the four continents. At that time, when those people saw them appear they rejoiced, and when they saw them set they were afraid. From this time on, day and night, the last day and the first day of the lunar month, the seasons and the counting of years, suddenly began again. Those who ate much of it gradually developed ugly complexions, while those who ate little still retained a wondrous complexion. Beauty and ugliness, good looks and repulsive looks, gradually arose; arrogance and jealousy arose in turn; resentment and contention followed one after another without end. The sweet spring dried up of itself, and earth-fat grew on the ground, its taste fragrant and delicious like amṛta. At that time, all the sentient beings again ate it together. Those who ate much of it suddenly lost their majestic radiance, their bodies grew heavy, and they developed bones; those who ate little had light bodies without burdens, and could still fly. When the heavy ones saw this, they all wailed loudly, saying: 'We are in dire straits, dwelling in this world!' Disputes over right and wrong grew twice as severe as before. Sustained by eating the earth-fat, they looked at each other's complexions; those with much desire transformed into women, loved and attached to one another, and eventually engaged in sexual misconduct. Thus it spread. The remaining Ābhāsvara devas, seeing the devaputras all fallen, came together to scold them, saying: 'Why are you practicing impure conduct?' The earth-fat gradually sank into the soil, and non-glutinous rice grew spontaneously, clean and skinless, both fragrant and delicious. Those who ate it became plump and fair; harvested in the morning, it grew back by evening. People gradually became lazy and took several days' supply at once, indulging their passions and desires without restriction. The women conceived and gave birth to further sentient beings. When the other people saw this, they drove them away and expelled them, sending them outside the community of people, allowing them to return after three months. Learning to feel shame, they together devised a expedient measure: gathering grasses and trees, they erected dwellings to conceal their bodies and make them unseen by others. Practicing and indulging in sexual desire, it increased in this way. They gathered much grain as stored provisions. As they imitated each other like this, the non-glutinous rice became wild and defiled, gradually growing chaff and husk; once reaped, it would not grow back. Sentient beings, seeing this, were greatly distressed: 'A great disaster has come upon the world, and the non-glutinous rice is no longer as it was!' Each thought to themselves: 'When I was originally born, I took thought as food, flew with supernatural powers, and had self-illuminating radiance. Dwelling in this indolence, it has reached the present state!' Again they said to one another: 'Let us now divide the land together and set up distinct boundary markers.' The marking of borders began from this. Concealing their own share, they stole other people's grain. The owner of the grain saw it and said: 'Now I forgive your crime; do not do it again later.' As this grew more frequent, the reprimands doubled. When reprimands did not stop it, they laid hands on them, and reported to the multitude, saying: 'This person is a thief!' The thief also said: 'This person struck me!' When the multitude saw this, they were sorrowful and unhappy. They all gathered in an assembly and discussed: 'Sentient beings are becoming increasingly evil. This is the origin of birth, old age, sickness, and death, the afflictions and bitter retributions of falling into the three evil destinies. It is because of having fields and land that this contention has arisen. Now, would it not be better if we together appoint one person who is wise and of high talent as master, to govern them according to law—to protect those who should be protected, to reprimand those who should be reprimanded, and to banish those who should be banished? We shall pool rice together to supply him.' They selected one who was worthy, discerning, handsome in form, and possessed of majesty and virtue, and spoke to him, saying: 'Be our impartial master!' He comforted them with good words, and the multitude all rejoiced. Thereupon they hailed him together, saying: 'Excellent, Great King!' He then ruled the people with the true Dharma, and was called a kṣatriya. These were all ancient laws. Later, when people encroached upon others' property, they would be punished. When they committed it repeatedly, they instituted floggings and beatings. Since whips and canes still could not stop it, they also made prisons, knives, staves, and the like, torturing and executing to make them harbor fear. At that time, there was a person who considered the home to have many perils, like a poisonous thorn; abandoning wife and child, he dwelt alone in the mountain forests, erected a thatched hut, quietly gathered his purpose, and practiced the brahma conduct; he was called a brāhmaṇa. Later, among the brāhmaṇas there were those who took no pleasure in quietude, sitting in meditation, and contemplation; they then entered among men, taking reciting and studying as their occupation, and also called themselves: 'I am a non-dhyāna person.' Thereupon the worldly people called them 'non-dhyāna brāhmaṇas.' At that time, among the sentient beings there were people who liked managing household property and accumulating much wealth and treasure; they were called householders (gṛhapati). There were also those who were very fond of crafts and skills; they were called śūdras. There were also those who detested worldly phenomena of themselves, shaved off their hair and beards, put on the Dharma robes, and cultivated the Path; they were called śramaṇas. At that time, people harbored killing and theft, and had lost the non-glutinous rice. They established five kinds of seeds: first, root seeds; second, leaf seeds; third, flower seeds; fourth, fruit seeds; fifth, stem-born and remaining seeds. These are called the five kinds of seeds. They were all seeds from lands in other directions blown by the wind to aid the sentient beings of this country. Such are the signs: there are birth, old age, sickness, and death, and there are the five clinging-aggregates, with no end to the limits of suffering. At the end of the water kalpa, the devas of Ābhāsvara entered the water to bathe. The subtle energies of the four great elements entered within their bodies; pleasurable touch arose in their bodies, and their essence flowed into the water. Blown and stirred by the eight winds, it fell into the silt, naturally forming an egg. After eight thousand years, the egg opened, giving birth to a woman. Her form was dark blue-black like silt; she had nine hundred and ninety-nine heads, a thousand eyes, and nine hundred and ninety-nine mouths. Each mouth had four fangs, and atop the fangs came forth fire resembling lightning. She had twenty-four hands, and in her hands she held all kinds of weapons. Her body was tall and large like Mount Sumeru. She entered the great ocean, clapping the water to amuse herself. There was a whirlwind blowing the ocean water; the water essence entered her body, and she became pregnant. After eight thousand years, she then gave birth to a son. His body was tall and large, four times surpassing his mother. The boy had nine heads, each head with a thousand eyes, and fire issued from his mouths. He had nine hundred and ninety-nine hands and eight legs. In the ocean water, he named himself: 'I am the Asura King Vimalacitra.' He ate only silt and lotus roots. The transformations at the initial formation of the earth kalpa were like this. (Extracted from the Ekottarika Āgama, fascicle thirty-two; also extracted from the Dīrgha Āgama, fascicle six; also from the summary of the Small Chapter on Kalpas; also extracted from the Guanfo sanmei jing, fascicle two.) When the kalpa is burned completely away, all is void. Due to the power of the causes and conditions of sentient beings' merits, winds from the ten directions arrive; wind following wind in succession can support the great water. Above, there is a person with a thousand heads and two thousand hands and feet, named Viṣṇu. From this person's navel grows a thousand-petaled golden lotus flower, its light greatly radiant like ten thousand suns shining. Within the flower, there is a person sitting cross-legged; this person also has immeasurable radiance, and is named King Brahmā. He directly gave birth to eight sons; the eight sons gave birth to heaven, earth, and the people. This King Brahmā has already eliminated lust and anger, and sits upon the lotus flower. The Buddhas, following conventional customs, manifest atop the jeweled lotus flower, sitting cross-legged and expounding the six pāramitās. Those who hear this Dharma will certainly reach anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi. (Extracted from the Various Avadāna Parables, fascicle six.)