經律異相 10.14

10.14

At that time, the bodhisattva Wild Forest appeared in the body of a ghost; the bodhisattva Saṃjñi appeared in the body of a deer; the bodhisattva Torch of Wisdom appeared in the body of a monkey; the bodhisattva Free from Attachment appeared in the body of a ram; and the bodhisattva Exhaustion of Outflows appeared in the body of a goose king. In this manner, five hundred bodhisattvas each manifested and assumed various bodies. From all their bodies came forth a great fragrance and radiance, and each bodhisattva held a bright lamp in his hand, wishing to make offerings to the Buddhas of the ten directions. At that time, the bodhisattva Doubtful Mind looked upon the five hundred beings and immediately recognized that they were all bodhisattvas. He said to the Wild Forest Ghost: "Good son, for what reason do you manifest such bodies to make offerings to the Buddhas?" The Wild Forest Ghost said: "Good son, ninety-one kalpas in the distant past there was a Buddha, a Bhagavat named Vipaśyin. At that time, I and these others shared the same parents, were brothers together, upheld the five precepts, and generated the bodhicitta, desiring to tame all sentient beings. We also made offerings to Śikhin, Viśvabhū, and Krakucchanda Buddhas. Before that Buddha, the Great Being Saṃjñi made a great vow: 'May I, in future lives, use the body of a ghost or spirit to teach and transform sentient beings! If there are wicked and evil ghosts, I shall expound the three vehicles to tame them, and only then attain the path of awakening.' There were also twelve thousand great ghosts who made a great vow in this world to tame sentient beings. Furthermore, they made a great vow: 'If there are evil ghosts who wish to destroy the true Dharma, I shall discipline them.' For this reason, I assume such a ghostly body to tame, teach, and transform them, causing them to abide in the three vehicles. If there are sentient beings who have distanced themselves from wholesome dharmas and engaged in unwholesome actions of body, speech, and mind, their bodies have already been born in the three wretched realms, or have received ghostly bodies on account of mixed wholesome and unwholesome karma; thus evil ghosts are numerous and wholesome ghosts are few. Desiring to tame them, I currently assume this body. I also cause kṣatriyas, brāhmaṇas, vaiśyas, and śūdras to be free from evil thoughts. Good son, there is a Vajra Mallet Dhāraṇī that prevents all evil ghosts from doing evil to those four castes, and even causes birds and beasts to generate wholesome thoughts, distancing them from all evil and terrors. Having made a great vow, I wish to speak this dhāraṇī." (Extracted from the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra, fascicle 21).