經律異相 12.10

12.10

Sumati said to the Buddha, 'Bhagavat, as for the forty practices of a bodhisattva you have spoken of, I shall practice them without lack or deficiency.' At that time, the elder Maudgalyāyana asked, 'These forty practices are undertaken by great beings; how can you, a little girl, manage them?' She replied, 'Truly, I am capable of practicing them. If you do not believe me, may the three-thousand great-thousand world system shake in six ways on my account, may heavenly flowers rain down, and may musical instruments sound of their own accord without being played.' Immediately, it happened as she had spoken. The girl said, 'To prove my utmost sincerity: if I will later attain Buddhahood without falsehood, may those in the assembly all turn golden in colour!' Instantly, as she had spoken, their colour became like yellow gold. Maudgalyāyana said to the Buddha, 'I pay homage to one who has first generated the great aspiration and become a bodhisattva. Why so? Even an eight-year-old girl has such efficacy; how much more so an eminent mahāsattva!' Mañjuśrī asked, 'Why do you not transform your female body?' Sumati replied, 'In this, there is nothing to be attained. Why so? Dharma has neither male nor female. Now, I shall sever your doubts.' Sumati said, 'So that I may soon attain correct awakening, let me now transform into a male!' As soon as she spoke these words, she became a male body: her hair fell off on its own, a kāṣāya was upon her body, and she became a novice monk. She also said, 'When I become a Buddha, may there not be three things in my land: first, works of Māra; second, hell; third, female forms. If I am of utmost sincerity, may my body be like that of a thirty-year-old śramaṇa!' As soon as she spoke these words, her physical appearance and colour became like those of a thirty-year-old. She further said to Mañjuśrī, 'When I become a Buddha, may the people of my land all be golden in colour; may the land and the city walls have seven-jewelled trees, jewelled ponds, and jewelled flowers, neither too many nor too few, all perfectly equal.' She also said, 'May all those in the assembly become golden in colour!' Instantly, the entire assembly took on a golden appearance. At that time, the Earth-holding deity emerged from the ground, manifested a heavenly body, raised his voice, and praised the virtue of Sumati's three declarations, saying that she would before long become a Buddha. (Extracted from the Fosong xumati pusa jing.)