經律異相 14.6

14.6

In South India there was a brāhmaṇa named Tiṣya, who was a great disputant. When his wife became pregnant, she dreamt that she saw a person clad in armor, holding a vajra in hand, shattering mountains and standing at the side of a mountain. Hearing of this, Tiṣya said, 'You will bear a male child who will subdue all disputants, falling short of only one person, whose disciple he will become.' After conceiving, the mother became exceedingly intelligent and highly skilled in debate. When her younger brother Kauṣṭhila conversed with his elder sister, he was thwarted and at a loss on every point. Knowing that the child she carried was destined to have great wisdom, he left home to study, having no leisure even to trim his nails; people of the time called him the Long-Nail Brahmacārin (Dīrghanakha). Seven days after the sister gave birth to the child, he was given the personal name Upatiṣya (the Chuyao jing says Youpotidi). Because he was born of his mother [Śārikā], the people of the time jointly gave him the title Śāriputra. When he was just eight years of age, he could recite the eighteen classes of scriptures and was thoroughly versed in all books. At that time, in the kingdom of Magadha, there were two nāgarāja brothers, one named Giri and the other named Agara. They brought rain in due season, so the kingdom suffered no years of famine. The people were grateful to them, and always in the middle month of spring, they held a great assembly of all the people, proceeding to where the nāgas resided to stage a grand gathering, making music and debating doctrines throughout that morning. From antiquity to the present, this gathering had never lapsed. Four high seats were arranged: the first for the king, the second for the crown prince, the third for the ministers, and the fourth for the disputants. Śāriputra, an eight-year-old boy, observed the demeanor and bearing of the people of the time and saw that none surpassed himself. He thereupon ascended the disputant's seat and sat cross-legged. The crowd was bewildered: some thought him a foolish child devoid of wisdom; others thought his capacity for wisdom exceeded that of ordinary men. Although they marvelled at his extraordinary spirit, they still felt pride and embarrassment; because he was young, they would not address him themselves, but all sent youthful disciples to convey their questions to him. His responses flowed freely, his phrasing and reasoning transcendent. At this, all the disputants gasped at what was unprecedented, and foolish and wise, great and small, all submitted. The king was greatly pleased and immediately ordered the officials to enfeoff him with a settlement to support him constantly. Great and small throughout the kingdom all rejoiced. At that time, the son of an astrologer, named Kolita of the Maudgalyāyana clan, was a close friend of Śāriputra. Śāriputra was esteemed for his brilliant talent, while Maudgalyāyana was frank and straightforward, possessing profound knowledge. In talent and wisdom they were equal; in action and repose they were always together, forming a pact to remain so to the end. Later, both grew weary of the world, left home to study the way, and became disciples of the brahmacārin Sañjaya. They asked their teacher, 'Has that which is sought in the way been attained?' The teacher answered them, saying, 'Since I sought the way, many years have passed. I do not know whether the fruit of the way does not exist, or whether I am not the right person, but I too have not attained it.' Another day, the teacher fell sick in bed. Śāriputra stood by his head, and Mahāmaudgalyāyana stood by his feet. Gasping for breath, as he was about to die, he smiled compassionately. The two men asked the meaning of his smile. The teacher answered them, saying, 'Worldly people are blind, violated by affection and love. I saw that the king of Suvarṇabhūmi died, and his chief queen threw herself into a fire pit, seeking to be in the same place as him. Yet the karmic retributions of their deeds are different, and their places of rebirth are completely separated.' At that time, the two men took down the teacher's words in writing, wishing to verify their truth or falsehood. Later, a merchant from Suvarṇabhūmi came from afar to Magadha. The two men verified it against their written record, and it was indeed as their teacher had said. Thereupon they sighed dejectedly, saying, 'Are we not the right people, or did this teacher conceal [the truth] from us?' The two swore an oath to one another: 'Whichever of us first attains the nectar [of the Dharma] must share the same taste.' The Buddha, having converted the Kāśyapa brothers and their one thousand followers, next traveled to Rājagṛha. At that time a monk named Aśvajit (one of the five men), robed and carrying his bowl, entered the city to beg for food. Śāriputra saw that his deportment was extraordinary and his sense faculties were serene. He asked, 'Who is your teacher?' He replied, 'The crown prince of the Śākya clan, weary of the sufferings of old age, sickness, and death, left home to cultivate the way and attained unexcelled awakening. He is my teacher.' Śāriputra said, 'Tell me the teaching of your teacher.' He replied, 'My years are youthful, and my days of study are still shallow. How could I proclaim the ultimate truth, the vast and profound meaning of the Tathāgata?' He also said, 'State its essential point in brief.' He answered, 'All phenomena arise from causes and conditions; these phenomena cease through causes and conditions.' Śāriputra immediately attained the first stage of the path (the Chuyao jing says he attained the fruit of non-attachment). Returning, he spoke of it to Maudgalyāyana, who also attained the first stage of the path. The two masters, each with two hundred and fifty disciples, went together to where the Buddha was. The Buddha saw them from afar, pointed to Śāriputra, and said, 'Among my disciples, he is foremost in wisdom.' He also pointed to Maudgalyāyana and said, 'Foremost in supernatural powers.' Now coming together with their assembly of disciples, they addressed the Buddha, saying, 'We wish to go forth under the Buddha's Dharma.' The Buddha said, 'Welcome, monks!' Immediately their hair and beards fell off of themselves, Dharma robes appeared on their bodies, their robes and bowls were complete, and they received the fully perfected precepts. After half a month passed, hearing the Buddha preach the Dharma for the Long-Nail Brahmacārin, he immediately attained the arhat path (from the Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, fascicle 11).