經律異相 24.8

24.8

A wheel-turning holy king possesses the seven treasures and has four supernatural virtues. First is the golden-wheel treasure; second is the white-elephant treasure; third is the dark-blue horse treasure; fourth is the divine jewel treasure; fifth is the jade-woman treasure; sixth is the householder treasure; seventh is the military-commander treasure. When a wheel-turning king appears in Jambudvīpa, the kṣatriyas sprinkle water upon the king's crown at the time of the full moon. Having bathed with perfumed water, he ascends to the high palace hall and gathers the musicians. The divine golden-wheel treasure suddenly manifests before him. The wheel has a thousand spokes, fully endowed with radiant lustre; made of divine gold, it is unlike anything found in the world. The wheel is one zhang and four chi in diameter. Seeing it, the king thinks: 'I have heard from elders of old; now that this wheel has appeared, could it be that [treasure]?' Now I might as well test this wheel treasure.' The king thereupon summoned the fourfold army, faced the golden-wheel treasure, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, stroked the golden wheel with his right hand, and said to it: 'Turn towards the east in accordance with the Dharma, and do not violate the normal rules!' The wheel then turned east. The king led the fourfold army to follow after it. Four spirits went ahead of the wheel to guide it, and wherever the wheel halted, the king stopped his carriage. The minor kingdoms of the east brought silver grain in golden bowls and golden grain in silver bowls, approached the king's presence, bowed their heads, and said: 'Splendid, O Great King! Now this eastern land is rich and joyful, with abundant precious jewels and a flourishing populace. We pray that the Great King will remain here to govern and transform us.' The Great King replied: 'You need only govern the people with the true Dharma. Do not let there be partiality or injustice, and do not let unrighteous conduct occur within the kingdom. Do not kill living beings yourselves, and teach others not to kill. As for persons who steal, commit sexual misconduct, engage in double-tongued speech, harsh speech, false speech, or frivolous speech, and are greedily corrupt, envious, or hold wrong views—[ruling over] them is what is called my governance.' Then all the minor kings followed the Great King to tour the kingdoms, going to the southeast, west, and north, wherever the wheel went. The kings of those kingdoms all offered open and level expanses of their lands, and the wheel then circled around them, delineating and measuring them: twelve yojanas east to west, and seven yojanas north to south. Divine spirits constructed the outer and inner city walls. The city had seven tiers—seven tiers of railings, seven tiers of nets, and seven tiers of rows of trees, mutually adorning the perimeter, made of the seven treasures, and countless flocks of birds sang in harmony. Furthermore, within the city they constructed various palaces and halls, the palace walls being seven tiers high and made of the seven treasures. At that time, the golden-wheel treasure hovered above the palace hall in the empty sky. In the clear morning, as the king sat in the main hall, a natural elephant treasure suddenly manifested before him. Its hair was pure white, its body rested evenly on seven points, its strength enabled it to fly, its head was variegated in color, and its six tusks were slender and inlaid with pure gold. Seeing it, the king thought: 'This elephant is noble and good; if well-tamed, it can be ridden.' He then tested and trained it, and all its abilities were fully prepared. The wheel-turning king then wished to test the elephant himself, so he mounted it, departed the city in the clear morning, circled the four seas, and returned by mealtime. Then, as the king sat in the main hall in the clear morning, a natural horse treasure suddenly manifested before him. It was dark blue, with a red mane, tail, and head; raised up like a horse, its strength enabled it to fly. Seeing it, the king thought: 'This horse treasure is fine; if well-tamed, it can be ridden.' He then tested and trained it, and all its abilities were fully prepared. Wishing to test the horse, the king personally mounted it, departed the city in the clear morning, circled the four seas, and returned by mealtime. Then, as the king was in the main hall in the clear morning, a natural divine jewel suddenly manifested before him. Its substance and color were limpid and transparent, without flaw or blemish. Seeing it, the king thought: 'This jewel is wondrous and fine; if it possesses brilliance, it could illuminate the palace.' Wishing to test the jewel, the king summoned the fourfold army, placed this precious jewel on a high banner, and carried the banner out of the city in the darkness of night. The radiance of the jewel illuminated one yojana, so that the people in the city were all seen rising to work, thinking it was daytime. As for the jade-woman treasure, she suddenly manifested naturally, with a graceful demeanor and an upright countenance—neither tall nor short, neither coarse nor thin, neither white nor black, neither rigid nor soft. In winter her body was warm, and in summer her body was cool. All the pores of her body emitted the fragrance of sandalwood, and her mouth exhaled the scent of utpala flowers. Her speech was gentle, her deportment composed; she rose earlier and sat down later [than the king], never failing in decorum. At that time, the king felt no attachment, not entertaining even a momentary thought [of lust], let alone becoming intimate with her. As for the householder treasure, he suddenly appeared naturally, possessing immeasurable wealth within his treasuries. Due to the householder's past merit, his eyes could see through everything, completely discerning all hidden underground treasures, whether owned or unowned. Where there was an owner, he was able to protect it for them; where there was no owner, he took it to provide for the king's use. The householder treasure went and addressed the king: 'Great King, there is no need to worry about whatever needs to be provided; I can manage it myself.' The king then wished to test this householder treasure, so he ordered a ship to be prepared for recreation upon the water, and said to the householder: 'I need gold and jewels; give them to me quickly!' The householder replied: 'Great King, wait a little while until I reach the shore.' The king pressed him: 'I need to use them right now.' The householder treasure then put his right hand into the water, and treasure vases emerged from the water following his hand, like insects climbing a tree. Seeing this, the king said to the householder: 'Stop, stop! I need nothing; I was just testing you.' He immediately cast the precious objects back into the water. As for the military-commander treasure, he suddenly appeared, courageous in intellect and strategy, and decisive in heroic planning. He went to the king's presence and addressed him: 'Great King, there is no need to worry about any punitive expeditions; I can manage them myself.' Wishing to test the military-commander treasure, the king assembled the fourfold army and said to him: 'Now deploy the army: assemble those not yet assembled, disband those already assembled, arm those not yet armed, disarm those already armed, send forth those not yet departed, and halt those already halted.' The military treasure carried out everything exactly as the king had said. The king rejoiced exceedingly and said: 'Now I am truly a wheel-turning holy king. First, I have long life without untimely death, which none can match; second, my body is strong and free from illness, which none can match; third, my facial appearance is handsome and upright, which none can match; fourth, my jewel treasuries are overflowing, which none can match. These are the four virtues possessed by the holy king.' On the other shore of the great ocean, there are also the Padmatīrtha, Kumudatīrtha, and Puṇḍarīkatīrtha lakes. Beyond this is an open expanse, within which is a great ocean named Ujjayinī. Beneath this water is the road of the wheel-turning holy king, twelve yojanas wide. On both flanks of the road are seven tiers of walls, seven tiers of railings, seven tiers of nets, and seven tiers of rows of trees, made of the seven treasures. When a wheel-turning holy king appears in the world in Jambudvīpa, the water naturally recedes and the road becomes flat and level. The wheel-turning holy king then ordered his carriage to go out touring the rear garden, immediately instructing the driver: 'You should drive well and proceed carefully. Why is this? Because I wish to gaze attentively upon the peace and well-being of the people of the kingdom.' At that time, the people along the road who were watching also said to the attendants: 'Proceed slowly for now; we wish to gaze attentively upon the august countenance of the holy king.' At that time, the king lovingly nurtured the people and creatures as a father loves his child, and the people of the kingdom admired the king as a child looks up to a father. All the precious and rare things they possessed they presented to the king, praying that he would deign to accept them. The king replied: 'Stop for now, everyone! I have my own treasures; you may use them yourselves.' When the king governed this Jambudvīpa, the earth was flat and level, without thorns, pits, mounds, or hillocks; nor were there mosquitoes, gnats, bees, flies, snakes, vipers, or venomous insects. Stones, sand, tiles, and gravel naturally sank down, while gold, silver, gems, and jade appeared upon the earth. The four seasons were harmonious, neither cold nor hot. The earth was soft, free of dust and grime, clean and glossy as if smeared with oil. Fresh springs welled up from the ground, pure and inexhaustible. Trees and woods were lush with fruit, and flowers and fruits flourished. Soft grass grew on the earth, perpetually green in winter and summer, colored like peacock feathers. Natural non-glutinous rice was free of chaff and bran, fully endowed with all flavors. At that time there were fragrant trees, lush with flowers and fruits, and when the fruits ripened, they naturally split open to release a pervasive fragrance. There were also clothing trees, lush with flowers and fruits, and when the fruits ripened, their skins naturally split open to yield various kinds of garments. There were also ornament trees, whose fruits when ripe yielded various kinds of ornaments. There were also garland trees, whose fruits when ripe yielded various kinds of garlands. There were also vessel trees, whose fruits when ripe yielded various kinds of vessels. There were also fruit trees, lush with flowers and fruits, whose skins naturally split open when ripe to yield various kinds of fruits. There were also musical-instrument trees, whose fruits when ripe yielded various musical instruments. When the wheel-turning holy king ruled the world, the dragon king Anavatapta, after midnight, would raise dense clouds that filled the world, and rain down an abundance of eight-flavored water for as long as it takes to milk a cow, moistening everywhere. There was no standing water on the ground, nor any mud; everything was thoroughly moistened. After midnight, the sky was clear and bright, spotless and free of clouds. Cool, pure, and gentle breezes arose from the sea, bringing joy when touching the body. The holy king governed the kingdom with righteousness, free from favoritism or injustice, and cultivated the practice of the ten wholesome deeds. The people at that time also cultivated right view and were fully endowed with the karma of the ten wholesome deeds. After a long time, the king felt slightly unwell in body, like someone having eaten rich food, and then died, being reborn in the Brahmā heaven. At that time, the golden wheel, white elephant, dark-blue horse, and bright jewel all vanished. Then the jade-woman treasure, the householder treasure, the military-commander treasure, and the people of the kingdom played music, bathed the king's body with perfumed water, wrapped it with five hundred layers of fine cotton cloth, and successive wrappings like that. They lifted up the king's body, placed it in a golden coffin, poured scented oil over it, placed it in an iron coffin, enclosed it externally with a wooden outer coffin, piled up fragrant firewood, placed further layers of cloth upon it, and cremated it. At the head of a crossroads they raised a seven-jeweled stūpa, one yojana in breadth and length, variegated in colors, and made of the seven treasures. The jade-woman treasure, the householder treasure, the military-commander treasure, and the people of the entire kingdom all came to make offerings to this stūpa, bestowing alms upon the poor and destitute: giving food to those needing food, giving clothing to those needing clothing, and providing elephants, horses, and precious vehicles, supplying whatever the multitudes required according to their wishes (from the first fascicle of the *Loutan jing*, and also the *Tan jing* from the *Dīrgha Āgama*).