經律異相 26.8

26.8

Anciently, a king offered a kāṣāya to a Buddha, thereby generating the anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi-citta. When that Buddha entered parinirvāṇa, his body cremated itself, yet the kāṣāya did not burn. They took the Buddha's śarīra and erected a stūpa; after the stūpa fell into ruin, the kāṣāya remained as before. Later, as stūpa worship gradually ceased and the kāṣāya accumulated many years, the Buddha Dharma was heard no more. On every fast day, the king, ministers, and countless people would make offerings to the kāṣāya with incense, flowers, banners, and canopies, handing it down successively and emulating one another without ever neglecting it. Later, a king thought to himself: “The former kings and I have reverently served this robe. What blessing will be gained? What kind of robe is this?” None knew. A merchant from the Buddha’s land arrived to conduct trade, and reported to the king, saying: “In my country there is a king named Śuddhodana. He had a holy son named Siddhārtha, who left home to cultivate the Way and is titled the Buddha. His body possesses the thirty-two marks, and he wears precisely this kind of robe.” Hearing this, the king was delighted, and wished to send an envoy to invite the Buddha. The merchant said: “If you would invite him, simply burn incense and invite him while paying homage from afar.” He thereupon burned incense and made invitation to the Buddha: “May the Buddha tomorrow deign to exert his august presence.” The smoke of the incense sped toward the Buddha and circled him seven times, transforming in the sky into a canopy of flowers. At that moment the Buddha smiled; rays of light from his mouth illuminated countless realms, ascended into the sky, merged with the incense, formed a floral canopy together, and both returned, entering the crown of his head. Ānanda said to the Buddha: “From which direction does this smoke of incense come?” The Buddha told Ānanda in full. At that moment the great trichiliocosm quaked violently. The gates of the city in that country all turned to gold. Harp-like instruments sounded of their own accord without being plucked. The pearl rings of women all made music. Trees withered for a hundred years grew anew. Greatly terrified, the king cried out, asking his people: “What disaster or anomaly is this, that makes my country quake?” The merchant said to the king: “Wherever the Bhagavat arrives, good portents first appear; it is all brought about by the king's merit.” The king then leaped for joy. He proclaimed to his ministers and people that they should burn incense to welcome the Buddha. The king made a vow in his heart, saying: “May I become like the arhat who is the Bhagavat’s attendant.” The king presented the kāṣāya to the Bhagavat. The Buddha could not bear its weight; it sank into the ground, descending through countless Buddha realms below, where it hung suspended in mid-air. A bodhisattva of that lower realm said to the Buddha of that realm: “From where does this kāṣāya come, that it does not fall to the ground?” The Buddha said: “In an instant, there will naturally be a response.” Śākyamuni Buddha directed Maudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, and five hundred other disciples to go fetch the kāṣāya. Each exhausted his supernormal powers, yet none could bring it. The Buddha told Mañjuśrī to go fetch it, but he too could not lift it. The Buddha said: “In a past life, a man offered this kāṣāya to a former Buddha, generating the aspiration for the Great Path. After countless lifetimes, it returned to this king's possession. Now he offers it to me again, but along the way he wished to realize the fruit and vowed to become a śrāvaka. For this reason, the kāṣāya cannot be borne. Why is this? When the previous aspiration was lofty, the kāṣāya was light; because the later intent was focused on the small, the kāṣāya became heavy.” Hearing the Buddha's instruction, the king immediately repented: “As a king, I do not wish the people of my kingdom to aspire to my position; if they harbored such an intention, I would call it treason. The Buddha is the Bhagavat, and therefore I did not dare aspire to Buddhahood.” The king and his ministers and subjects all generated the anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi-citta. The kāṣāya spontaneously sprang forth from the earth. The king raised the kāṣāya and held it up to present to the Buddha, saying: “May it be for the sake of all squirming things in the ten directions.” Accepting this kāṣāya, the Buddha then expounded the sūtras for them. The king and his ministers all attained the stage of non-retrogression. (From the Zhefu luohan jing.)