經律異相 38
English (machine translation) 38
- Language
- English
38.1
Compiled by the Liang Dynasty śramaṇas Sengmin, Baochang, and others
38.2
1. Upasenā cuts her flesh to save an ill bhikṣu
2. Āmrapālī invites the Buddha with utmost sincerity, and the storehouses are naturally fully provided
3. The woman Sumanā gives birth to ten eggs, the eggs turn into ten boys, and their past conditions
4. A solitary mother loses her child and meets the Buddha; with compassionate guidance, she wearies of affection and attains the Way
5. A woman loses her relatives and her mind goes mad
6. The brāhmaṇa woman Devī, having no child, attempts to immolate herself; meeting an eloquent śramaṇa, she hears the Dharma and awakens to understanding
7. A pregnant woman vows to go forth from the household, but after giving birth to a child, fails to carry out her former intention
8. Nanda lights a lamp, which the supernatural powers of the śrāvakas cannot put out together
9. A woman of wholesome faith, having awakened in her youth to impermanence, maintains pure resolve and is tested by the Heavenly Emperor
38.3
1. Upasenā cuts her flesh to save an ill bhikṣu
38.4
In the kingdom of Viṣṇugupta, most people believed in wrong views, and there was no Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha. There was a woman named Upasenā (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya calls her Biwei, also called Weibei; the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya calls her Supriya). At that time, on some business, she went to the kingdom of Śrāvastī. After completing her business with King Prasenajit, she heard of the Buddha's merit from various faithful upāsakas. Desiring to see the Buddha, she went immediately to the Jetavana. She happened to find the Buddha preaching the Dharma of the five precepts to the great assembly. Upasenā requested to receive them from the Buddha, and thereupon received the five precepts. The Buddha further gave her the Dharmapada to chant and recite. At that time, at midnight, while she was reciting the Dharmapada, the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa, accompanied by several thousand yakṣas, was intending to go south to Virūḍhaka's place. Hearing the sound of the sūtra recitation, they all immediately halted to listen and praised her, saying: 'Excellent, Sister, you skillfully expound the essentials of the Dharma!' Upasenā then asked, saying: 'Who are you? I hear only a voice in the air and see no form.' He replied, saying: 'I am the ghost king, the god Vaiśravaṇa. In order to listen to the Dharma, I am staying in the air.' She asked again: 'You are a god, and I am a human. Why do you address me as "Sister"?' He replied, saying: 'The Buddha is the King of the Dharma and the father of humans and gods. Sharing the same taste of the Dharma, I therefore said "Sister".' Upasenā was exceedingly joyful. She frequently sent a servant into the woods to gather firewood. Later, one morning, having climbed a tree, the servant saw Śāriputra, Maudgalyāyana, and five hundred bhikṣus in this forest diligently practicing meditation and recitation. The servant returned and reported to the mistress. Upasenā was immeasurably pleased, and took off two gold rings to reward the servant. The servant further said: 'The Bhagavat has sent kind words to you, Mistress, fully explaining the five givings.' She took off her necklace and rewarded him again. The servant said: 'It is time to arise, wash your hands, and prepare the food and drink. Just now, in your name, Mistress, I invited the two venerables and the five hundred disciples to come and eat today.' She thereupon freed the servant and gave him precious treasures, announced it to all her family members and neighbors, and arranged the offerings. The venerables and all the bhikṣus put on their robes, held their bowls, and sat on the seats. After paying homage, she personally served the water and served all kinds of food, complete with fragrance and flavor. She said to Śāriputra: 'There is a spirit in this house who is close and intimate with me. Whenever I give, it tells me: "This is an arhat; this is a noble one, this an ordinary person; this one keeps the precepts, this one breaks the precepts; this one is wise, this one is foolish."' She said to Śāriputra: 'I have four sons and a husband who all hold evil, wrong views. Whenever I make offerings to the Three Jewels or give to the poor, they give rise to jealousy and anger. Yet in cultivating goodness and giving, I never flinch, and have become a srotaāpanna.' Śāriputra said: 'This is extremely rare. The Bhagavat will come to the forest of Viṣṇugupta this evening; return now to your dwelling.' After the Saṅgha departed, she prepared what was needed and went to the Buddha's place. Observing the place where the Saṅgha stayed, she saw a sick monk lying in a grass hut. She asked what ailed him and what he needed. He replied, saying: 'My four elements are in disharmony, causing extreme distress. The physician ordered me to take fresh meat broth' (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya says that the bhikṣu was regularly provided for, and having taken a purgative medicine, needed meat). Upasenā said: 'Do not seek it elsewhere; I will bring it tomorrow.' The next day was the fifteenth, when the law of the state prohibited slaughtering. Seeking everywhere, she could not find any. She then sent everyone away, bathed herself in a quiet room, cut the flesh from inside her thigh, wrapped it in fine cotton cloth, cooked it into a soup combined with various medicinal herbs, and sent it to the sick bhikṣu. After the bhikṣu ate it, his illness was cured immediately. Her husband soon returned, saw his wife's complexion had changed, and immediately asked, saying: 'Why are you so haggard?' She replied, saying: 'I am ill.' He immediately summoned a physician, who could not identify the cause. Pressing the female servants of the household, a maid recounted everything. The husband went to the streets and lanes, shouting loudly: 'The śramaṇas of the Śākyan clan eat human flesh like King Kalmāṣapāda!' Because of this, the Buddha instituted a rule: 'Bhikṣus, all kinds of impure meat should never be eaten.' The upāsikā said: 'Because of me, meat was prohibited.' She then said to her husband: 'If you can invite the Buddha and the Saṅgha for me to come here to receive an offering, it will be very good. If you cannot, I shall give up my life.' For his wife's sake, the husband entered the forest to invite the Buddha to take a meal at the house the following day. The Buddha and the Saṅgha sat on their seats. He asked where Upasenā was, and was answered: 'She is ill.' The Buddha said: 'Call her to come.' The husband said: 'Your master calls you.' She replied: 'The pain of illness makes me unable to rise.' The Buddha told Ānanda: 'Go and tell her to rise.' Ānanda went immediately and invoked the Buddha's summons. Carrying her together with her bed, they brought her to the Buddha's place. Encountering the Buddha's light, her painful illness was immediately removed and she was restored as before (The Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya says that the bhikṣu entered the samādhi of loving-kindness, and the wound immediately healed). She then arose and paid homage to the Buddha. The Buddha expounded the Dharma for her, and she attained the fruition of anāgāmin. The husband and their relatives abandoned the way of wrong views, received the five precepts, and became disciples of the Buddha (From the Sūtra of Upasenā, and also from the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish).
38.5
2. Āmrapālī invites the Buddha with utmost sincerity, and the storehouses are naturally fully provided
38.6
In the city of Vaiśālī, there was a woman named Āmrapālī. Hearing that the Buddha was traveling there, she was immeasurably joyful. Together with five hundred women, she went to the Buddha's place. Hearing the Buddha preach the Dharma, her mind was awakened. She invited the Buddha for a meal. At that time, there were also five hundred sons of elders in the city who likewise invited the Bhagavat. The Bhagavat said: 'I have already accepted Āmrapālī's invitation for tomorrow.' Then the sons of the elders said to Āmrapālī: 'The Buddha, the Most Venerable One, has come to convert our country. We ought to feed him first. You should suspend your offering for now.' The woman said: 'Do not use your power and nobility to oppress a weak woman. If you can grant me four wishes, I will yield to you: first, make my mind preserve goodness without wavering; second, make my life assured of staying without dying; third, make my wealth and goods without diminish; fourth, make the Buddha dwell permanently in this country.' The elders said: 'Splendid! Now you are able to understand impermanence. The wishes you desire are not things we can accomplish. We permit you to feed the Buddha first.' Among them, some youths were ashamed to be placed behind her and were stubbornly persistent. They then ordered the market officials to stop trading. Āmrapālī sent people to seek various goods, but they could obtain nothing. Yet in the storehouse, all kinds of provisions became spontaneously abundant; only firewood and charcoal were lacking. They poured oil over white felt to substitute for it. Furthermore, they barred the city gate so that no one could go out. When she was to report the invitation to the Buddha, she immediately sent a parrot to go and announce that the food was ready. The elders shot arrows at it, but by the Buddha's spiritual virtue, the arrows turned into flowers, and it was able to reach the Buddha's place. Flying and calling out, it announced to the Buddha, the Multitude of Blessings, and the Saṅgha. When [the Buddha's] feet stepped on the city gate, the heavens and earth trembled. The five hundred elders, Āmrapālī, and the women, seeing and hearing this, attained the Dharma-eye and received and upheld the five precepts (From the lower fascicle of the Sūtra of the Middle Origin).
38.7
3. The woman Sumanā gives birth to ten eggs, the eggs turn into ten boys, and their past conditions
38.8
In the kingdom of Śrāvastī, Elder Sudatta had a late-born youngest daughter named Sumanā. Her face and features were most exquisite, and her father cherished her with love. He took her to the Buddha's abode. When the daughter saw the Buddha, her heart leapt with redoubled joy, and she made a wish to obtain fine incense to plaster the chamber where the Buddha dwelt. The girl had a bimbaratha in her hand. The Buddha asked her for it, and she offered it to him. On it he wrote the name of an incense and gave it back to her. The girl returned to the city with her father to seek and buy it. According to what the Buddha needed, she brought it to the Jetavana, grinding and pounding it herself day after day. At that time, the king of Takṣaśilā sent one of his sons on an embassy to Śrāvastī to sightsee widely. He also came to the monastery, saw the girl Sumanā, and thereupon took her as his wife. Later she became pregnant and gave birth to ten eggs. When the eggs hatched, there were ten boys. Their features were handsome, and their bravery and strength were extraordinary. However, they were fond of hunting. Their mother instructed them: "Do not do so." The sons addressed their mother: "Hunting is the greatest joy. When you forbid us, Mother, it seems as though you hate us." The mother told them again: "It is because I love you all that I restrain you. If I hated you, I would never speak these words. The sin of taking life leads to falling into hell; for countless kalpas, by what means could you attain liberation?" The sons asked their mother: "Did this come from your own heart, or did you hear it from another?" The mother answered them: "I heard it from the Buddha." The sons again asked their mother: "Who is this Buddha? Please tell us fully." The mother said to her sons: "He was the prince of King Śuddhodana in the kingdom of Kapilavastu. Revulsed by old age, sickness, and death, he left home to train in the Path and attained the unexcelled fruition. His giant body is sixteen cubits tall; he possesses the three knowledges and six supernormal knowledges, and his far-reaching perception has nothing outside it." The sons implored their mother, begging to go see the Buddha. The mother immediately permitted them. They went to the Jetavana to behold the Tathāgata. The Buddha preached the Dharma for them, and all ten attained the purity of the Dharma-eye at the same time. They thereupon requested to leave home. The Buddha permitted them to join the Path. Their hair and beards fell out naturally, and Dharma robes were on their bodies. Striving diligently in the great enterprise, they all attained arhatship and brought an end to the bounds of suffering. In the past, ninety-one kalpas ago, there was the Buddha Vipaśyin. After his parinirvāṇa, his relics were distributed and countless stūpas were erected. At that time, one stūpa decayed and collapsed, and an old woman repaired it. Ten young men happened to pass by and saw her; with joyful hearts, they assisted her until the work was completed, and made a vow to be mother and sons. From that time onward, for ninety-one kalpas, in heavens and among humans, they were always reborn together, receiving blessings and joy. The old woman of that time was none other than this lady Sumanā, and the ten young men of that time were none other than these ten arhats. (Extracted from the thirteenth fascicle of the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish.)
38.9
4. A Bereaved Mother Lost Her Son, Encountered the Buddha's Compassionate Guidance, Grew Revulsed with Affection, and Attained the Path
38.10
When the Buddha was in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada's park, in the kingdom of Śrāvastī, there was a solitary mother who lost her only son. Distressed, sorrowful, and bewildered, she ran about weeping while holding the corpse, like a madwoman. She came out to the Jetavana. She had heard that the Buddha was a great sage whom gods and humans venerated, who preached the scriptural path to dispel sorrow and remove afflictions. When the bereaved mother saw the Buddha, she paid homage, knelt down, and wished to be released from her knot of grief. The Buddha said to the bereaved mother: "Go quickly into the city and walk through every street and lane; if there is a household where no one has died, beg for fire and bring it back." The bereaved mother searched but could not find one, and returned empty-handed. The Buddha told the bereaved mother: "For a human being dwelling in the world, there are four conditions that cannot long be maintained: first, what is permanent must be impermanent; second, wealth and nobility must end in poverty and lowliness; third, meeting must end in parting; fourth, robust health must end in death. Why do you not look into your own concerns now? Why do you not give broadly, maintain the precepts, observe the six fasts each month, and, according to your ability and capacity, provide for and give to the solitary and the destitute?" The bereaved mother addressed the Buddha: "My love for my child pierces to my bones and marrow; how could I spare even my own body and life?" At that time, wishing to transform her so that she might awaken, the Buddha conjured four great fire pits surrounding the bereaved mother. As the heat of the fire closed in on her body, she used her child's body to shield herself. The Buddha said to the bereaved mother: "You just stated that your love for your child was profound, piercing to your bones and marrow, and that you would rather forfeit your own life than let your child die. Now that the heat of the fire presses upon you and the sharp agony is hard to bear, you merely try to shield yourself with your child. The trifling fires of the human realm are hardly worth mentioning; the blazing fires of hell cause immense, swift agony. Animals endure the suffering of ignorance; hungry ghosts endure the suffering of hunger and thirst. One who is able to benefit oneself should cultivate giving, moral discipline, and patience, so as not to be born in hell, among hungry ghosts, and the like, but rather receive the blessings of gods and humans and gradually draw near to nirvāṇa." Thereupon, the bereaved mother reproached herself within her heart and grew revulsed with affection. Right before the Buddha, she eliminated all defilements and became a srotāpanna. (Clarified in the Udānavarga.)
38.11
5. A Woman Lost Her Family Members and Fell into Mad Delusion
38.12
In India there was a man who went to the kingdom of Śrāvastī. His wife gave birth to two sons: the eldest son was seven years old, and the second son was an infant in arms. The mother was pregnant again and was about to give birth. According to the customs of India, when a woman is near her month of delivery, she returns to her parents' home. Thereupon, the husband and wife rode together in a wagon carrying their two sons toward the city of Śrāvastī. Mid-journey, they released the ox. A venomous snake coiled around the ox's leg, and the ox broke away from the pen. When the husband went to retrieve the ox, the snake left the ox and killed the husband. When the wife saw this, she was terrified and wept. The sun was about to set. They were not far from home, separated by a river. Fearing nighttime brigands, she abandoned the wagon, took the two sons, and arrived at the riverbank. Leaving the older child at the water's edge, she carried the younger across in her arms. When she was only halfway through the water, a wolf devoured the older child, who cried out to his mother. Hearing his cries, the mother turned her head and saw it. In her shock and fright, she did not notice that she dropped the baby in her arms into the river, where it was swept away with the current. The mother grew even more distraught and confused, losing her wits. Stumbling in the water, she miscarried the child she was carrying. She then crossed the river and asked travelers on the road: "Are my parents safe and well?" They replied: "Yesterday a fire broke out, and they were all burned to death." She asked the travelers again: "Have you heard whether my husband's parents are safe and well?" They replied: "They encountered bandits who harmed them; both parents-in-law are dead." Distressed, terrified, and dazed, she could not tell east from west, and ran madly naked. The travelers who saw her found it strange, thinking she had fallen ill with a demonic affliction. She sprinted and saw the Buddha. The Buddha was preaching the Dharma to a great assembly. When the woman saw the Buddha, her mind immediately attained concentration and she was no longer sorrowful. Looking upon her naked body, she bowed to the ground in shame. The Buddha called Ānanda to bring clothes and give them to her. When the woman had put on the clothes, she paid homage. The Buddha then preached the sūtra and revealed sins and merits to her. She immediately gave rise to the mind of unexcelled awakening and was established in the stage of non-retrogression; her sorrows dispersed like clouds before the sun, and she gave rise to the unexcelled mind. (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Woman Who Met with Calamity; the version in the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish is largely the same with minor differences.)
38.13
6. Devi, a Brāhmaṇa Woman Without Sons, Was About to Burn Herself Alive When She Met the Eloquent Śramaṇa, Heard the Dharma, and Attained Understanding
38.14
In the kingdom of Paiśanja, there was a woman named Devi of the brāhmaṇa caste. Her family was very wealthy, but having lost her husband and having no sons, she was a widow, solitary and destitute, with nothing to rely upon. According to brāhmaṇa customs, if things do not go as one wishes, one burns oneself alive. The brāhmaṇas went together to instruct her, causing her to vow to be reborn in the heaven of Nārāyaṇa, to invite fully one hundred brāhmaṇas, arrange a great feast, and upon finishing the meal, give each of them a cow with its calf, and donate all the goods in her household to five hundred brāhmaṇas, then stack firewood by the banks of the Gaṅgā and burn herself alive. [They said:] "The brāhmaṇas will chant prayers for you, so that your sins, both heavy and light, will be extinguished all at once; when you are reborn in future lives, your relatives of the six kinships will have limitless lifespans and boundless joy." Devi complied with them and immediately gathered firewood, intending to burn herself. A śramaṇa in that kingdom named Pratibhāna (which means "Eloquence" in the Liang language), who was vigorous, observant of the precepts, broadly learned, and possessed of wisdom, always transformed the world with a compassionate heart, leading people to change from the heterodox to the orthodox and abandon evil to cultivate good. He went and asked Devi: "What are you using this firewood for?" She replied: "I wish to burn my own body to eliminate calamity and sin." Pratibhāna said: "The sinful karma of past lives pursues the consciousness and does not coalesce with the physical body. To burn yourself in vain—how could that eliminate sin? Misfortune arises in accordance with the mind. When the mind contemplates wholesome phenomena, it receives a wholesome retribution; when the mind contemplates unwholesome phenomena, it receives an unwholesome retribution. Remaining retributions are likewise. How could you seek to eliminate sin and expect wholesome retribution from within anguish and torment? Even if it were so, it is unnecessary and unreasonable. It is like a gravely ill patient who is oppressed by suffering, and who is further reviled and beaten by evil people: at that moment, would that patient have a wholesome mind free of anger and distress?" Devi said: "There would only be anger and distress." Pratibhāna said: "You are just like that now. Because of sins of past lives, if you burn your body now, when the fierce flames arise, your body will be scorched and festered while your breath has not yet ceased. Because the mind is not yet destroyed, at that moment your body and mind will be boiled; because your conscious spirit has not departed, you will endure bitter torment, vexation, and mental anguish. Dying from this, you will be born into hell, where the suffering and distress will be a hundred, thousand, or ten thousand times more severe. It is also like an ox pulling a cart that grows weary of the cart and wishes for the cart to break: if the previous cart breaks, it is yoked to a subsequent cart. When sinful karma is not yet exhausted, even if you burn and destroy [your body], through the causes and conditions of sinful karma across hundreds, thousands, and myriads of bodies, continuity will not cease—just as in the Avīci hell, where one dies eighty thousand times and is born eighty thousand times in a single day, and only after a kalpa has passed is the sin finally exhausted. How much more so for one like you, who wishes to seek the elimination of sin by burning the body a single time?" She asked: "I wish to hear the method for eliminating sin." Pratibhāna replied: "When a previous thought commits evil, it is like clouds covering the moon; when a subsequent thought gives rise to good, it is like a torch dispelling darkness. The origin of sinful karma arises from the three bodily actions, four vocal actions, and the karmic deeds of the mental ground. Now you should, with single-minded sincerity, repent and change from the heterodox to the orthodox, casting off bodies and receiving bodies until you realize the Buddha Path." Pratibhāna conferred the ten wholesome prohibitions. Devi was filled with joy; preparing various kinds of food, drinks, and rare jewels, she invited him to remain and teach. Pratibhāna said: "Having received the ten wholesome teachings, you are now a vessel of the Dharma; if you again transform others, that will be your repayment. You have already crossed over; it is not fitting for me to stay. I must go on to transform other places." He received none of the goods, and thereupon departed. (Extracted from the second fascicle of the Sūtra on What Has Never Existed Before.)
38.15
7. A Woman Conceived and Vowed to Leave Home; Both Mother and Son Practiced the Path and Were Established in It
38.16
"There was a woman who was several months pregnant. Seeing the Buddha and the saṅgha, she made a vow: 'After I give birth to my child, may he leave home to become a śramaṇa.' But after giving birth to the child, her affectionate love was so deep that she did not carry out her original wish. When the child reached the age of seven, her mind suddenly regained its realization: she prepared food for two people and three Dharma robes, took a vase, and led the child to the Buddha's presence. She addressed the Buddha: 'Please have pity on my child and allow him to become a śramaṇa, so that he may later attain the Path and his physical form may be like the Buddha.' The Buddha immediately permitted it. The mother poured water and washed her child first; at that moment, nine dragons emerged from the vase, spouting water to bathe the child. When the bathing was done, the remaining water was sprinkled on the child's head, and above and below his head it transformed into a canopy of flowers, interlaced with precious curtains, and upon lion seats there were Buddhas. The Buddha then smiled, emitting five-colored light that illuminated ten billion lands, circled back around the Buddha's body, and entered through the crown of the child's head. The mother then stepped forward to offer the food to the Buddha and to feed her child. The child gave rise to the mind of unexcelled, equal awakening. The ten billion Buddha lands shook in six ways, and all the Buddhas of those lands appeared naturally. With the mother's share of food, the Buddha satiated all those; the Buddha and the bhikṣus were all equally full and satisfied, while the food remained as before. The mother was filled with joy, and along with gods and humans attained avaivartika. At that time, the child's hair fell out, he became a śramaṇa, and was established in non-retrogression. That was my very self." (Extracted from the Sūtra on the Past Buddha's Alms-gathering.)
38.17
8. Nanda Lighted a Lamp, and the Supernormal Powers of the Śrāvakas Together Could Not Extinguish It
38.18
The Buddha was staying at the Anāthapiṇḍada Hermitage. King Prasenajit made offerings to the Buddha and the great assembly of his retinue. The Jetavana was one hundred and sixty li in extent; King Prasenajit lit lamps all around it, and the populace competed to watch. The poor woman Nandā had no home or house. Asking passers-by on the road, she learned that King Prasenajit was lighting lamps for the Buddha with a thousand hu of oil. Nandā reproached herself: 'For what reason am I alone so poor as this?' She immediately went into the streets and lanes, begging from house to house, and obtained a little mixed rice. She thought to herself: 'I will sell this to pay for a lamp.' Selling it, she got one coin and took it to an oil dealer. The oil dealer asked the woman: 'What meritorious deed will you perform with one coin's worth of oil?' Nandā replied: 'I wish to light a lamp for the Buddha.' Hearing this, the oil master rejoiced with her in sympathy, took out oil for one lamp, and gave it to her as a gift. The poor woman rejoiced and carried it to the Jetavana. The Buddha said to Ānanda: 'There is a great elder who has aroused unsurpassed merit, but cannot enter by herself; open the door and let her come forward.' Hearing this instruction of the Buddha, King Prasenajit immediately pondered to himself: 'I am the most honoured in this state of Śrāvastī; in initiating this offering to the Way, could anyone surpass me? Why does the Buddha not praise me, but instead call someone an elder?' In a short while, the poor woman arrived before the Buddha. She lit the lamp she had brought before the Buddha, and now made a great vow: 'Together for all beings, I seek the knowledge and vision of the Buddha; may this radiant light penetrate the ten directions, and may the dark and evil realms all find cessation!' Having done so, she withdrew. When the next morning came, the worthy Maudgalyāyana went around inspecting the various lamps. Only the lamp lit by Nandā shone just as before. Maudgalyāyana blew on it, but blowing could not extinguish it. He then used his supernormal power to bring the waters of five Gaṅgās to douse it, but still it was not extinguished. He blew on it with the great Vairambha wind, but drifting and buffeting could not extinguish it. He exhausted his supernormal power, but in the end could not extinguish it, and was filled with dread in his heart. The Buddha said to Maudgalyāyana: 'The one who lit this lamp did so with a sincere mind; for this reason the lamp shines constantly. Even if arhats such as Śāriputra and pratyekabuddhas, with their supernormal transformations and merit, were together to extinguish this lamp, they could not extinguish it. Even if the Garuḍa King were to beat the great ocean waters, or the Lion King were to roar and stampede, and together they were to extinguish this lamp, the lamp could not be extinguished.' At sunrise, the woman Nandā went of herself to inspect the lamp she had lit yesterday; the lamp was still unextinguished, its light not diminished. She rejoiced greatly and bowed her head to the Buddha's feet. The Buddha knew that the woman's mind sought the unsurpassed Way, and emitted five-coloured light from his mouth. Whenever the Buddha preaches the Dharma on the works of the three vehicles, when conferring a prophecy on a śrāvaka, the light enters through the crown of his head; when conferring a prophecy on a pratyekabuddha, the light enters between his two eyebrows; when conferring a prophecy on a bodhisattva, the light enters through his mouth. The Buddha's vast light reached upward to the Thirty-three Heavens, penetrating everywhere; having done so, it returned, circled the Buddha three times, and entered through his mouth. At that time Ānanda arose and questioned him. The Buddha said: 'Ānanda, did you see the woman who lit the lamp last night? When this woman's life ends, through this merit she will turn her woman's body and become a man. For twenty kalpas hereafter she will not fall into evil realms, but will be born in the heavens and as a gold-wheel-turning king. After twenty kalpas, she will become a buddha named Samantaprabhāsa.' (From the Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish; it is also said in the Sūtra of the Poor Woman Nandā that she became a bhikṣu.)
38.19
The faithful woman Shanxin awakens early to impermanence, upholds a pure resolve, and is tested by the Heavenly Emperor (9)
38.20
When the Buddha was in the state of Śrāvastī, there was the daughter of an elder named Shanxin. She was just fifteen years old, by nature compassionate and filial, broad and penetrating in wisdom. From childhood she always harboured great vows and took no delight in worldly matters. Sitting, she pondered to herself: 'All things are impermanent and must end in death. Even a lifespan of ten thousand years must likewise end in death. Heaven and earth are destined to decay and collapse; how much more so the human body? I reflect that I must undergo such blames and reprimands, with suffering beyond words. After death, my spirit must enter the evil realms, and I alone must endure cruel torments and bitter hardship. From what did it originally arise? Suddenly there is anger, terror, grief, and sorrow, or at times joy. These impermanent things—one does not see whence they come or whither they go. Such things come and go without rest or cease. I consider my parents, brothers in the household, and the five kinds of relatives internal and external; they know nothing of guilt or merit, and their greed and desire are insatiable. At fifteen I have been promised to another man, and my brothers have eaten food, wine, and meat, and accepted bolts of silk. I reflect that my body must go to receive affliction and disaster, bound and tied fast, unable to break free. What should be done? Rather than living this life of old age, it is better that, while I am pure today, I make a supreme vow to seek and find a peaceful and constantly joyful palace where I may delight myself. It is not fitting to plunge into defilement and drown in the three destinies, never beholding the light and forever joined with suffering.' Thereupon she unified her mind and made a vow herself: 'Taking my body and life, I take refuge. May there be spirits and deities who know the sincerity of my heart.' At that time, a celestial deity appeared in the sky and said to Shanxin: 'If you are to take refuge in the peaceful and pure Dharma-realm of the West, you should first make obeisance toward the ten directions; with a compassionate mind and reverent intent, your mindfulness will surely reach it.' Having spoken, the deity disappeared. Shanxin then leapt for joy; she bathed, burned incense, scattered flowers, bowed toward the ten directions with joined palms, and thought of all people. Thereupon a celestial deity said in the sky: 'You should direct your mind toward the West, recite this single verse, and thereby praise Amitābha Buddha.' Shanxin then faced the West, following what the deity had instructed. The earth shook greatly; all who were in distress were liberated; diseases were removed, painful afflictions became peaceful, and sorrows turned into joy; the blind and deaf were cured, the mute could speak; the unwholesome all became wholesome, the faithless all had faith; humans and non-humans each attained what they wished. Shanxin burned incense, scattered flowers, and recited the verse. She focused her mind, closed her eyes, counted her breaths, and contemplated the internal matters of her body. Śakra transformed himself into a handsome man, eighteen or nineteen years of age, holding yellow gold in his hand. Standing before Shanxin, he teased her with a verse. Shanxin, with a focused mind, answered with a righteous verse, rebuking the faults of men and women. Śakra leapt up, clasped his hands, and consoled her: 'What do you seek? In the entire world, you are peerless; your merit is vast and immeasurable. Please tell me.' Thereupon Shanxin, hearing Śakra's praise, had faithful and joyful thoughts, and the earth shook greatly; she then spoke a gāthā, vowing to uphold the Buddha's Dharma. Śakra was greatly delighted, and then vanished. Shanxin burned incense and took refuge in the Buddhas. The Buddha and the great assembly immediately flew through the air to Shanxin's home. Her parents and brothers, seeing the Buddha flying through the air, were all delighted. Shanxin went forward, paid homage, and circumambulated the Buddha a hundred times. The Buddha smiled and emitted countless rays of light, instructed her in the precepts and Dharma, circumambulated her body a hundred times, and returned into the crown of his head; he immediately conferred the twenty-four precepts upon her. The Buddha said: 'These are the lofty practices of my upāsikā: the three eights, twenty-four precepts.' Shanxin rejoiced and attained the seventh dwelling. She then transformed her body into a man before the Buddha, and her parents and brothers all received the five precepts. (From the Shanxin mozhu jing, fascicle 1.)
38.21
Diverse Phenomena from the Sūtras and Vinaya, Fascicle 38
Linked texts (1)
- 經律異相 — Classical Chinese