經律異相 6.54

6.54

The Buddha ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven to preach the Dharma to his mother for ninety days. King Prasenajit, longing to see the Buddha, carved ox-head candana to make an image of the Tathāgata and placed it at the Buddha's seat. Later, when the Buddha returned and entered the vihāra, the image came out to welcome the Buddha. The Buddha said: 'Return to your seat.' And said: 'After my parinirvāṇa, you may serve as a model for the four assemblies.' The image immediately returned to its seat. This image was the very first of all images, and that which later people modeled after. The Buddha then moved to live in a small vihāra on both sides, in a different place from the image, twenty paces apart. The Jetavana vihāra originally had seven stories; various countries competed to raise offerings without cease. A rat holding a lamp wick burned the banners and canopies, and the fire subsequently reached the vihāra, consuming all seven stories completely. The kings and people of various countries were all in great grief and anguish, thinking the candana image had already been burned. After four or five days, when they opened the door of the small vihāra on the eastern side, they suddenly saw the original image. The crowd was overjoyed; together they repaired the vihāra, managed to build two stories, and moved the image back to its original place. (From the Record of Illustrations of Foreign Lands)