法苑珠林 100.403

100.403

法師對曰。琳聞。大聖應生。本期利物。有感斯現。無機不矚。故經云。一音所暢。各隨類解。論聲既爾。語體亦然。而傳記所明。非無析理。琳今正據。取彼多家。先列其真。後陳其妄。謹依魏國曇謨最法師齊朝尚統法師及修曆博士姚長謙等。據周穆王天子傳。周書異記前。漢劉向列仙傳序。并古舊二錄。後漢法本內傳。及傅毅法王本記吳尚書含闞澤等眾書。准阿含經等。委細推究。冀得依實。佛是姬周第五主昭王瑕。即位二十三年癸丑之歲。七月十五日。現白象形。降自兜率。託淨飯宮。摩耶受胎。故後漢法本內傳云。明帝問摩騰法師曰。佛生日月可知以不。騰曰。佛以癸丑之年七月十五日託陰摩耶。即此年也。昭王二十四年甲寅之歲四月八日。於嵐毘園內波羅樹下。右脇而誕。故普曜經云。普放大光照三千界。即周書異記云。昭王二十四年甲寅之歲四月八日。江河泉池忽然汎漲井皆溢出。宮殿人舍山川大地咸悉震動。其夜即有五色光氣。入貫太微遍於西方。盡作青紅之色。昭王即問太史蘇由曰。是何祥耶。蘇由曰。有大聖人生於西方。故現此瑞。昭王曰。於天下何如。蘇由曰。即時無他。至一千年外聲教被此。昭王即遣鐫石記之。埋在南郊天祠前。佛生即當此年。昭王四十二年壬申之歲四月八日。夜半踰城出家。故瑞應經云。太子年十九。四月八日夜半天人於窓中叉手白言。時可去矣。因命馬行。即此年也。

The Dharma master replied: “Lin has heard that when the Great Sage manifests birth, His original intention is to benefit sentient beings. Where there is sympathetic resonance, there He appears; where there is no capacity, He is not beheld. Therefore a sutra states: ‘From the single sound He pours forth, each according to their kind comprehends.’ Since this is so for the sound of His voice, the substance of His speech is also like this. Yet what the records and chronicles elucidate is not devoid of analytical reasoning. Now, for the standard evidence, Lin takes from those numerous authorities, first setting out what is genuine and afterwards presenting what is false. I respectfully rely on Dharma Master Tanmozui of the Wei, Dharma Master Shangtong of the Qi, the Doctor of Calendar-Making Yao Changqian, and others; and rely on the Zhoushu Yiji, earlier than the Mu Tianzi Zhuan, Liu Xiang's preface to the Liexian Zhuan of the Former Han, as well as the two ancient and old catalogues, the Hou Han Faben Neizhuan, Fu Yi's Fawang Benji, and various works by the Wu Minister Kan Ze and others. Checking against the Āgamas and other texts, I have investigated in fine detail, hoping to arrive at the truth. The Buddha was born under King Zhao, Xia, the fifth sovereign of the Ji clan of the Zhou. In the twenty-third year of his reign, a guichou year, on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, manifesting the form of a white elephant, He descended from Tuṣita and took lodging in the palace of Śuddhodana, where Māyā conceived. Therefore the Hou Han Faben Neizhuan states: ‘Emperor Ming asked Dharma Master Moteng: “May the month and day of the Buddha's birth be known or not?” Moteng said: “The Buddha conceived in Māyā on the fifteenth day of the seventh month in a guichou year.”’ This is indeed that year. In King Zhao's twenty-fourth year, a jiayin year, on the eighth day of the fourth month, under the flower tree in the Lumbinī Grove, He was born from the right flank. Therefore the Puyao Jing states: ‘He emitted a great light everywhere that illuminated the three-thousandfold world.’ This corresponds to the Zhoushu Yiji, which says: ‘In King Zhao's twenty-fourth year, a jiayin year, on the eighth day of the fourth month, the rivers, springs, and pools suddenly flooded, and the wells all overflowed. The palaces, human dwellings, mountains, rivers, and the great earth all shook. That night there was a five-coloured luminous vapour that entered and pierced the Grand Microcosm constellation and spread across the western quarter, all turning blue-green and red.’ King Zhao thereupon asked the Grand Astrologer Su You: ‘What omen is this?’ Su You said: ‘A Great Sage has been born in the western quarter; therefore this auspicious sign has appeared.’ King Zhao said: ‘What will become of All-under-Heaven?’ Su You said: ‘For the present there is nothing; but after a thousand years, His vocal teachings will reach here.’ King Zhao then dispatched men to carve it on stone to record it, burying it before the Heavenly Shrine in the southern suburbs. The Buddha's birth fell precisely in this year. In King Zhao's forty-second year, a renshen year, on the eighth day of the fourth month, at midnight He leaped over the city wall and went forth from the household. Therefore the Ruiying Jing states: ‘When the crown prince was nineteen years of age, on the eighth day of the fourth month, at midnight, a deva folded his hands in the window and said: “The time has come to depart.” Thereupon he ordered his horse and set out.’ This is indeed that year.