法苑珠林 13.25

13.25

東晉成帝咸和年中。丹陽尹高悝。往還市闕。每張侯橋浦有異光現。乃使吏尋之獲金像一軀。西域古製。光趺並闕。悝下車載像。至長干巷口。牛不復行。悝止御者任牛所往。遂徑赴長干寺。因安置之。楊都翕然勸悟者甚眾。像於中霄。忽放金光。歲餘臨海縣漁人張孫世。於海上見銅蓮華趺。丹光游泛。乃馳舟接取。具送上臺。帝令試安像足。恰然同合。久之有西域五僧。振錫詣悝云。昔游天竺得阿育王像。至鄴遭亂藏于河濱。王路既通尋覓失所。近感夢云。吾出江東。為高悝所得在阿育王寺。故遠來相投欲一禮拜。悝引至寺。五僧見像歔欷洟泣。像為之放光照于堂內。及繞像形。僧云。本有圓光。今在遠處。亦尋當至。五僧即住供養。至咸和元年。南海交州合浦採珠人董宗之。每見海底有光浮于水上。尋之得光。以事上聞。簡文帝勅施此像。孔穴懸同光色無異。凡四十餘年。東西別處祥感光趺。方乃符合。此像華臺有西域書。諸道俗來者。多不識之。有三藏法師求那跋摩。曰此古梵書也。是阿育王第四女所造。時瓦官寺沙門慧邃。欲求摸寫。寺主僧尚恐損金色。語邃曰。若能令佛放光迴身西向者。非余所及。邃至誠祈請。至於中霄。聞有異聲。開殿見像大放光明轉坐面西。於是乃許摸之。傳寫數十軀。所在流布。至梁武帝。於光上加七樂天并二菩薩。至陳永定二年。王琳屯兵江浦將向金陵。武帝命將泝流。軍發之時。像身動搖不能自安。因以奏聞。帝撿之有實。俄而鋒刃未交。琳眾解散。單騎奔北。遂上流大定。故動容表之。天嘉之中。東南兵起。帝於像前乞願。凶徒屏退。言訖光照階宇。不久東陽閩越皆平。沙門慧曉長干領袖。行化所及。事若風移。乃建重閣。故使藻繢窮奇登臨極目。至德之始加造方趺。自晉迄陳。五代王臣。莫不歸敬。亢旱之時。請像入宮。乘以帝輦。上加油覆。僧為雨調。中途滂澍。常候不失。有陳運否亟涉訛謠。禎明二年像面自西。雖正還爾。以狀聞。帝延入太極。設齋行道。其像先有七寶冠。飾以珠玉。可重三斗。上加錦帽。至曉寶冠掛于像手。錦帽猶在頭上。帝聞之燒香祝曰若國有不祥。還脫寶冠用示徵咎。仍以冠在首。至明脫掛如昨。君臣失色。及隋滅陳。舉國露首面縛西遷。如所表焉。隋高祖聞之。勅送入京大內供養。帝躬立侍。下勅曰。朕年老不堪久立。可令有司造坐像。形相使同。其立本像送興善寺。像既初達。殿大不可當陽。乃置北面。及明乃處正陽。眾雖異之。還移北面。至明還南如初。眾咸愧謝輕略。今現在圖寫盛矣。

During the Xianhe era of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin, Gao Kui, the Governor of Danyang, was traveling to and from the marketplace and palaces. An unusual light consistently appeared at the inlet of Zhanghou Bridge. He then sent an officer to search for it, and they retrieved a gold statue. It was of ancient Western Regions manufacture, lacking both its halo and lotus pedestal. Kui got down from his carriage and loaded the statue onto it. When they reached the mouth of Changgan Lane, the oxen would proceed no further. Kui stopped the driver and let the oxen go where they wished; they went straight to Changgan Temple, where the statue was consequently installed. The people of the capital Yangdu gathered in excitement, and a great many were inspired to awaken to the faith. In the middle of the night, the statue suddenly emitted golden light. More than a year later, Zhang Sunshi, a fisherman from Linhai County, saw a bronze lotus pedestal on the sea, with red light floating around it. He hurried his boat over to retrieve it, and presented it to the imperial court. The emperor ordered that an attempt be made to set the statue's feet into it, and they joined together perfectly. A long time later, five monks from the Western Regions, shaking their tin staffs, came to Kui and said, "In the past, while traveling in India, we obtained a statue made by King Aśoka. When we reached Ye, we encountered turmoil and hid it by the riverbank. Once the royal roads were reopened, we searched for it but lost its whereabouts. Recently we were moved by a dream saying, 'I have gone out to Jiangdong; I was acquired by Gao Kui and am at King Aśoka Temple.' Therefore, we came from afar to seek you, wishing to pay homage once." Kui led them to the temple. When the five monks saw the statue, they wept and sobbed. For their sake, the statue emitted light that illuminated the inside of the hall and circled the statue's form. The monks said, "It originally possessed a circular halo, which is now in a distant place; it too shall soon arrive." The five monks then remained to make offerings. In the first year of Xianhe [under Emperor Ming of Jin, or later], Dong Zongzhi, a pearl diver in Hepu of Jiaozhou on the South Seas, constantly saw a light floating on the water from the seabed. Searching for it, he obtained the halo. Reporting the matter to the throne, Emperor Jianwen decreed that it be bestowed upon this statue. The socket apertures matched exactly, and the radiance and color were without difference. After more than forty years, the light and pedestal, which had manifested auspiciously in separate places to the east and west, finally came together. The lotus pedestal of this statue bore writing from the Western Regions, which most monks and laymen who came could not recognize. There was a tripiṭaka master named Guṇavarman, who said, "This is ancient Indic script. It was made by the fourth daughter of King Aśoka." At that time, the śramaṇa Huisui of Waguan Temple wished to make a mold and copy of it. The abbot of the temple, Sengshang, feared that it would damage the gold coloring, and said to Sui, "If you can make the Buddha emit light and turn its body facing west, it will be beyond my power [to refuse]." Sui prayed with utmost sincerity. When it reached midnight, an unusual sound was heard. Opening the hall, he saw the statue emitting great brilliance, having turned its seat to face west. Thereupon he was permitted to make a copy. Several tens of statues were reproduced and circulated everywhere. When it came to Emperor Wu of the Liang, he added seven musical deities and two bodhisattvas onto the halo. In the second year of the Yongding era of the Chen, Wang Lin stationed his troops at Jiangpu and was about to advance toward Jinling. Emperor Wu ordered his generals to sail upriver against the current. When the army set out, the body of the statue shook so that it could not keep steady. The matter was reported to the throne. The emperor investigated and found it to be true. Shortly thereafter, before blades even clashed, Lin's troops disbanded, and he fled north on a single horse. The upper reaches of the river were thus largely pacified; the statue's agitation had portended this. During the Tianjia era, military disturbances arose in the southeast. The emperor prayed before the statue that the villainous bandits would withdraw and disperse. No sooner had he finished speaking than light illuminated the steps and eaves. Before long, Dongyang and Minyue were both pacified. The śramaṇa Huixiao was a leader at Changgan; wherever his conversion reached, events changed as if moved by the wind. He then built a multi-storied pavilion, making its decorative designs exquisitely marvelous, allowing one to climb it and see as far as the eye could reach. At the beginning of the Zhide era, a square base was added. From the Jin to the Chen, among the monarchs and ministers of the five dynasties, none failed to return in reverence. During times of severe drought, they would invite the statue into the palace, having it ride in the emperor's carriage with an oiled covering above. Monks would perform rites to attune the rain; halfway along the road, torrential rains would pour down, always arriving at the expected time without fail. When the fortunes of the Chen were in decline, rumors and prophetic rhymes frequently circulated. In the second year of the Zhenming era, the face of the statue turned west of its own accord; although straightened, it returned to that position. When the circumstance was reported to the throne, the emperor invited it into the Taiji Palace, where he held a vegetarian feast and practiced the Way. The statue previously had a seven-jeweled crown adorned with pearls and jades, weighing about three dou, and a brocade cap was placed over it. At dawn, the jeweled crown was found hanging on the statue's hand, while the brocade cap was still on its head. When the emperor heard this, he burned incense and prayed, saying: "If the state is to meet with misfortune, take off the jeweled crown again to manifest the omen of disaster." He then placed the crown on the head again. At dawn, it had slipped off and was hanging just as on the previous day. The ruler and ministers lost their composure. When the Sui destroyed the Chen, the entire realm had their heads bared and hands tied before them, being relocated to the west, just as had been portended. When Emperor Gaozu of the Sui heard of this, he decreed that it be delivered to the imperial palace in the capital for offerings. The emperor stood in attendance in person. He issued an edict saying: "We are advanced in years and cannot bear to stand for long. Let the relevant officials make a seated statue identical in features and appearance." The original standing statue was sent to Xingshan Temple. When the statue first arrived, the hall was so large that the statue could not face south, so it was placed facing north. At dawn, it was found facing directly south. Although the assembly marveled at it, they moved it back facing north. At dawn, it faced south again as before. All of the assembly felt ashamed and apologized for their slight. At present, paintings and copies of it are flourishing.