法苑珠林 38.47

38.47

西京城內東南曲池日嚴寺。寺即隋煬帝造。昔在晉蕃作鎮。淮海京寺有塔未安舍利。乃發長干寺塔下取之入京埋於日嚴寺塔下施銘於上。于時江南大德五十餘人咸言。京師塔下舍利非是育王造塔舍利。育王舍利乃在長干本寺。道俗懷疑不測是非。至武德七年日嚴寺廢。僧徒散配其舍利塔無人守護。時有道宣律師門徒十人。配住西市南長壽坊崇義寺。乃發掘塔下得舍利三枚。白色光明大如黍米。并爪一枚。少有黃色。并白髮數十餘。有雜寶琉璃古器等。總以大銅函盛之。檢無螺髮。又疑爪黃而小如人者。尋佛倍人。爪赤銅色。今則不爾。乃將至崇義寺佛堂西南塔下。依舊以大石函盛之。本銘覆上埋于地府。南僧咸曰。此爪髮至梁武帝時已有疑焉。據事以量。則長干佛骨頗移於帝里矣。然江南古塔猶有神異。崇義所流蓋篾如也。故兩述之。但年歲綿遠。後人莫測其源。故別疏記爾。

Inside the Western Capital, at the Quchi [pond] in the southeast, stands the Riyan Temple. The temple was built by Emperor Yang of the Sui when he formerly governed as Prince of Jin in the regional commandery. In the temples of the Huai-Hai metropolitan area, there was a stupa where the śarīra had not yet been deposited; so he opened beneath the stupa of Changgan Temple, took it, brought it into the capital, buried it beneath the stupa of Riyan Temple, and placed an inscription upon it. At that time, more than fifty venerable elders from Jiangnan all said that the śarīra beneath the capital stupa was not the śarīra for which King Aśoka built a stupa, but that King Aśoka's śarīra was still at the original Changgan Temple. Both clergy and laity harboured doubts, unable to determine right from wrong. In the seventh year of the Wude era (624), Riyan Temple was abolished, its monastic assembly was dispersed and reallocated, and its śarīra stupa had no one to guard it. At that time there were ten disciples of Vinaya Master Daoxuan who were assigned to live at Chongyi Temple in Changshou Ward, south of the West Market. They excavated beneath the stupa and obtained three śarīras, white and radiant, as large as millet grains, together with one nail, slightly yellow, and more than ten white hairs, as well as miscellaneous treasures, lapis lazuli, and ancient vessels, all contained within a large bronze casket. Upon inspection there were no spiral curls. Furthermore, they doubted the nail, which was yellow and small like that of an ordinary person; for when one examines the Buddha, he was twice the size of a human and his nails were the colour of red copper, whereas now it was not so. Thereupon they brought them to Chongyi Temple beneath the stupa southwest of the Buddha hall, placed them in a large stone casket as before, covered it with the original inscription, and buried it in the underground chamber. The southern monks all said: 'These nails and hairs were already doubted in the time of Emperor Wu of the Liang.' Judging by the facts, the Changgan Buddha-relic had indeed been moved to the imperial capital. However, the ancient stupa in Jiangnan still possessed divine anomalies, whereas what was passed down at Chongyi was quite insignificant. Thus I have recorded both accounts; but because the years have stretched long, later generations cannot fathom their source, so I have made a separate record.