法苑珠林 40.44

40.44

皇帝昔在龍潛。有婆羅門沙門。來詣宅上。出舍利一裹曰。檀越好心故留與供養。沙門既去。求之不知所在。其後皇帝與沙門曇遷各置舍利於掌而數之。或少或多並不能定。曇遷曰。曾聞婆羅門說。法身過於數量。非世間所測。於是始作七寶箱以置之。神尼智仙言曰。佛法將滅。一切神明今已西去。兒當為普天慈父重興佛法。一切神明還來。其後周氏果滅佛法。隋室受命乃興復之皇帝每以神尼為言云。我興由佛。故於天下舍利塔內。各作神尼之像焉。皇帝皇后於京師法界尼寺。造連基浮圖以報舊願。其下安置舍利。開皇十五年季秋之夜。有神光自基而上。右繞露盤赫若冶鑪之焰。其一旬內四度如之。皇帝以仁壽元年六月十三日。御仁壽宮之仁壽殿。本降生之日也。歲歲於此日深心永念修營福善。追報父母之恩。故延諸大德沙門與論至道。將於海內諸州選高爽清靜三十處。各起舍利塔。

When the Emperor was formerly living in obscurity before his accession, a brāhmaṇa śramaṇa came to his residence, produced a bundle of śarīra, and said: 'Because you, dānapati, possess a good heart, I leave these for you to make offerings to.' When the śramaṇa had departed, he was sought after, but his whereabouts were unknown. Subsequently, the Emperor and the śramaṇa Tanqian each placed the śarīra on their palms to count them; whether fewer or more, they could never be determined with certainty. Tanqian said: 'I have heard a brāhmaṇa say that the dharmakāya surpasses quantities and cannot be measured by worldly means.' Thereupon they first fashioned a seven-jeweled casket in which to place them. The divine nun Zhixian said: 'The Buddha-Dharma is about to perish; all the spiritual deities have already gone west. My child, you shall become the compassionate father of the entire realm and revitalize the Buddha-Dharma; all the spiritual deities will return.' Afterward, the House of Zhou indeed abolished the Buddha-Dharma, and when the Sui house received the mandate, it revived it. The Emperor would always speak of the divine nun, saying: 'My rise originated from the Buddha.' Therefore, inside every śarīra pagoda across the realm, an image of the divine nun was fashioned. The Emperor and Empress built a contiguous-base stūpa at the Fajjie Nunnery in the capital to fulfill their old vow, and beneath it they enshrined śarīra. On an autumn night in the fifteenth year of Kaihuang, a divine light ascended from the base and circled the dew-basin clockwise, blazing like the flame of a smelting furnace; within a ten-day period, it occurred four times in this manner. On the thirteenth day of the sixth month of the first year of Renshou, the Emperor attended the Renshou Hall of the Renshou Palace; this was originally the day of his birth. Year after year on this day, with deep mind and perpetual mindfulness, he cultivated and produced merits and wholesomeness to repay the kindness of his parents. Hence, he invited eminent śramaṇas of great virtue to discuss the supreme Way with them, intending to select thirty lofty, spacious, and pure sites across the prefectures within the seas, each to erect a śarīra pagoda.