法苑珠林 61.8

61.8

言絕便禪默。行重請曰。願上人當授所未聞。如斯偈義。八歲童子亦已諳誦。非所望於得道人也。域笑曰。八歲雖誦百歲不行。誦之何益人皆知敬得道者。不知行之自得道。悲夫吾言雖少。行者益多也。於是辭去。數百人各請域中食。域皆許往。明旦五百舍皆有一域。始謂獨過。來相詶問。方知分身降焉。既發諸道人送至河南城。域徐行追者不及。域迺以杖畫地曰。於斯別矣。其日有人從長安來。見域在彼寺中。又賈客胡濕登者。即於是日將暮。逢域於流沙中。計見已行九千餘里。既還西國。不知所終。

When his words ended, he sat in dhyāna silence. Faxing requested again, saying, “We wish the Venerable One would bestow what has not yet been heard. The meaning of such a verse is already memorised and recited by an eight-year-old child; it is not what was expected of a person who has attained the Way.” Jīvaka smiled and said, “Though an eight-year-old recites it, an hundred-year-old does not practise it; what is the benefit of reciting it? Everyone knows to revere one who has attained the Way, but they do not know that by practising it they themselves attain the Way. How lamentable! Though my words are few, those who practise them will gain much.” Thereupon he took his leave. Several hundred people each invited Jīvaka for the midday meal; Jīvaka promised to go to all of them. The next morning, there was a Jīvaka in each of the five hundred households. At first each thought he had visited them alone; when they came to converse and ask one another, they only then realised he had multiplied his body to descend upon them. When he departed, all the monks saw him off as far as the city of Henan. Jīvaka walked slowly, yet those pursuing could not catch up. Jīvaka then drew a line on the ground with his staff and said, “Here we part!” On that day, someone coming from Chang’an saw Jīvaka in a temple there. Furthermore, a barbarian merchant, Hushideng, encountered Jīvaka in the drifting sands just as evening fell on that very day. Calculating this, he had already travelled more than nine thousand li. Having returned to the Western Countries, it is not known where he ended his days.