法苑珠林 79.40

79.40

隋開皇十一年。內太府寺丞趙文昌身忽暴死。於數日唯心上暖。家人不敢入殮。後時得語。眷屬怪問。文昌說云。吾死已有人引至閻羅王所。語昌云。汝一生已來作何福業。昌答云。家貧無物可營功德。唯專心誦持金剛般若。王聞此語合掌斂膝。讚言。善哉善哉。汝能受持般若。功德甚大。不可思議。王語所執之人。好須勘當。莫令錯將人來。使人少時之間。勘當知錯。即報王言。此人實錯。計活更合二十餘年。王聞此語。即語使人。汝引文昌向經藏內。取金剛般若經將來。使人受教。即引文昌。向西行五里。得到藏所。見數十間屋。甚精華麗。其中經卷皆悉遍滿。金軸寶帙莊飾極好。文昌見已善心彌發。一心合掌閉目信手抽取一卷。大小似舊誦者。文昌忙怕。恐非般若。求使却換。使人不肯然見及題云。功德之中最為第一。昌即開看乃是金剛般若。文昌歡喜將至王所。令一人執卷在西。昌令東立。面向經卷。遣昌誦經。使人勘試。一字不遺。並皆通利。時王放昌還家。仍約束昌云。汝勤受持此經勿令廢忘。令一人引昌從南門出。欲至門首。便見周武帝在門東房內頸著三重鉗鎖。即喚昌云。汝是我本國人。暫來至此。須共汝語。文昌見喚。走至武帝所。便即拜之。帝云。汝識我不。文昌答云。臣昔宿衛陛下。奉識陛下。武帝云。卿既是我舊臣。汝今還家。為吾具向隋文皇帝說吾諸罪。並欲辯了唯滅佛法罪重未可得竟。當時以衛元嵩教。我滅佛法。比來數追元嵩未得。以是不了。昌問元嵩何處去。王追不得。武帝答云。吾當時不解元嵩意。錯滅佛法。元嵩是三界外人。非是閻羅王所能管攝。為此追之不得。汝語隋帝。乞吾少物。營修功德。冀望福資得出地獄。昌受囑辭行。少時出南門外。見一大糞坑中有一人。頭髮片出。昌問引人。此是何人。引人答云。此是秦將白起。坑趙卒。寄禁此中。罪猶未了。引人將昌至家得活。昌經三日所患漸瘳。昌以此事具奏文帝。文帝出勅遍下國內。人出一錢。為周武帝轉金剛般若經。兼三日持齋。仍勅錄此事入於隋史。

In the eleventh year of the Kaihuang reign era of the Sui, Assistant Magistrate Zhao Wenchang of the Palace Administration Court suddenly dropped dead. For several days, only the area over his heart remained warm, so his family did not dare place him in a coffin. Later, he was able to speak, and when his relatives questioned him in amazement, Wenchang recounted: 'After I died, someone led me to King Yama's place. The king said to me, "In your whole life, what meritorious karmic deeds have you performed?" I replied, "My family was poor and had no possessions to manage merit with; I only single-mindedly recited and upheld the Diamond Prajñā." Hearing these words, the king joined his palms, lowered his knees, and praised me, saying, "Excellent, excellent! That you could uphold Prajñā is of exceedingly great merit, inconceivable." The king told his officer, "Verify carefully and do not allow the wrong person to be brought." Within a short time, the envoy verified that a mistake had been made, and reported to the king, "This man was indeed brought by mistake. According to his ledger, he should live for more than twenty years longer." Hearing this, the king said to the envoy, "Lead Wenchang to the scriptural depository, take a copy of the Diamond Prajñā Sūtra, and bring it here." Receiving the order, the envoy led Wenchang five li to the west, arriving at the depository. I saw several tens of rooms, exceedingly magnificent and ornate, fully packed with scriptural scrolls inside. Their golden rollers and jewelled wrappers were exquisitely adorned. Seeing them, Wenchang felt his wholesome thoughts awaken all the more; with single-minded devotion, he joined his palms, closed his eyes, and at random drew out a scroll that felt similar in size to the one he used to recite. Wenchang was anxious and frightened, fearing it might not be the Prajñā, and asked the envoy to exchange it. The envoy refused. Then he looked at the title, which read: "First and Foremost Among Merits". Wenchang opened and inspected it, and it was indeed the Diamond Prajñā. Wenchang was delighted and brought it to the king. [The king] ordered one person to hold the scroll to the west and ordered Wenchang to stand to the east facing the scroll, directing Wenchang to recite the scripture while an envoy checked and verified it. Not a single word was missed, and he was completely fluent throughout. Thereupon the king released Wenchang to return home, but bound him with an instruction: "Diligently uphold this scripture and do not neglect or forget it!" He ordered someone to lead Wenchang out through the south gate. Just as they were reaching the gate, he saw Emperor Wu of the Zhou in a room east of the gate, wearing a triple iron collar and chains around his neck. He immediately called to Wenchang, saying, "You are a man of my former realm. You have come here for a brief time, and I must speak with you." Hearing himself called, Wenchang ran to Emperor Wu and bowed to him. The emperor asked, "Do you recognise me?" Wenchang replied, "I formerly served in Your Majesty's imperial guard, so I respectfully recognise Your Majesty." Emperor Wu said, "Since you are my former minister, now that you are returning home, describe all my sins in detail to Emperor Wen of the Sui on my behalf. All other matters are about to be settled; only the sin of abolishing the Buddhadharma is so heavy that it cannot yet be resolved. At that time, following the instructions of Wei Yuansong, I abolished the Buddhadharma. Recently, [King Yama] has pursued Yuansong several times without capturing him, and for this reason the matter remains unsettled." Wenchang asked, "Where has Yuansong gone that the king cannot capture him?" Emperor Wu replied, "At that time I did not understand Yuansong's intention and mistakenly abolished the Buddhadharma. Yuansong is a person beyond the three realms (tridhātu), not someone King Yama can govern and control; therefore they cannot capture him. Tell the Sui emperor to bestow on me a few things to cultivate merits on my behalf, hoping that the support of merit will allow me to escape hell." Entrusted with this, Wenchang took his leave. In a short while, outside the south gate, he saw an enormous pit of excrement in which there was a man, with only a patch of hair protruding. Wenchang asked the guide, "Who is this?" The guide answered, "This is General Bai Qi of Qin, who buried the soldiers of Zhao alive. He is temporarily detained here, and his retribution is not yet over." The guide brought Wenchang home, and he revived. After three days, his ailment gradually healed. Wenchang reported this entire matter to Emperor Wen in a memorial. Emperor Wen issued an edict throughout the realm that each person should donate one coin to turn the Diamond Prajñā Sūtra for Emperor Wu of the Zhou, and observe a fast for three days. He further ordered this incident to be recorded in the Sui history.'