法苑珠林 97.26

97.26

又佛母泥洹經云。大愛道比丘尼。即是佛姨母。不忍見佛後當滅度。欲先滅度。與除饉女五百人（即是比丘尼也。康僧會法鏡經云。凡夫貪染六塵。猶餓夫貪飯不知厭足今聖人斷貪除六情飢饉故。號出家尼。為除饉也）以手摩佛足。繞佛三匝。稽首而去。現神足德。於自座沒。從東方來在虛空中作十八變。八方上下亦復如是。放大光明以照諸冥。上曜諸天。五百除饉變化俱然同時泥洹。佛勸理家作五百輿床。麻油香華樟柟梓材。事各五百。真伎正音當以供養。一切凡聖覩之莫不哀泣。闍維畢捧舍利詣佛所。於是四方各二百五十應真。神足飛來稽首佛足。至舍利所。千比丘俱皆就坐。佛告阿難。取舍利盛之。以鉢著吾手中。阿難如命。告諸比丘。斯聚舍利本是穢身。兇愚急暴。嫉妬陰謀。敗道壞德。今母能拔興丈夫行。獲應真道遷靈卒無。何其健哉。勅令興廟供養。

Furthermore, the Sūtra on the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha's Mother says: The nun Mahāprajāpatī, who was the Buddha's maternal aunt, could not bear to see the Buddha enter extinction later on and wished to enter extinction first, together with five hundred hunger-dispelling women (that is, nuns; Kang Senghui's Dharma Mirror Sūtra states: "Ordinary beings are greedily tainted by the six dusts, like starving men greedy for food without knowing satisfaction. Now the noble ones sever greed and eliminate the hunger of the six sense-faculties, hence the nuns who leave household life are called 'hunger-dispellers'"). With her hands she caressed the Buddha's feet, circumambulated the Buddha three times, bowed her head, and departed. Manifesting the power of psychic abilities, she disappeared from her seat, arrived from the eastern direction, and performed eighteen transformations in the sky. It was likewise in the eight directions, above, and below. She emitted a great radiance to illuminate all darkness and shone brightly above the heavens. The five hundred hunger-dispellers likewise displayed transformations, and all entered nirvāṇa at the same time. The Buddha urged the householders to make five hundred bier-couches, with sesame oil, fragrant flowers, and timber of camphor, phoebe, and catalpa, five hundred of each item, and to make offerings with authentic dances and proper music. All beings, both ordinary and noble, seeing this, none failed to weep in grief. When the cremation was finished, they carried the relics and went to the Buddha's place. Thereupon, from the four quarters, two hundred and fifty arhats from each quarter flew there through psychic abilities, bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet, and reached the place of the relics. The thousand monks all took their seats. The Buddha told Ānanda: "Take the relics, put them in a bowl, and place them in my hands." Ānanda obeyed the command. He told the monks: "This collection of relics was originally an impure body—fierce, foolish, impetuous, and violent, full of jealousy and insidious schemes, corrupting the Way and ruining virtue. Now my aunt has been able to extricate herself and cultivate the conduct of a noble man, attaining the path of an arhat and swiftly having her spirit pass into the unconditioned. How vigorous she was!" He decreed that a temple be erected to make offerings.