法苑珠林 98.51

98.51

又法滅盡經云。佛告阿難。吾般泥洹欲滅時。五逆濁世魔道興盛。諸魔沙門壞亂吾道。著俗衣裳。樂好袈裟五色之服。飲酒噉肉。殺生貪味無有慈心。更相憎嫉。時有菩薩精進修德者。眾魔比丘咸共嫉之。誹謗揚惡。擯黜驅遣不令得住。自此於後不修道德。寺廟空荒不復修理。展轉毀壞。但貪財物。積聚不散。不作福田。販賣奴婢。耕田種殖。焚燒山林。傷害眾生。無有慈心。奴為比丘。婢為比丘尼。無有道德。婬嫉濁亂。男女不別。令道薄淡。皆由斯輩。或避縣官依倚五道。求作比丘不修戒律。月半月盡。雖名誦戒。厭倦懈怠不欲聽聞。不樂讀誦經律。設有讀者不識字句。為強言是不諮明者。貢高求名虛無雅步。以為榮貴望人供養。諸魔比丘命終死後。精神當墮無擇地獄五逆罪中。餓鬼畜生靡不更歷。於無邊河沙劫受罪竟。乃出生在邊國無三寶處。法欲滅時。女人精勤常作功德。男子懈怠不用法語。眼見沙門如視糞土。無有信心。法輪彌沒。當爾之時諸天泣淚。水旱不調五穀不熟。災疫流行死亡者眾。人民勤苦縣官侵剋。不循道理皆思樂亂。惡人轉多善者甚少。日月轉促人命轉短。菩薩比丘眾魔驅逐不預眾會。菩薩入山福德之處。淡泊自守以為傾快。壽命延長諸天衛護。一切十二部經尋復化滅。不見文字。沙門袈裟自然變白。聖王去後吾法滅盡。譬如油燈臨欲滅時。光更猛盛。於是便滅。吾法盡時亦如燈滅。自此之後難可覼縷。如是久後。彌勒當下世間作佛。天下大平。毒氣消除。雨潤和適。五穀滋茂。草木榮敷。大人長八丈。皆壽八萬四千歲。眾生得度不可稱計。

The Sūtra on the Disappearance of the Dharma also says: The Buddha told Ānanda, “When I have entered parinirvāṇa and [the Dharma] is about to perish, in the turbid world of the five corruptions the ways of Māra will flourish. Māra śramaṇas will disrupt and throw my path into confusion. Wearing secular clothing, they will delight in fine kāṣāyas of five colors. They will drink alcohol, eat meat, kill living beings, and crave flavors without any mind of compassion, hating and envying one another. At that time, if there are bodhisattvas who diligently cultivate virtue, the demon bhikṣus will all envy them together, slandering and broadcasting their alleged misdeeds, expelling and driving them away so that they cannot stay. From then on, they will not cultivate virtue; monasteries and shrines will become vacant and deserted, no longer repaired, falling into ruin one after another. They will only crave wealth, amassing it without dispersing it, and not serving as puṇyakṣetras. They will buy and sell slaves, plow fields and plant crops, burn mountain forests, and harm living beings without any mind of compassion. Male slaves will become bhikṣus and female slaves will become bhikṣuṇīs, devoid of moral virtue, wanton, envious, turbid, and chaotic, with no separation between men and women. That the path becomes diminished and diluted will be entirely due to this sort of people. Or, fleeing local officials or relying on the five paths, they will seek to become bhikṣus without cultivating the precepts. At the half-month and month's end, though nominally reciting the precepts, they will be weary and indolent, unwilling to listen to them. They will take no pleasure in reciting the sūtras and vinaya; even if some read them, they will not recognize the words and phrases, yet stubbornly insist they are right without consulting the wise, acting arrogant to seek fame with empty airs and graceful strides, deeming it an honor and expecting offerings from others. After these demon bhikṣus die, their consciousnesses will fall into the Avīci Hell among the sins of the five heinous deeds; there are none of the hungry ghosts or animals whose realms they will not pass through. After undergoing retribution for boundless kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they will finally be born in borderlands where the Three Jewels do not exist. When the Dharma is about to disappear, women will be diligent and constantly perform meritorious deeds, while men will be indolent and disregard dharmic teachings. Seeing śramaṇas with their eyes, they will look upon them as dung, without any faith. The wheel of the Dharma will sink away; at that time, all the devas will weep tears. Flood and drought will be unseasonable, and the five grains will not ripen. Disasters and pestilence will be rampant, and the dead will be many. The common people will toil bitterly, and local officials will encroach and oppress them; not following reason, all will desire and delight in disorder. Wicked people will steadily increase, while the good will be extremely rare. The days and months will grow shorter, and human life spans will grow briefer. Bodhisattvas and bhikṣus will be expelled by the demons, excluded from the assemblies. Bodhisattvas will enter the mountains, places of merit, finding peace and delight in solitary self-restraint; their life spans will be prolonged, protected by all the devas. All the twelve divisions of the canon will soon dissolve and vanish, no longer showing characters. The kāṣāyas of the śramaṇas will naturally turn white. After the holy kings depart, my Dharma will be completely extinguished. It is like an oil lamp that flares up even more brightly just when it is about to go out, and then is extinguished. When my Dharma ends, it will likewise be like a lamp going out. What follows after this is difficult to relate in detail. Long after this, Maitreya will descend into the world to become a Buddha. The world will enjoy great peace; toxic vapors will be eliminated; rain will be moistening and seasonable; the five grains will flourish abundantly; grasses and trees will blossom and spread; adults will be eighty feet tall, all with life spans of eighty-four thousand years; and the living beings who attain deliverance will be beyond calculation.”