法苑珠林 98.54

98.54

又舍利弗問經云。佛告舍利弗。我尋泥洹。大迦葉等當共分別為比丘比丘尼作大依止。如我不異。迦葉傳付阿難。阿難復付末田地。末田地復付舍那婆私。舍那婆私傳付優波笈多。優波笈多後孔雀輸柯王世弘經律。其孫名曰弗沙蜜多羅。嗣正王位。顧問群臣。云何令我名事不滅時有臣言。唯有二事。何等為二。猶如先王造八萬四千塔。捨傾國物供養三寶。此其一也。若其不爾。便應反之。毀塔滅法殘害息心四眾。此其二也。名雖好惡俱不朽也。王曰。我無威德以及先王。當建次業以成名。行即御四兵攻鷄雀寺。寺有二石師子。號吼動地。王大驚悑退走入城。人民看者嗟泣盈路。王益忿怒自不敢入。驅逼兵將。詐行死害。蹴令勤與。呼攝七眾。一切集會。問曰。壞塔好。壞房好。僉曰。願皆勿壞。如不得已壞房可耳。王大忿勵曰。云何不可。因遂害之。無問少長。血流成川。壞諸塔寺八百餘所。諸清信士舉聲號噭。悲哭懊惱。王取囚繫加其鞭罰。五百羅漢登南山獲免。山谷隱嶮軍甲不能至。王恐不濟賞募諸國。若得一首即賞金錢三千。時有君徒鉢歎阿羅漢。乃佛所囑累流通。一人化作無量人。捉無量比丘比丘尼頭。處處受金。王諸庫藏一切空竭。王益忿怒。君徒鉢歎阿羅漢。現身入滅盡定。王自加害。定力所持。初無傷損。次燒經臺。火始就然颷焰及經。彌勒菩薩以神通力。接我經律上兜率天。次至身齒塔。塔神曰。有蟲行神先索我女。我薄不與。今誓令護法。以女與之。使王心伏。蟲行神喜手捧大山。用以壓王及四部兵眾。一時皆死。王家子孫於斯頓盡。其後有王性甚良善。彌勒菩薩化作三百童子。下於人間以求佛道。從五百羅漢諮受法教。國土男女復共出家。還復滋繁。羅漢上天接取經律。還於人間。時有比丘。名曰總聞。諮諸羅漢。及與國王分我經律。多立臺館。為求學來難。王玄策行傳云。摩伽陀國菩提寺主。達磨師問漢勅使。知此佛法盛行。達磨師云。佛法當今盛在四方也。昔有迦羯王。夢大海水中心濁四邊清。請迦葉佛解云。後釋迦末代佛法。中天竺無。所以中濁也。總向四方。所以四邊清也。

The Śāriputra-paripṛcchā-sūtra also says: The Buddha told Śāriputra, “Soon after my parinirvāṇa, Mahākāśyapa and the others will jointly distinguish and provide a great refuge for the bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, no different from myself. Kāśyapa will transmit and entrust it to Ānanda; Ānanda will again entrust it to Madhyāntika; Madhyāntika will again entrust it to Śāṇavāsa; Śāṇavāsa will transmit and entrust it to Upagupta. After Upagupta, in the era of King Maurya Aśoka, the sūtras and vinaya will be widely propagated. His grandson, named Puṣyamitra, will succeed to the royal throne. He will consult his ministers: ‘How can I ensure that my name and deeds will not perish?’ At that time a minister will say, ‘There are only two things. What are the two? It is like the previous king building eighty-four thousand stūpas and exhausting the country's wealth to make offerings to the Three Jewels—this is the first. If not that, then you should do the opposite: destroy stūpas, extinguish the Dharma, and ruthlessly harm the fourfold assembly of those who have quelled their minds—this is the second. Whether the name is good or evil, neither will ever perish.’ The king said, ‘I lack the prestige and virtue to equal the previous king; I must establish the secondary enterprise to make my name.’ Thereupon he commanded the fourfold army to attack the Kukkuṭārāma Monastery. The monastery had two stone lions that roared and shook the earth. The king, greatly terrified, retreated and fled into the city. The people who watched lamented and wept, filling the streets. The king, growing more enraged, did not dare enter himself, but drove his commanders and soldiers, deceitfully executing and murdering, prodding them to attack with zeal. He summoned the sevenfold assembly, gathered them all, and asked, ‘Is it better to destroy the stūpas, or is it better to destroy the monks’ quarters?’ All replied, ‘We wish that neither be destroyed; if unavoidable, it would be acceptable to destroy the quarters.’ The king said in great fury, ‘How could that not be permitted?’ Thereupon he slaughtered them, regardless of young or old, until blood flowed like rivers, and destroyed more than eight hundred stūpas and monasteries. All the pure-believing laymen cried out in loud wails, grieving and distraught. The king had them imprisoned and subjected to lashing and punishment. Five hundred arhats climbed the southern mountain and escaped; the mountain valleys were secluded and rugged, so the armored troops could not reach them. Fearing he would not succeed, the king offered bounties throughout the lands: whoever brought in a single head would be rewarded with three thousand gold coins. At that time there was an arhat named Kuṇḍapādhānīya, who had been entrusted by the Buddha to propagate the Dharma. He magically transformed himself into countless persons holding countless heads of bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs, receiving gold everywhere until the king's treasuries were completely emptied. The king became even more enraged. The arhat Kuṇḍapādhānīya revealed his body and entered the cessation concentration. The king personally struck at him, but sustained by the power of concentration, he was unharmed from the start. Next, they burned the sūtra pavilions. As the fire began to burn and the soaring flames reached the scriptures, Maitreya Bodhisattva, through his supernormal powers, took my sūtras and vinaya and brought them up to the Tuṣita Heaven. Next, they arrived at the relic and tooth stūpa. The stūpa deity said, ‘Previously a subterranean dragon deity sought my daughter; I held him in low regard and refused. Now I vow to make him protect the Dharma by giving him my daughter, so that he may subdue the king's heart.’ Delighted, the dragon deity took a great mountain in his hands and used it to crush the king and his fourfold army, so that all died at once. The king's royal clan was utterly wiped out at this point. Afterwards, there was a king whose nature was very good and kind. Maitreya Bodhisattva transformed into three hundred youths who descended into the human world to seek the Buddha's path. They consulted and received the Dharma teachings from the five hundred arhats. The men and women of the realm once again went forth together, flourishing once more. The arhats ascended to heaven, fetched the sūtras and vinaya, and returned with them to the human world. At that time there was a bhikṣu named Bahuśruta who consulted the arhats and, together with the king, distributed my sūtras and vinaya, erecting many pavilions and residences to prepare for scholars coming from afar. The Record of Wang Xuance's Mission states: ‘The abbot of the Mahābodhi Monastery in Magadha, Dharma Master Dharmapāla, asked the imperial envoy of the Han [i.e., Tang] court whether he knew this Buddhadharma was flourishing. Dharma Master Dharmapāla said: “The Buddhadharma is presently flourishing in the four directions. Formerly King Krki dreamed that the center of the great ocean was turbid while the four sides were clear. He asked Kāśyapa Buddha to explain it, who said: ‘In the final age of Śākyamuni, the Buddhadharma will not exist in Central India; that is why the center is turbid. It will completely turn toward the four directions; that is why the four sides are clear.’”’”