法苑珠林 35.35

35.35

Vinaya Master Daoxuan of Ximing Temple resided [there] during the mid-spring second month of the second year of the Qianfeng era; the conditions of his sympathetic resonances are fully recorded at the beginning of fascicle ten. At that time, a minister of the Four Heavenly Kings said to Vinaya Master Xuan: "Three months before the Tathāgata entered nirvāṇa, he commanded Mañjuśrī: 'Go to the ordination platform and ring the bell to summon the bodhisattvas of the four quarters, as well as the bhikṣus and the eight classes of devas and nāgas, to gather at Jetavana.' When Mañjuśrī had gathered them as ordered, the World-Honoured One said to Mañjuśrī and the great assembly: 'When I first climbed over the city wall and entered the mountains to learn the Way, I exchanged my priceless jeweled garments for a deer pelt to wear. A tree deity manifested a body, holding a saṃghāṭī in hand, and told me: "Crown Prince Siddhārtha, as you now cultivate the Way, you will surely attain saṃbodhi. When the past Kāśyapa entered nirvāṇa, he entrusted this cotton saṃghāṭī robe to me, ordering me to guard it well until the Benevolent One appears in the world, and to hand it to Siddhārtha." At that time, as I was about to accept the great robe, the earth shook violently. The tree deity told me: "I now spread open the robe for you to show the form of the field of merit." Once the tree deity spread it open and I saw the form of the field of merit, I immediately entered the vajrasamādhi, and the earth shook violently again. The tree deity said further: "You are still a layperson now, and it is not yet fitting for you to wear this Dharma robe. You should place it on the crown of your head and respectfully make offerings to it, so that your seeking of the Buddha's path will not be disturbed by Māra." I followed the tree deity's words and bore it upon the crown of my head. When I first placed it upon my head, the great earth shook and could not support my weight. Then the earth deity Dṛḍhā surged forth from the vajra-stratum as a vajra mountain, supporting me wherever I walked, and only then was I able to abide in peace. During my six years of asceticism, my body was emaciated, yet the robe remained upon my head and I dared not complain of weariness. Only the King of the Brahmā realm frequently came to see me; deeply moved by great compassion, pitying my toil, he carried my saṃghāṭī up to the Brahmā heaven. The earth shook violently again, and the sun and moon lost their light. The earth deity told Brahmā: "You must take the robe back and place it upon his head." The Brahmā King followed this instruction, and only then did the great earth settle into peace and the sun and moon shine again. The Prince also asked the Brahmā King: "Do you know the intention behind the saṃghāṭī resting on my head?" He answered: "I do not know." The Prince said: "This is because in the future, evil bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs will fail to revere my robe of liberation, so I keep the robe on the crown of my head; and it is in order to subjugate heavenly demons and non-Buddhists." When I entered the river to bathe and received the milk porridge from the two cowherd maidens, wearing this great robe, I immediately attained the joy of the third dhyāna, and all suffering came to an end. When I sat beneath the Bodhi tree and first turned the wheel of the Dharma, the tree deity brought a stūpa and offered it to me, telling me to take off this robe and place it inside the stūpa. In the fifty years since I attained buddhahood until now, I have revered this great robe, guarding and washing it myself. I have always had a Vajra spirit hold and support the jeweled stūpa, never setting it on the ground. Whenever I turned the wheel of the Dharma, I would wear this robe; since attaining the Way, I have worn it fifty times. As I am about to enter nirvāṇa, it must be entrusted [to someone].'"