法苑珠林 37.10

37.10

Furthermore, the Yuwang zhuan states: The king gained faith and asked a man of the Way, 'In the past, my slaughtering was not necessarily guided by principle. What good should I now cultivate to escape these calamities?' He replied, 'There is only erecting stūpas to make offerings to the Saṃgha, rescuing prisoners, and providing relief to the poor and destitute.' (Hence the Avadāna-sūtra says: 'Within the royal palace, four requisites were constantly provided as offerings to twenty thousand śramaṇas, with utmost dedication and complete etiquette, beyond description.') The king asked, 'Where can stūpas be erected?' The man of the Way then used his spiritual powers to cover the light of the sun with his left hand, producing eighty-four thousand rays that shone scatteringly across Jambudvīpa. Wherever they shone, stūpas could be erected; these are the sites of the present-day stūpas. At that time, wishing to construct relic stūpas, the king led the fourfold army to Rājagṛha and retrieved the relics from the Buddha stūpa of King Ajātaśatru. He then repaired and restored this stūpa so that it was no different from before. In this manner, he retrieved relics from the stūpas of seven other Buddhas, arriving at the village of Rāmagrāma. At that time, the nāga kings led the king into the nāga palace. The king requested relics from the nāgas to make offerings, and the nāgas divided and gave them to him. At that time, the king made eighty-four thousand caskets of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal to hold the Buddha's relics. He also made eighty-four thousand precious urns to contain these caskets, and countless hundreds of thousands of banners, pennants, and parasols. He commanded various spirits and gods, each holding the relics and implements of offering, ordering them: 'Throughout Jambudvīpa up to the edge of the sea, wherever a city or village has a full kotī of households, erect a stūpa for the World-Honoured One.' At that time, there was a kingdom called Takṣaśilā with thirty-six kotīs of households. The people of that country said to the spirits, 'Thirty-six caskets of relics should be given to us to erect Buddha stūpas.' The king devised an expedient: in countries with fewer people, they were made to share with them so that the requisite count of households was met to erect a stūpa. At that time, in Pāṭaliputra, there was an elder named Yaśa. The king went to his place and said to the elder, 'I wish to erect eighty-four thousand Buddha stūpas throughout this Jambudvīpa in a single day. This is my desire.' At that time, the elder said to him, 'Excellent, Great King! Precisely fifteen days from now, at the exact time of the midday meal, let the Buddha stūpas be raised simultaneously throughout this Jambudvīpa.' Following this schedule, eighty-four thousand stūpas were erected within a single day. The worldly people rejoiced immeasurably, collectively naming them the King Aśoka Stūpas.