法苑珠林 40.44

40.44

When the Emperor was formerly living in obscurity before his accession, a brāhmaṇa śramaṇa came to his residence, produced a bundle of śarīra, and said: 'Because you, dānapati, possess a good heart, I leave these for you to make offerings to.' When the śramaṇa had departed, he was sought after, but his whereabouts were unknown. Subsequently, the Emperor and the śramaṇa Tanqian each placed the śarīra on their palms to count them; whether fewer or more, they could never be determined with certainty. Tanqian said: 'I have heard a brāhmaṇa say that the dharmakāya surpasses quantities and cannot be measured by worldly means.' Thereupon they first fashioned a seven-jeweled casket in which to place them. The divine nun Zhixian said: 'The Buddha-Dharma is about to perish; all the spiritual deities have already gone west. My child, you shall become the compassionate father of the entire realm and revitalize the Buddha-Dharma; all the spiritual deities will return.' Afterward, the House of Zhou indeed abolished the Buddha-Dharma, and when the Sui house received the mandate, it revived it. The Emperor would always speak of the divine nun, saying: 'My rise originated from the Buddha.' Therefore, inside every śarīra pagoda across the realm, an image of the divine nun was fashioned. The Emperor and Empress built a contiguous-base stūpa at the Fajjie Nunnery in the capital to fulfill their old vow, and beneath it they enshrined śarīra. On an autumn night in the fifteenth year of Kaihuang, a divine light ascended from the base and circled the dew-basin clockwise, blazing like the flame of a smelting furnace; within a ten-day period, it occurred four times in this manner. On the thirteenth day of the sixth month of the first year of Renshou, the Emperor attended the Renshou Hall of the Renshou Palace; this was originally the day of his birth. Year after year on this day, with deep mind and perpetual mindfulness, he cultivated and produced merits and wholesomeness to repay the kindness of his parents. Hence, he invited eminent śramaṇas of great virtue to discuss the supreme Way with them, intending to select thirty lofty, spacious, and pure sites across the prefectures within the seas, each to erect a śarīra pagoda.