法苑珠林 44.4

44.4

Section 1: Explaining the Intention

Formerly, when the Tathāgata was in the world, he entrusted the Dharma of the final age in advance to Śakra Devānām-indra and the various kings. This was truly because divine power can crush the myriad evils, and royal majesty can lead the myriad commoners. That the bequeathed Dharma is now entrusted to them is meant to rely on them for its propagation. Because the fourfold assembly is weak, and it is feared that the Three Jewels might fall into ruin, the king is relied upon to awe and subdue, and the king's authority is engaged to exert pressure, so that the unworthy will put an end to their misconduct, and those who slander and defile it will cease their confusion. This aids the great plan to be renewed and fans the imperial breeze to spread far and wide. With a single transformation, the gradual progress is announced; with a second transformation, the realm is cleansed. The multitude of living beings wear the grace of sage virtue, and the Buddha-Dharma secures the way of being entrusted. This is what is meant by ‘entrustment.’ As the secular tradition says: In ancient times, when sage kings established institutions, their intention was to let yin and yang have their proper stations, sovereign and subject have their rules, male and female have their distinction, and governmental decrees have their order. Therefore, the ruler faces south and governs all under heaven, housing the queen in the northern palace and the crown prince in the east. The Son of Heaven establishes ancestral temples, and the queen establishes markets. When there is a solar eclipse, the king cultivates his virtue; when there is a lunar eclipse, the queen cultivates her conduct. This embodies the stations of yin and yang. Thus, the Qian hexagram begins at Zi, so Zi is the celestial commencement of the year. The Kun hexagram begins at Wei, and its counterbalance is at Chou. Yin does not exercise sole authority, but goes to support yang; thus Chou is the terrestrial commencement of the year. The sage king receives from Heaven and orders the Earth to accomplish his work; thus Yin is the human commencement of the year. The three commencements are used in alternation, changing without cessation. Therefore, a king must preserve the descendants of the preceding two dynasties to embody the three commencements. The Book of Changes says: ‘In the southwest, one gains friends and walks with one’s own kind; in the northeast, one loses friends, but in the end there is celebration.’ Thus subjects follow the sovereign and women submit to men. Qian begins at Zi, moves leftward, and ends at Xu; Kun begins at Wei, moves rightward, and ends at You. Thus men esteem the left and women esteem the right.