諸經要集 15.101

15.101

又觀佛三昧經云。爾時世尊告父王言。舍衛城中須達長者。有一老母。名毘低羅。謹勤家業。長者勅使手執庫籥。出內取與一切委之。須達請佛及僧。供給所須。時病比丘多所求索。老母慳貪。瞋嫌佛法及與眾僧。而作是言。我長者愚癡迷惑。受沙門術。是諸乞士。多求無厭。何道之有。作是語已復發惡願。何時當得不聞佛名不聞僧名。如是惡聲。展轉遍舍衛城。末利夫人。聞此語已。而作是言。須達長者。如好蓮華人所樂見。云何復有毒蛇護之。喚須達婦而語之言。汝家老婢。惡口誹謗何不擯出。時須達婦。跪白夫人央掘魔等弊惡之人。佛尚能伏何況老婢。末利聞之。歡喜語言。我明請佛。汝遣婢來到明食時。長者遣婢。持滿瓶金助王供養。末利見來而作是言。此邪見人。佛若化度我必獲利。佛於爾時從正門入。難陀侍左。阿難侍右。羅睺羅佛後。老婢見佛。心驚毛竪。言此惡人隨我後至。即時退走從狗竇出。狗竇即閉。四門皆塞。唯正門開。婢即覆面以扇自障。佛在其前令扇如鏡。無所障礙。迴頭東視東方有佛。南西北方亦皆如是。舉頭仰看。上方有佛。低頭伏地地化為佛。以手覆面。手十指頭皆化為佛。老婢閉目心眼即開。見虛空化佛滿十方界。當時城中。有二十五旃陀羅女。復有五十婆羅門女。及諸雜類。并及末利夫人。宮中合五百女。不信佛者。見佛如來足步虛空。為於老婢現無數身。皆破邪見。頭頂禮佛稱南無佛。稱已尋見化佛如林。即發菩提。老婢邪見仍未生信。由見佛故。除却八十萬億劫中生死之罪。得見佛已。疾走歸家。白長者言。我於今日遇大惡對。見於瞿曇在王宮門。作諸幻化。身如金山。目逾青蓮。放勝光明。作此語已入木籠中。以百張皮。覆木籠上。白㲲纏頭却臥黑處。佛還祇桓。末利白佛。願化邪女。莫還精舍。佛告末利。此婢罪重於佛無緣。於羅睺羅有大因緣。佛既還已。遣羅睺羅詣須達家。度彼老婢。羅睺羅變作轉輪聖王。時千二百五十比丘。化為千子。到須達家。以彼老婢為玉女寶。爾時。聖王。即便以如意珠照曜女面。令女自見如玉女寶。倍大歡喜而作是言。諸沙門等高談大語。自言有道無一効驗。聖王出世。弘利處多。令我老弊如玉女寶。作是語己。五體投地禮於聖王。時典藏臣宣王十善。女聞十善。心大歡喜。聖王所說義無不善。為王作禮。悔過自責。心既調伏。時羅睺羅及諸比丘。還復本形。老婢見已即作是言。佛法清淨不捨眾生。如我弊惡猶尚化度。即受五戒。成須陀洹。將詣佛所。為佛作禮懺悔前罪。求佛出家得阿羅漢。於虛空中作十八變。波斯匿王。末利夫人。具白佛言。此婢前世有何罪咎生為婢使。復有何福值佛得道。佛告王曰。過去久遠有佛出世。名一寶蓋燈王。入涅槃後於像法中有王。名曰。雜寶華光。子名快見。出家學道。自恃王子常懷憍慢。和上為說甚深般若波羅蜜經大空大義。王子聞已。謬解邪說。師滅度後。即作是言。我大和上。空無智慧但讚空義。願我後生不樂見之。我阿闍梨智慧辯才。願於生生為善知識。作是語已。教諸徒眾。皆行邪見。雖持禁戒。由謗般若謬解邪說。命終之後墮阿鼻獄。八十億劫受苦無量。罪畢出獄。為貧賤人。五百身中聾癡無目。千二百身恒為人婢。佛告大王。時和上者。今我身是。阿闍梨者。今羅睺羅是。王子比丘者老婢是。徒眾弟子者。今邪見女等發菩提心者是。

Furthermore, the Guanfo sanmei jing says: At that time, the Bhagavat said to his royal father: "In the city of Śrāvastī, the elder Sudatta had an old female servant named Vidīrā (Piloti). She diligently managed the household affairs. The elder instructed her to keep the keys to the storehouses, entrusting everything entirely to her regarding taking out, bringing in, receiving, and giving. Sudatta invited the Buddha and the saṃgha to provide what was needed. At that time, sick bhikṣus made many requests. The old servant was stingy and greedy; she felt anger and resentment toward the Buddha-Dharma and the saṃgha, saying, 'My elder is foolish and deluded, succumbing to the magic tricks of the śramaṇas. These mendicants seek much without satiety. What religious path could they possibly possess?' Having spoken thus, she further made an evil vow: 'When will I be able never to hear the name of the Buddha and never to hear the name of the saṃgha?' Such evil sounds spread throughout the city of Śrāvastī. Queen Mallikā, having heard these words, spoke thus: 'The elder Sudatta is like a fine lotus flower whom people delight to see; how can there be a venomous snake guarding him?' She summoned Sudatta's wife and said to her, 'The old servant in your household utters foul-mouthed slander; why do you not expel her?' Then Sudatta's wife knelt and addressed the queen: 'Even evil and vile persons such as Aṅgulimāla the Buddha was able to subdue; how much more so an old servant?' Mallikā rejoiced upon hearing this and said, 'Tomorrow I will invite the Buddha; send your servant to come.' When it was mealtime the next day, the elder sent the servant carrying a flask filled with gold to assist the queen's offering. Mallikā, seeing her approach, said, 'This person of wrong views—if the Buddha transforms and delivers her, I will surely obtain great benefit.' The Buddha at that time entered through the main gate, with Nanda attending on the left, Ānanda attending on the right, and Rāhula behind the Buddha. When the old servant saw the Buddha, her heart was terrified and her hair stood on end. She said, 'This evil man has followed after me and arrived!' She immediately ran back to escape through the dog door. The dog door instantly shut. All four gates were blocked; only the main gate remained open. The servant then covered her face, using a fan to screen herself. The Buddha stood before her and caused the fan to become like a mirror, unobstructed by anything. Turning her head to look east, in the eastern quarter there was a Buddha. The south, west, and north were also like this. Raising her head to look up, in the upper quarter there was a Buddha. Lowering her head toward the ground, the ground transformed into a Buddha. Covering her face with her hands, the ten tips of her fingers all transformed into Buddhas. The old servant closed her eyes, but the eye of her mind opened, seeing phantom Buddhas fill the ten directions of empty space. At that time, in the city, there were twenty-five caṇḍāla women, fifty brāhmaṇa women, various other classes, as well as the women of Queen Mallikā's palace—altogether five hundred women who had not believed in the Buddha. Seeing the Buddha, the Tathāgata, pacing through empty space and manifesting countless bodies for the sake of the old servant, all shattered their wrong views, bowed their heads to the Buddha, and proclaimed 'Namo Buddhāya!' Having proclaimed this, they immediately saw phantom Buddhas like a forest, and thereupon set their minds on bodhi. The old servant's wrong views still did not give rise to faith. Yet because she saw the Buddha, the sins of birth and death spanning eighty trillion kalpas were removed. Having seen the Buddha, she swiftly ran back home and addressed the elder: 'Today I met with a great evil adversary! I saw Gautama at the palace gate performing various magical illusions: his body was like a golden mountain, his eyes surpassed the blue lotus, and he radiated supreme light!' Having said this, she entered a wooden cage, covered the wooden cage with a hundred hides, wrapped her head in white cotton cloth, and lay back down in the dark. The Buddha returned to the Jetavana. Mallikā addressed the Buddha, 'I pray you transform and deliver this woman of wrong views; do not return to the monastery.' The Buddha told Mallikā, 'This servant's sins are heavy; she has no karmic affinity with the Buddha. But with Rāhula she has a great cause and condition.' After the Buddha returned, he sent Rāhula to Sudatta's house to deliver that old servant. Rāhula transformed into a wheel-turning sage king (cakravartin). At that time, the one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus transformed into his thousand sons and went to Sudatta's house, making that old servant his precious jewel-woman. Thereupon, the sage king shone a cintāmaṇi pearl upon the woman's face, causing her to see herself as the precious jewel-woman. Doubling in great joy, she said: 'Those śramaṇas boast grandly and speak big words, claiming they have the religious path without a single proof. When a sage king appears in the world, his vast benefits are manifold; he has caused my old and haggard self to become like a precious jewel-woman!' Having spoken thus, she threw her five limbs to the ground and bowed to the sage king. At that time, the minister in charge of the treasury proclaimed the king's ten good deeds. Hearing the ten good deeds, the woman felt great joy in her heart, [thinking:] 'What the sage king speaks has no meaning that is not good.' She bowed to the king, repenting her faults and reproaching herself. Her mind having been subdued, Rāhula and the bhikṣus then reverted to their original forms. When the old servant saw them, she said: 'The Buddha-Dharma is pure and does not abandon sentient beings; even one as vile and evil as me is still transformed and delivered!' She immediately received the five precepts and attained the fruit of srotāpanna. She was led to the Buddha's place, where she bowed to the Buddha, repented her past sins, asked the Buddha for pravrajyā, and attained arhatship, performing eighteen transformations in empty space. King Prasenajit and Queen Mallikā fully addressed the Buddha: 'What sin did this servant commit in past lives that caused her to be born a slave servant? And what merit did she have that she met the Buddha and attained the Way?' The Buddha told the king: 'Long ago in the past, a Buddha appeared in the world named King of the Single Jeweled Canopy Lamp. After he entered nirvāṇa, during the semblance Dharma, there was a king named Variegated Jewel Flower Light. His son was named Kuaijian (Sudarśana), who left household life to study the Path. Relying on being a prince, he was constantly arrogant. His upādhyāya explained to him the profound Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra and its great truth of emptiness. Having heard it, the prince misunderstood it and taught false views. After his teacher passed away into extinction, he said, "My great upādhyāya was devoid of wisdom and only praised the doctrine of emptiness. May I never rejoice in seeing him in future lives! My ācārya has wisdom and eloquence; may he be my good friend life after life!" Having spoken thus, he taught all his followers to practice wrong views. Although he observed the prohibitive precepts, because he slandered prajñā and misunderstood it with false explanations, after his life ended he fell into the Avīci Hell, enduring boundless suffering for eighty billion kalpas. When his sin was exhausted, he left hell and was born as an impoverished, lowly person, being deaf, foolish, and blind for five hundred lifetimes, and constantly serving as a female slave for one thousand two hundred lifetimes.' The Buddha told the great king: 'The upādhyāya of that time was my present self. The ācārya was Rāhula. The prince bhikṣu was this old servant. The disciples and followers were these women of wrong views and others who have now brought forth the bodhi-mind.'"