諸經要集 3.11

3.11

又育王傳云。王得信心問道人曰。我從來殺害不必以理。今修何善得免斯殃。答曰。唯有起塔供養眾僧。救諸徒囚。賑濟貧乏（故譬喻經云王宮內常以四事供養二萬沙門盡心敬禮不可具述）王曰。何處可起塔。道人即以神力左手掩日光。作八萬四千道。散照閻浮提。所照之處皆可起塔。今諸塔處是也。時王欲建舍利塔。將四部兵眾至王舍城。取阿闍世王佛塔中舍利還。復修治此塔與先無異。如是更取七佛塔中舍利。至眾摩村中。時諸龍王將王入龍宮中。王從龍索舍利供養。龍即分與之。時王作八萬四千金銀琉璃頗梨篋。盛佛舍利。又作八萬四千寶瓶。以盛此篋。又作無量百千幡幢傘蓋。使諸鬼神各持舍利供養之具。勅諸鬼神。言於閻浮提。至於海際城邑聚落。滿一億家者。為世尊立塔。時有國名著叉尸羅。有三十六億家。彼國人語鬼神言。可三十六篋舍利與我等起立佛塔。王作方便。國中人少者令分與彼。令滿家數而立為塔。時巴連弗邑有上座。名曰耶舍。王詣彼所白上座曰。我欲一日之中立八萬四千佛塔。遍滿此閻浮提。意願如是。時彼上座白言。善哉大王。剋後十五日日正食時。令此閻浮提一時起諸佛塔。如是依數。乃至一日之中立八萬四千塔。世間人民興慶無量。共號曰阿育王塔。

Furthermore, the Aśokāvadāna states: King Aśoka, having gained faith, asked a man of the Way: "Hitherto I have slaughtered without heed to principle. What good may I cultivate now to escape this calamity?" The reply was: "There is only erecting stūpas to make offerings to the saṃgha, rescuing prisoners, and relieving the impoverished." (Therefore the Avadāna-sūtra says that within the royal palace, he constantly offered the four requisites to twenty thousand śramaṇas, paying homage with utmost dedication beyond description.) The king asked, "Where can stūpas be erected?" The man of the Way then, through spiritual power, covered the sunlight with his left hand, creating eighty-four thousand rays of light scattering across Jambudvīpa: wherever the light shone, stūpas could be erected; these are the places where the various stūpas stand today. At that time, wishing to construct relic stūpas, the king led an army of four divisions to Rājagṛha, retrieved the relics from the stūpa of the Buddha erected by King Ajātaśatru, and repaired that stūpa to be 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 them and gave them to him. The king then made eighty-four thousand caskets of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and crystal to hold the Buddha's relics, and also made eighty-four thousand precious vases to hold these caskets. He also made immeasurable hundreds of thousands of pennants, banners, and parasols, causing various spirits to each hold relics and offering utensils. He commanded the spirits, saying, "Across Jambudvīpa, down to the seacoast, in cities and villages where there are a full hundred million households, erect a stūpa for the World-Honoured One." At that time there was a country named Takṣaśilā with thirty-six hundred million households. The people of that country said to the spirits, "Give us thirty-six caskets of relics to erect Buddha stūpas." The king used an expedient means, ordering those countries with fewer households to share with them, so as to fulfill the required number of households to erect stūpas. At that time in Pāṭaliputra there was an elder monk (thera) named Yaśas. The king went to him and said to the thera, "I wish to erect eighty-four thousand Buddha stūpas throughout this Jambudvīpa within a single day; this is my wish." The thera said to him, "Excellent, Great King! Set the appointed time for precisely midday on the fifteenth day, when throughout this Jambudvīpa all the Buddha stūpas shall be raised at once." In this manner, according to the count, eighty-four thousand stūpas were erected within a single day. The people of the world rejoiced boundlessly and jointly proclaimed them the Stūpas of King Aśoka.