諸經要集 2.46

2.46

Furthermore, the Duwuji ji jing says: In the past there was a bhikṣu who was diligent in upholding the Dharma; what he would chant and recite was this Prajñāpāramitā. None who heard it failed to rejoice. There was a young boy, seven years of age, who was herding sheep outside the city. Hearing from afar the sound of the bhikṣu reciting the sūtra, he went directly to the monastery, bowed, and listened to the words of the scripture. At that time, the emptiness of form was being expounded; upon hearing it, he immediately awoke and understood. He then questioned the bhikṣu, whose answers were inadequate; the boy in turn explained the meaning to the bhikṣu, something rarely heard before. The bhikṣu marveled that this boy's wisdom was extraordinary. Then the boy went away following the oxen into the mountains, where he encountered a tiger that killed him. At the end of his life, he was born into the household of an elder. When the lady was pregnant, her mouth could already speak the Prajñāpāramitā, from morning till night never resting. The elder's household marveled at this lady, calling it demonic possession. A bhikṣu came to the house, and hearing the sound, was greatly pleased. The bhikṣu informed them: "This is not demonic possession; she is merely expounding the venerable scripture." The lady came out and bowed, and the bhikṣu preached the Dharma for her again. All doubts and difficulties that others could not reach, she explained completely. The assembly of monks rejoiced. When the months and days were fulfilled, she gave birth to a boy. As soon as he was born, he joined his palms, knelt, and expounded the Pāramitā. After the lady gave birth, she returned to normal. The bhikṣu said: "This is a true disciple of the Buddha; nourish and protect him well. When this child grows up, he will be a teacher to all people, and we shall all receive instruction from him." When the child was seven years old, he was fully equipped with the teachings of the Way, preeminent among the entire assembly, with wisdom crossing beyond the boundless. Whatever was erroneous or missing in the scriptures, he revised and established. Wherever the child went, he invariably transformed people. The five hundred members of the elder's household, great and small, all studied under the child. Eighty-four thousand people all generated the intention for the unexcelled, correct, and true Way. Five hundred bhikṣus, hearing what the child expounded, exhausted their outflows, gained mental liberation, set their resolve on the Mahāyāna, and attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. The child of that time was my very own person; the bhikṣu was Kāśyapa Buddha.