釋氏要覽 3.310

3.310

This is the principal [rite] by which the sons of Śākya express filial piety, repay kindness, and deliver [beings] from suffering, beginning with Maudgalyāyana rescuing his mother. In Sanskrit, ullambana means in this [language] "rescuing [those] hanging upside down." Pen ("basin") is a vessel of this land. The title of this sūtra thus mentions both Chinese and Sanskrit together. If the Sanskrit is transcribed according to sound, the character yu does not need to have the "vessel" radical (皿); those who insist on writing it so are simply mistaken. One can know this from the languages of Khotan and elsewhere. Yijing states: "Ullambana is a Western expression, which here means 'rescuing [those] hanging upside down'; that is, hunger, emptiness, danger, and suffering are called 'hanging upside down.' Pen is the speech of the Eastern Xia [China], referring to a vessel for rescuing from suffering. Hence one relies on the light of the assembly's kindness to rescue from the distress of hanging upside down; this derives its name from the meaning." Ancient masters said: "Pen was perhaps a pātra (alms bowl), but when translated it was called pen in accordance with common usage; both pen and pātra are vessels." The sūtra says: "Those disciples of the Buddha who practice filial obedience should, from thought-moment to thought-moment, constantly remember their parents, up to parents of seven lifetimes. Year after year on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, they should make an ullambana [offering] for them, bestowing it upon the Buddhas and the Saṃgha, in order to repay the kindness of their parents' compassionate nurturing." In the Jin dynasty, the śramaṇa Huida, whose secular surname was Liu and personal name was Saha, suddenly died a violent death at the age of twenty-one. Because his chest was still warm, his family did not bury him immediately. After seven days he revived and said that in the netherworld he saw a person about twenty feet tall, adornment and marks majestic and beautiful, with a body of golden colour. An emissary told him: "This is the Great Being Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara)." When Huida finished bowing, the Bodhisattva preached the Dharma for him and also said: "Whenever one cultivates merit for the deceased, whether in a monastery or at home, doing so on the fifteenth day of the seventh month—the day the śramaṇas receive their monastic seniority—is far superior. If one dedicates vessels to make offerings, label them: 'So-and-so [makes this] for the deceased so-and-so.'" The sūtra also states: "On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the day of the monks' pravāraṇā (mutual confession), one should, for parents of seven lifetimes and for living parents in distress and hardship (this passage also applies to protecting and keeping safe living parents), prepare food of a hundred flavours, the five fruits, wash-basins, fragrant oil, candles, couches, and bedding—all the sweet delicacies of the world—and place them in the basin (in the assembly of the basin) to offer to the assembly of monks of great virtue in the ten directions." It also says: "When first receiving the food, place it and sprinkle it in the Buddha's stūpa. After the assembly of monks has chanted aspirations, they may receive the food themselves." (If food offered to the Buddha is redirected to offer to the Saṃgha, it is permissible on this day, but not on other days. Nowadays people instead set up offerings for the deceased in monasteries; this is probably an error.)