一切經音義 21.89

21.89

Vaiśravaṇa (毘沙門: the complete and correct form is Vaiśravaṇa [鞞室羅懣囊], translated here as 'Much Hearing', meaning that the blessed virtue of this king is known and heard in many places. Or 'vai' means 'everywhere' and 'śravaṇa' means 'hearing', meaning he is heard of everywhere, with the same meaning as the previous explanation. Another explanation says: 'vai' means 'that one'. This king's original name was Gugila. Later, at one time when the Buddha was preaching the Dharma to the assembly, this king put on a kāṣāya robe and entered the assembly. At that time, the multitude all found it strange and said to one another, 'That one is a śramaṇa! That one is a śramaṇa!' From this he was given the title 'Vaiśramaṇa' [Vaiśravaṇa]).