續一切經音義 6.17

6.17

喬荅摩 (Formerly rendered 瞿曇 [Gautama]. According to Master Ci'en, citing the Shijia pu: The Śākya sovereigns succeeded one another across generations. A rebellious usurper arose; fearing his realm would be seized, the usurper king slaughtered the Śākya seed, wiping out the clan so that none remained to carry on the lineage. At that time an immortal sage inspected the surviving clan members and saw one who was pregnant, who would surely give birth to a boy. He presented a plea beforehand hoping the child would succeed the throne, and the mother consented to his request. Later a boy was indeed born. When he grew to his youth, the Śākya star appeared again. The usurper king was terrified, and searched for his dwelling, learning that he lived in the mountains. Waiting until the sage was absent, he secretly ordered him captured and pierced upon a long pole, announcing it to the country's people to put an end to dissident intentions. When the sage returned and did not see the child, he pursued in haste and found him in this state, whereupon he exercised supernatural powers to save him. Knowing the boy's life could not be preserved, he made a light rain fall to briefly revive him. He manifested a woman and urged him to copulate with her: 'If you do not comply, the Capable clan will be cut off!' The son obeyed his father's instruction and they engaged in union. When his fluids were shed, they fell and soiled the mud and earth. The sage collected them, wrapped them in cow dung, and placed them in a sugarcane grove. Heated and baked by the sun's warm light, after the full ten months they turned into a boy. The sage raised him again, and later he became king. From this time the Śākyas once again inherited the royal throne. Therefore, 'Gautama' here means 'Sugarcane Seed' or 'Sun-Baked Seed'; if spoken of disparagingly, it means 'Cow-Dung Seed' or 'Mud-and-Earth Seed.' In Gautama, the final -ma is a masculine termination; or when written as 喬曇彌 [Gautamī], the final -mī is a feminine termination).