毘尼心 1.4

1.4

During the twelve years after the Tathāgata attained awakening, he briefly established the precepts and vinaya for those of sharp faculties. After twelve years, right up until he entered nirvāṇa, because those of dull faculties committed many violations, he broadly established the precepts and vinaya, remedying errors as deficiencies arose, just as one mends a patched robe only when it has holes. When the Buddha was approaching nirvāṇa, he entrusted this Vinayapiṭaka to Upāli. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, Mahākāśyapa upheld and investigated the Three Jewels, selecting five hundred great arhats to compile the Dharma treasury at Rājagṛha. At that time, Upāli ascended the high seat eighty times over the course of a single summer, reciting the great Vinayapiṭaka completely, just as spoken by the Buddha. This true and pure teaching had eighty recitations, all of which were entrusted to Mahākāśyapa. When Kāśyapa was about to enter parinirvāṇa, he entrusted this Vinayapiṭaka to Ānanda. When Ānanda was about to enter parinirvāṇa, he entrusted it to two great beings: the first was named Śāṇavāsa, and the second was named Madhyāntika. According to the Fu fazang jing, the Venerable Madhyāntika went to Kashmir to carry out propagation, and being outside the text, is not recorded further. Śāṇavāsa carried out propagation in Rājagṛha. When Śāṇavāsa was approaching parinirvāṇa, he entrusted this Dharma treasury to Upagupta. The above are the five great masters, all of whom retained the eighty thousand Dharma treasuries, had wisdom and eloquence surpassing the multitude, and possessed unfathomable spiritual powers. Now, Upagupta had five disciples: the first was named Sarvāstivāda, the second Dharmaguptaka, the third Mahīśāsaka, the fourth Vātsīputrīya, and the fifth Kāśyapīya. These five men were not comprehensive in their spiritual comprehension of the great treasury and lacked all-penetrating mastery; yet they were also all of noble wisdom. Observing that the ordinary beings of the degenerate age would have dull faculties and be unable to receive the great Vinayapiṭaka in its entirety, each made selections and omissions differently, dividing it into five schools according to what sentient beings delighted in. (The Buddha appeared in the world during the reign of King You of Zhou. During the time of Emperor Ming of Han, the scriptures and images arrived. Only after about a hundred years were there the bhikṣus Zhi and Zhu, who had a slight understanding of the Chinese language and translated scriptural texts. Coming to the Qin ruler Yao Xing, who had deep faith in the Buddha's Dharma, in the eighth year of the Hongshi era, at Caotang Monastery in Chang'an, Master Kumārajīva, along with various Indian śramaṇas, retranslated the foreign texts. Master Kumārajīva was well versed in regional dialects and clearly understood the Buddha's Dharma, whereupon it was widely disseminated.)