菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經 7.4

7.4

「時師慇懃欲得留住，更無異經可以學者，即辭師下山詣村乞求。見異學梵志眾五千餘人，於大聚落而共祠天。彼祠天法殺五百牸牛，五百羯羊，五百駱駝，五百匹馬，象中精健六牙成就，五百女人，金杖一枚，金澡罐一枚，白㲲千張，金銀錢各五萬，此諸寶物祠天訖當入於師。時我下去衣裳塵垢，先在山中苦行積年披鹿皮衣，聞彼聚中異學梵志師宗五千人設大壇會，我即過之。時彼師長問吾：『經典技術多者得為上座，經典少者乃處下座。』彼師所知，不能通達祕要讖記，以我為上座。彼師瞋恚：『此為何人？珍寶雜物今應屬我。此人見奪，若當更生共相值遇，要當報怨，如今奪我無異。』時我即說：『邪見顛倒非真非實，分別有無為說涅槃，無生、老、病、死、無彼、無此，中間自相法觀清淨四無所畏，為福生天為罪地獄，慳貪餓鬼、抵債畜生，善惡之報如影隨形。』時五千人心識開悟，即請我為師。時象、馬、牛、羊、駱駝盡應殺之，而我不殺。金杖澡罐我應取之，我即以與上座瞋者。五百女人還寄祠祀之主，五萬金錢吾取五百，五萬銀錢吾取五百，餘寄祠主。

"At that time, the master earnestly wished to detain me, but having no other scriptures for me to learn, I took leave of the master, went down the mountain, and proceeded to a village to beg. I saw more than five thousand non-Buddhist brahmacārins gathered in a great settlement to offer sacrifice to the heavens together. Their custom of sacrificing to the heavens was to slaughter five hundred cows, five hundred wethers, five hundred camels, five hundred horses, and among the elephants the robust ones possessing six tusks, along with five hundred women, one gold staff, one gold washing pitcher, one thousand pieces of white fine cotton cloth, and fifty thousand each of gold and silver coins. After the sacrifice to the heavens was finished, all these treasures were to go to the master. At that time, I shook off the dust and grime from my clothes. Having previously practiced austerities in the mountains for years, I wore deer-skin clothing. Hearing that this group of non-Buddhist brahmacārins, a congregation of five thousand led by their master, was holding a great sacrificial assembly, I went over there. At that time, their leader said to me: 'The one who knows many scriptures and techniques shall take the upper seat, while the one with few scriptures shall occupy the lower seat.' That master's knowledge could not penetrate the secret prognostications, so they made me take the upper seat. That master was enraged: 'What sort of man is this? The rare treasures and sundry goods should now belong to me! This man has snatched them away. If we are reborn and encounter each other again, I will surely take revenge, just as he has now snatched them from me!' At that time, I said: 'Wrong views and inversions are neither real nor true. I distinguish between existence and non-existence to expound nirvāṇa for you: free of birth, old age, sickness, and death; free of that and free of this; the intermediate contemplation of the purity of inherent characteristics; the four fearlessnesses; that merit leads to birth in heaven, and sin leads to hell; stinginess and greed lead to hungry ghosts; defaulting on debts leads to animals; and the retribution of good and evil follows like a shadow following a form.' At that time, the minds of the five thousand were awakened, and they immediately invited me to be their master. At that time, the elephants, horses, cows, sheep, and camels were all meant to be slaughtered, but I did not slaughter them. I was supposed to take the gold staff and the washing pitcher, but I gave them to the angry one in the upper seat. The five hundred women were returned to the host of the sacrifice. Of the fifty thousand gold coins, I took five hundred; of the fifty thousand silver coins, I took five hundred; and the remainder was entrusted to the sacrificial host."