菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經 7.39

7.39

At that time, in the assembly there was a bodhisattva named Adhimuktivimukti. In the past, countless asaṃkhyeya kalpas ago, he was a kiṃnara king. North of Mount Sumeru, past Mount Vaiḍūrya, north of Mount Vaiḍūrya, past the Minor Iron Enclosure Mountain, north of the Iron Enclosure Mountain was the Great Black Mountain, where the kiṃnara king ruled and transformed [his realm]. Past countless Buddhas [as numerous as] the sands of the Ganges, he neither saw them nor heard the Dharma, nor were there noble assemblies to teach and transform, nor was he illuminated by the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Due to the recompense of a single act of generosity accumulated in the past, he dwelt in a palace of the seven jewels with an extremely long lifespan. Why is that? Originally, in the human world he encountered a fertile field of merit: there was a great elder who was building a stūpa for the Buddha. This kiṃnara donated a single stūpa mast to complete the temple and also gave pure food to those artisans. When his lifespan came to an end, he became a chest-creature king (uraga king) between two mountains, having natural palaces and residences of the seven jewels. In the past, when he lived in the human world possessing immeasurable wealth, there was a śramaṇa who at noon held his alms-bowl begging for food. The wife saw the śramaṇa begging at the gate and immediately presented food and gave it to him. When the elder saw his wife giving food to the śramaṇa, he became furious: 'What kind of beggar is this, staring at my wife? I will see to it that this person's hands and feet are broken!' After his life ended, he received this ugly form, continuously lacking hands and feet for eighty-four kalpas. When he was in the human world, he studied the methods of ṛṣis in the deep mountains, reciting and practicing incantations, able to move the sun and moon, turning night into day and day into night; in the space of a breath he could spew forth gold, silver, and the seven jewels; he could cause withered trees all to produce branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits; he could cause seawater to evaporate; entering fire he was not burned; his body could fly; his eyes could see through everything; he himself knew his past lives and knew the minds of others; his ears heard distant sounds; and he had a retinue of five hundred disciples. Hearing that a Buddha had appeared in the world named Pure Light Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyaksambuddha, Vidyācaraṇasampanna, Sugata, Lokavid, Anuttara, Puruṣadamyasārathi, Śāstā Devamanuṣyāṇām, Buddha, Bhagavat, who expounded the subtle and wondrous Dharma, good in the beginning, middle, and end, whose great compassion and impartiality had merits difficult to measure, I led the disciples out from the deep mountains. Flying past the bathing pool in the rear garden of the royal palace, we saw the court ladies bathing in the pool. Looking down and seeing the women, I and my disciples gave rise to attachment and lust; all of us lost our supernatural powers of flight and immediately fell into the garden. At that time I became angry that coming to seek the Buddha had caused me to lose my supernatural powers. Then the assembly of court ladies saw the five hundred men all in the garden, and immediately entered to report to the king. The king ordered his attendants: 'Bring those men here; I wish to question them.' They were immediately brought to the king. The king questioned them, saying: 'Who are you people?' They replied: 'We are practitioners studying the path of ṛṣis in the mountains. In the mountains we recited and practiced incantations, able to move the sun and moon, turning night into day and day into night, up to having ears hearing distant sounds, with a retinue of five hundred disciples. Hearing that a Buddha had appeared in the world named Pure Light, I led the disciples out from the deep mountains. Flying past the bathing pool in the rear garden of the royal palace, we saw the court ladies bathing in the pool. Looking down and seeing the women, I and my disciples gave rise to attachment and lust; all of us lost our supernatural powers of flight and immediately fell into the garden.' Then the king told them: 'How long has it been since you came to study the path of ṛṣis in the deep mountains?' They replied: 'Twenty-two small kalpas.' The king further asked: 'Accumulating kalpas studying the path, the mind is like dead ashes, unmoved and unshaken; how could a lustful thought cause you to lose your supernatural powers?' They replied: 'Originally we thought the true path was spiritually supreme, where rising and sinking were at our ease and whatever we wished was accomplished. We never expected that today we would suddenly lose the path. Ashamed before the sage-king, we submit to the king's punishment.' The king told them: 'You originally studied the path for twenty-two small kalpas; your bodies are withered and your minds fatigued, but what you practiced was not genuine—like a foolish, deluded person seeking jewels in empty space, failing to obtain the true nature in the Dharma of the ultimate reality. The master whom you seek, the Tathāgata, the Fully Awakened One, is nearby in the Yuezhi Mountains. I shall lead you to the Buddha's abode; if the Buddha has something to teach, you should practice it.' At that time the great king immediately prepared a feather-jeweled chariot endowed with the fivefold deportment, and led his retinue and the five hundred students of the ṛṣis to the Yuezhi Mountains. The king then descended from the chariot, untied his sword, set aside his parasol, put away the fivefold deportment, and walked to the Buddha's abode. He bowed his head at the Buddha's feet and sat to one side. At that time, after sitting for a moment, the king withdrew, stepped forward, and said to the Buddha: 'These five hundred men studied the ṛṣis in the mountains for twenty-two small kalpas. Hearing that a Buddha had appeared in the world, they wished to come and see the Buddha, but flying over the rear palace, they became greedy and attached to lust and immediately lost their supernatural powers. We only pray that the Bhagavat will expound the subtle and wondrous Dharma to them, so that they may recover the path of the five supernatural powers.' The Buddha told the great king: 'The roots of goodness practiced by these five hundred people, once accomplished, were ruined and never reached the ultimate. Formerly he was an elder; when a bhikṣu begged for food, he said in anger: "May you have no hands or feet!" For countless kalpas he was a chest-creature king between the Great Iron Enclosure and the Black Mountain. Although he received this retribution where the sun and moon do not shine, earlier in the human world he had given a stūpa mast to others. By the benefit of that single gift given to a pratyekabuddha, he later obtained a human body and studied the ṛṣis in the mountains. His lustful mind flared up and he again lost his supernatural powers; this karmic condition has existed for a long time, not just now. When these five hundred people end their lives in this present life, they will all be born in the abode of the Buddha Without Anger. That Buddha will expound to them the twelve links of dependent origination—birth, old age, sickness, and death—as well as suffering, non-suffering, original origin, cessation, and the fruit of the path, and it will be likewise.' When the Buddha spoke this, the king's mind opened in understanding, and he also wished to be born in the abode of the Buddha Without Anger. At that time the king and the five hundred ṛṣis rose from their seats, bowed to the Buddha, and departed.