四十二章經 1.1

1.1

後漢西域沙門迦葉摩騰共法蘭譯

[Introduction] In ancient times Emperor Xiaoming of the Later Han had a dream one night in which he saw a heavenly being with a golden body and a bright halo on its head fly into the palace. He was greatly delighted by this. The following day, the emperor asked his ministers, “Which heavenly being was that?”

Fuyi, a man of vast learning and experience, said, “I have heard that in India there was a person who had attained the Way, called ‘Buddha,’ who could fly easily. The heavenly being must be him.”

Being thus informed, the emperor immediately dispatched to the country of the Yuezhi a group of twelve, including the envoy Zhangjian, the Lieutenant General of the Palace Guards Qinjing, and Wangzun, a student of the scholars of the National University, and others. [They] copied and brought back the Sutra of Forty-two Sections and kept it in the fourteenth stone [book storage] chamber, where a stupa was built.

Thereafter, the Buddhist teachings spread widely and monasteries were built everywhere. The number of people from afar who accepted the Buddhist teachings and willingly became subjects [of the Han] was immeasurable. The whole country enjoyed peace and all sentient beings have received unceasing benefits from the teachings.

[1] The Buddha said, “One who takes leave of one’s family and renounces household life in order to follow the Way is called a śramaṇa. Such a person constantly observes the two hundred and fifty precepts. By practicing the Four Noble Truths and progressively aspiring after purity, one becomes an arhat (“worthy one”). Arhats can fly, transform themselves, live long lives, and move about everywhere in heaven and earth.

“Prior to that, one is a non-returner (anāgāmin). At the end of that life, the spirit of the non-returner ascends to the nineteenth heaven where one becomes an arhat.

“Prior to that, one is a once-returner (sakṛdāgāmin) who, after once more ascending [to heaven] and returning [to earth], becomes an arhat.