▲二祖阿難尊者
▲The Second Patriarch, Venerable Ananda
王舍城人。姓剎利帝。父斛飯王。實如來從弟也。多聞博達。智慧無礙。世尊以為總持第一。梵云阿難。此云慶喜。以如來成道日生。故名也一日白佛言。今日入城。見一奇特事。佛曰。見何奇特事。者曰。入城見一攢樂人作舞。出城總見無常。佛曰。我昨日入城。亦見一奇特事。者曰。未審見何奇特事。佛曰。我入城時。見一攢樂人作舞。出城時亦見樂人作舞 者一日問迦葉曰。師兄。世尊傳金縷袈裟外。別傳個甚麼。迦葉召阿難。阿難應諾。迦葉曰。倒却門前剎竿著。
A man of Rājagṛha, of the kṣatriya caste, son of King Droṇodana—he was in truth the Tathāgata's younger cousin. He was widely learned and broadly accomplished, his wisdom unobstructed. The World-Honored One declared him foremost in retaining the teachings. In Sanskrit he is called Ānanda; in Chinese, "Qingxi" (Joyful Celebration)—because he was born on the day the Tathāgata attained the Way, he received this name.
One day he said to the Buddha, "Today, entering the city, I saw something extraordinary." The Buddha said, "What extraordinary thing did you see?" He replied, "Entering the city, I saw a troupe of musicians performing a dance; leaving the city, I saw only impermanence." The Buddha said, "Yesterday I entered the city and also saw something extraordinary." He asked, "I wonder what extraordinary thing you saw?" The Buddha said, "When I entered the city, I saw a troupe of musicians performing a dance; when I left the city, I also saw musicians performing a dance."
One day he asked Mahākāśyapa, "Senior brother, apart from the golden-threaded robe the World-Honored One transmitted, what else did he transmit?" Mahākāśyapa called, "Ānanda!" Ānanda answered, "Yes!" Mahākāśyapa said, "Knock down the flagpole before the gate."
汾陽昭云。不問那知。翠巖芝云。千年無影樹。今時沒底靴。
Fenyang Zhao said: "If you do not ask, how can you know?" Cuiyan Zhi said: "A shadowless tree of a thousand years; today, a bottomless boot."
者一日入竹林。聞比丘誦偈曰。若人生百歲。不見水潦鶴。不如生一日。而得覩見之。尊者因為正之曰。不然。佛云。若人生百歲。不解生滅法。不如生一日。而得解了之。(生滅法。覺範作諸佛機。解了之解。作决)於是比丘以聞其師。其師曰。阿難老昏矣。吾語是也。異日尊者復經竹林。見比丘誦偈如前。者詰之。聞述其師言。因念愚癡難化。入三昧。求尊聖為之證。於是地為之動。光明遽發。俄有一聖宿大士示現。而為之說偈曰。彼者念諷偈。實非諸佛意。今遇歡喜尊。而可依了之。彼師弟子竦敬。尋得二果。
One day the Venerable Ananda entered a bamboo grove and heard monks reciting a verse:
"Though one should live a hundred years and never see the water-flowing crane, better to live a single day and behold it."
The Venerable corrected them, saying: "That is not right. The Buddha said:
'Though one should live a hundred years and not understand the Dharma of arising and ceasing, better to live a single day and come to understand it.'" (The Dharma of arising and ceasing: Juefan renders it as "the mechanism of the buddhas." The "understanding" in "come to understand it" is rendered as "resolve.")
The monks then reported this to their teacher. Their teacher said, "Ananda is old and confused. What I have told you is correct."
On another day the Venerable again passed through the bamboo grove and saw the monks reciting the verse as before. He questioned them, and they told him what their teacher had said. Reflecting that the foolish are hard to change, he entered samādhi and sought a venerable sage to bear witness for him. Thereupon the earth trembled, and a great light suddenly shone forth. In a moment a holy elder, a great being, appeared and spoke a verse for them:
"That one recites and ponders a verse that is truly not the intent of the buddhas. Now that you have met the Venerable of Joy, you may rely on his understanding."
The teacher and his disciples were awestruck and reverent, and soon attained the second fruit.
幻寄曰。阿難果老昏。這僧不著便。受伊毒藥。若向水潦鶴上打發。便可踏毗盧頂𩕳上行。何有二果。却受聖宿小聖處分。一生埋沒。
Huanji said: "Ananda was indeed old and confused. This monk did not seize the opportunity and took his poison. If he had set forth on the water-bird, he could have walked atop Vairocana's crown. Why would there be a second fruit? Instead, he submitted to the orders of a lesser sage of the holy lineage—buried for a lifetime."
尊者將入涅槃。於恒河中流。跏趺而坐。阿闍世王。毗舍離王。皆在河側。說偈勸請。莫般涅槃。者答偈曰。二王善嚴住。勿為苦悲戀。涅槃當我靜。而無諸有故。復念。我若向一國。則諸國或爭。應以平等度諸有情。遂於恒河中流。將入寂滅。是時山河大地六種震動。雪山有五百仙人。覩茲瑞應。飛空而至。禮尊者足而白言。我當於長老而證佛法。願垂大慈。度脫我等。尊者默然受請。即變殑伽河。悉為金地。為其仙眾說諸大法。復念。先所度脫弟子。應當來集。須臾五百羅漢從空而下。為諸仙人出家受具。其仙眾中有二羅漢。一名商那和修。二名末田底迦。尊者知是法器。而告之曰。如來以正法眼付迦葉。迦葉入定而付於我。我今將滅。復付於汝。汝受吾教。當聽偈言。本來付有法。付了言無法。各各須自悟。悟了無無法。說偈已。復以正法眼。囑累商那和修。而謂末田底迦曰。昔佛記云。佛滅度後。後五百歲中。汝當於罽賓國。敷宣大法。言已踊身虗空。現十八變。入風輪奮迅三昧。而分身四分。一分惠忉利天。一分惠娑竭羅龍宮。一分惠阿闍世王。一分惠毗舍離王。各造寶塔而供養之。當此周厲王十二年癸巳也。
The Venerable One was about to enter Nirvana. Seated cross-legged in midstream of the Ganges River, King Ajātashatru and the King of Vaishali both stood on the riverbank, reciting verses to urge him not to pass into Nirvana. The Venerable One replied with a verse:
"Both kings, dwell well adorned; do not cling to sorrow and longing. Nirvana is my peace— for I am free of all forms of existence."
He then reflected: "If I favor one kingdom, the other kingdoms may quarrel. I should guide all sentient beings with equanimity." So there in midstream of the Ganges he prepared to enter the cessation of Nirvana. At that moment, the mountains, rivers, and the great earth trembled in six ways. Five hundred sages of the Himalayas, seeing this auspicious sign, flew through the air to arrive, bowed at the Venerable One's feet, and said: "We wish to realize the Buddha's teaching under the Elder. May you extend your great compassion and liberate us." The Venerable One silently accepted their request. He then transformed the Ganges River entirely into golden ground and taught the great Dharma to the assembled sages. He further reflected: "The disciples I have already liberated should now come and gather." In an instant, five hundred arhats descended from the sky and ordained the sages into monastic life, conferring full ordination. Among the sages were two arhats: one named Shāṇavāsa, the second named Madhyāntika. The Venerable One knew they were vessels fit for the Dharma and said to them: "The Tathāgata entrusted the eye of the true Dharma to Mahakashyapa; Mahakashyapa entered concentration and entrusted it to me. I am now about to pass away, and I entrust it to you. Receive my teaching and listen to this verse:
'Originally entrusted, there is a Dharma; once entrusted, one speaks of no Dharma. Each must awaken for themselves; having awakened, there is no "no Dharma" either.'
Having spoken the verse, he again entrusted the eye of the true Dharma to Shāṇavāsa, and said to Madhyāntika: "Long ago the Buddha prophesied: after the Buddha's passing, in the last five hundred years, you shall proclaim the great Dharma in the land of Kashmira." Having spoken, he rose into empty space, displayed the eighteen transformations, entered the samādhi of the swiftly coursing wind-wheel, and divided his body into four parts: one part he gave to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, one part to the dragon palace of Sāgara, one part to King Ajātashatru, and one part to the King of Vaishali. Each built a jeweled stupa and made offerings to it. This was the twelfth year of King Li of Zhou, the year guisi.