Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 1

前境若無心亦無罪福如幻起亦滅

if the objects before it are absent, the mind is absent too; sin and merit are like illusions, arising and then ceasing.

長阿含經云。人壽六萬歲時此佛出世。種剎利。姓拘利若。父善燈。母稱戒。居無喻城。坐婆羅樹下。說法二會。度人一十三萬。神足二。一扶遊。二欝多摩。侍者寂滅。子妙覺。

The Long Agama Sutra says: This Buddha appeared in the world when human life was sixty thousand years. His caste was Ksatriya and his clan Kaundinya. His father was named Supratita and his mother Yasasvati. He lived in the city of Anupama and sat beneath the sala tree. He taught the Dharma in two assemblies and saved one hundred and thirty thousand people. He had two disciples of supernatural power: the first Sona and the second Uttama. His attendant was named Upasanta. His son was named Suprabuddha.

拘留孫佛(見在賢劫第一尊)偈曰。

Krakucchanda Buddha (the first honored one of the present Bhadra Kalpa); his verse says:

見身無實是佛身了心如幻是佛幻

To see that the body has no real substance is the Buddha's body; to understand that the mind is like an illusion is the Buddha's illusion,

了得身心本性空斯人與佛何殊別

to realize that the original nature of body and mind is empty, what difference is there between this person and the Buddha?

長阿含經云。人壽四萬歲時此佛出世。種婆羅門。姓迦葉。父禮得。母善枝。居安和城。坐尸利沙樹下。說法一會。度人四萬。神足二。一薩尼。二毘樓。侍者善覺。子上勝。

The Long Agama Sutra says: This Buddha appeared in the world when human life was forty thousand years. His caste was Brahmin and his clan Kasyapa. His father was named Agnidatta and his mother Visakha. He lived in the city of Ksemavati and sat beneath the sirisa tree. He taught the Dharma in one assembly and saved forty thousand people. He had two disciples of supernatural power: the first Sanjiva and the second Vidhura. His attendant was named Buddhija. His son was named Uttara.

拘那含牟尼佛(賢劫第二尊)偈曰。

Kanakamuni Buddha (the second honored one of the Bhadra Kalpa); his verse says:

佛不見身知是佛若實有知別無佛

When the Buddha does not see the body, one knows that this is the Buddha; if there truly were a knower, there would be no other Buddha,

智者能知罪性空坦然不怖於生死

the wise can know that the nature of sin is empty and calmly have no fear of birth and death.

長阿含經云。人壽三萬歲時此佛出世。種婆羅門姓迦葉。父大德。母善勝。居清淨城。坐烏暫婆羅門樹下。說法一會。度人三萬。神足二。一舒槃那。二欝多樓。侍者安和。子道師。

The Long Agama Sutra says: This Buddha appeared in the world when human life was thirty thousand years. His caste was Brahmin and his clan Kasyapa. His father was named Mahadeva and his mother Uttara. He lived in the city of Subhavati and sat beneath the udumbara tree. He taught the Dharma in one assembly and saved thirty thousand people. He had two disciples of supernatural power: the first Bhiyyasa and the second Uttara. His attendant was named Svastika. His son was named Sarthavaha.

迦葉佛(賢劫第三尊)偈曰。

Kasyapa Buddha (the third honored one of the Bhadra Kalpa); his verse says:

一切眾生性清淨從本無生無可滅

The nature of all beings is pure, originally unborn, and there is nothing to be extinguished,

即此身心是幻生幻化之中無罪福

this very body and mind are born of illusion; within illusion there is no sin or merit.

長阿含經云。人壽二萬歲時此佛出世。種婆羅門。姓迦葉。父梵德。母財主。居波羅柰城。坐尼拘律樹下。說法一會。度人二萬。神足二。一提舍。二婆羅婆。侍者善友。子集軍。

The Long Agama Sutra says: This Buddha appeared in the world when human life was twenty thousand years. His caste was Brahmin and his clan Kasyapa. His father was named Brahmadatta and his mother Dhanavati. He lived in the city of Varanasi and sat beneath the nyagrodha tree. He taught the Dharma in one assembly and saved twenty thousand people. He had two disciples of supernatural power: the first Tisya and the second Bharadvaja. His attendant was named Sarvamitra. His son was named Vijitasena.

釋迦牟尼佛(賢劫第四尊)姓剎利。父淨飯天。母大清淨妙。位登補處生兜率天上。名曰勝善天人。亦名護明大士。度諸天眾說補處行。亦於十方界中現身說法。普耀經云。佛初生剎利王家。放大智光明照十方世界。地湧金蓮華自然捧雙足。東西及南北各行於七步。分手指天地作師子吼聲。上下及四維無能尊我者。即周昭王二十四年甲寅歲四月八日也。至四十二年二月八日。年十九欲求出家。而自念言。當復何遇。即於四門遊觀見四等事。心有悲喜而作思惟。此老病死終可厭離。於是夜子時有一天人。名曰淨居。於窓牖中叉手白太子言。出家時至可去矣。太子聞已心生歡喜。即逾城而去。於檀特山中修道。始於阿藍迦藍處。三年學不用處定。知非便捨。復至欝頭藍弗處。三年學非非想定。知非亦捨。又至象頭山同諸外道。日食麻麥經於六年。故經云。以無心意無授行而悉摧伏諸外道。先歷試邪法示諸方便發諸異見令至菩提。故普集經云。菩薩於二月八日明星出時。成佛號天人師。時年三十矣。即穆王三年癸未歲也。既而於鹿野苑中。為憍陳如等五人轉四諦法輪而論道果。說法住世四十九年。後告弟子摩訶迦葉。吾以清淨法眼涅槃妙心實相無相微妙正法將付於汝。汝當護持。並勅阿難副貳傳化無令斷絕。而說偈言。

Sakyamuni Buddha (the fourth honored one of the Bhadra Kalpa) was of the Ksatriya caste. His father was King Suddhodana (the base text writes this as Suddhodana Deva), and his mother was Mahamaya, the Great Pure and Wonderful. Rising to the position of one bound to succeed as a Buddha, he was born in the Tusita Heaven, named the heavenly being Sresthin and also called the Great Being Prabhapala, converting the many heavenly hosts, teaching the practice of one bound to succeed as a Buddha, and also manifesting and teaching in the worlds of the ten directions. The Lalitavistara says: When the Buddha was first born into a Ksatriya king's house, he emitted a great light of wisdom that illuminated the worlds of the ten directions; golden lotus flowers welled up from the ground and naturally held up his two feet. He walked seven steps to each of east, west, south and north, pointing to heaven and earth with his hands, and roared the lion's roar: Above and below and in the four intermediate directions, none can be more honored than I. That day was the eighth day of the fourth month in the year jiayin, the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou. In the second month of the forty-second year, he was nineteen years old and wished to seek to leave home, and thought to himself: What more should I meet with? He then toured the four gates and saw the four kinds of sights, old age, sickness, death and a monk, and was both sad and glad in his heart, thinking: This old age, sickness and death are in the end to be renounced. Then at night, at the hour of zi, a heavenly being named Pure Abode stood at the window with palms joined and said to the prince: The time to leave home has come; you may go. The prince, hearing this, was glad at heart, climbed over the wall and left, and practised the Way in the Dantaloka Mountains. At first, with Arada Kalama, he studied for three years the absorption of nothingness, and knowing it was not right, he abandoned it; he then went to Udraka Ramaputra and studied for three years the absorption of neither perception nor non-perception, and knowing it was not right, he abandoned that too; he then went to the Elephant Head Mountain and stayed with non-Buddhist ascetics, eating only sesame and wheat each day, for six years. Therefore the sutra says: With no thought and no instruction in practice, he subdued all the non-Buddhist teachers. He first went through testing wrong teachings, revealed various skillful means, and aroused various different views so that they might reach bodhi. Therefore the Pu Ji Sutra says: The Bodhisattva attained Buddhahood on the eighth day of the second month when the morning star appeared, and was called the Teacher of Gods and Humans; at that time he was thirty years old, which was the third year of King Mu, in the year guiwei. Afterward in the Deer Park, he turned the wheel of the Dharma of the four noble truths for the five including Kaundinya, discussing the path and its fruits. He taught the Dharma and remained in the world forty-nine years. Later he told his disciple Mahakasyapa: I entrust to you the pure Dharma eye, the wonderful mind of nirvana (the state in which afflictions cease and one no longer revolves in birth and death), and the subtle true Dharma of true reality without marks; you should protect and uphold it. And he charged Ananda to assist in transmitting it so that it should not be cut off. Then he spoke a verse:

法本法無法無法法亦法

The Dharma is the Dharma, originally without Dharma; without Dharma, the Dharma is still Dharma,

今付無法時法法何曾法

now that I entrust the Dharma that is without Dharma, how could any dharma ever be a dharma?

爾時世尊說此偈已。復告迦葉。吾將金縷僧伽梨衣傳付於汝。轉授補處。至慈氏佛出世勿令朽壞。迦葉聞偈頭面禮足曰。善哉善哉。我當依勅。恭順佛故。爾時世尊至拘屍那城。告諸大眾。吾今背痛欲入涅槃。即往熙連河側娑羅雙樹下。右脇累足泊然宴寂。復從棺起為母說法。特示雙足化婆耆。並說無常偈曰。

When the World-Honored One had finished speaking this verse, he told Kasyapa further: I will transmit to you the golden-threaded samghati robe, to be passed on to the one bound to succeed me, until Maitreya Buddha appears in the world, and do not let it decay. Kasyapa, having heard the verse, bowed with his head at the Buddha's feet and said: Excellent, excellent. I shall follow your instruction, out of reverence for the Buddha. Then the World-Honored One went to the city of Kusinagara and told the assembly: My back is aching now and I wish to enter nirvana. He went to the pair of sala trees beside the Hiranyavati River, lay on his right side with his feet together, and quietly entered stillness. He also rose from the coffin to preach to his mother, and specially showed his two feet to teach Vangisa, and spoke the verse on impermanence:

諸行無常是生滅法生滅滅已

All conditioned things are impermanent; they are of the nature to arise and cease; when arising and ceasing have ceased,

寂滅為樂

stillness is bliss.

時諸弟子即以香薪競茶毘之。燼後金棺如故。爾時大眾即於佛前以偈讚曰。

At that time the disciples used fragrant firewood and competed to cremate him. When it had burned out, the golden coffin remained as before. The assembly then praised him with verses before the Buddha:

凡俗諸猛熾何能致火爇

The various fierce blazing fires of the ordinary world, how could they set this fire alight?

請尊三昧火闍維金色身

We ask the honored samadhi (a state of mind concentrated and undisturbed) fire to cremate this golden body.

爾時金棺從坐而舉高七多羅樹。往反空中化火三昧須臾灰生。得舍利八斛四斗。即穆王五十二年壬申歲二月十五日也。自世尊滅後一千一十七年教至中夏。即後漢永平十年戊辰歲也。

Then the golden coffin rose from its seat to the height of seven tala trees, went back and forth in the air, and manifested the fire-light samadhi, and in a moment ashes were produced. They obtained eight hu and four dou of relics. That day was the fifteenth day of the second month in the year renshen, the fifty-second year of King Mu. One thousand and seventeen years after the World-Honored One's extinction, the teaching reached China, in the year wuchen, the tenth year of Yongping of the Later Han.

第一祖摩訶迦葉。摩竭陀國人也。姓婆羅門。父飲澤。母香志。昔為鍛金師。善明金性使其柔伏。付法傳云。嘗於久遠劫中毘婆屍佛入涅槃後。四眾起塔。塔中像面上金色有少缺壞。時有貧女將金珠往金師所請飾佛面。既而因共發願。願我二人為無姻夫妻。由是因緣九十一劫身皆金色。後生梵天。天壽盡生中天摩竭陀國婆羅門家。名曰迦葉波。此雲飲光勝尊。蓋以金色為號也。繇是志求出家冀度諸有。佛言。善來比丘。鬚髮自除袈裟著體。常於眾中稱歎第一。復言。吾以清淨法眼將付於汝。汝可流佈無令斷絕。涅槃經云。爾時世尊欲涅槃時。迦葉不在眾會。佛告諸大弟子。迦葉來時可令宣揚正法眼藏。爾時迦葉在耆闍堀山賓缽羅窟。覩勝光明即入三昧。以淨天眼觀見世尊。於熙連河側入般涅槃。乃告其徒曰。如來涅槃也。何其駛哉。即至雙樹間悲戀號泣。佛於金棺內現雙足。爾時迦葉告諸比丘。佛已茶毘。金剛舍利非我等事。我等宜當結集法眼無令斷絕。乃說偈曰。

The First Patriarch Mahakasyapa was a man of Magadha. He was of the Brahmin caste. His father was named Yinze and his mother Xiangzhi. He had formerly been a goldsmith, skilled at understanding the nature of gold and making it soft and tractable. The Account of the Transmission of the Dharma says: Long ago in a remote kalpa, after Vipasyin Buddha entered nirvana, the four assemblies built a stupa, and the golden color on the face of the image in the stupa was slightly damaged. At that time a poor woman took a golden bead to the goldsmith and asked him to repair the Buddha's face. Then the two together made a vow: May the two of us be husband and wife without being related by marriage. Because of this cause, for ninety-one kalpas their bodies were golden in color. Later he was born in the Brahma Heaven, and when his heavenly life ended he was born in a Brahmin family in Magadha in Central India, and was named Kasyapa, which here is translated Drinker of Light, the Supreme Honored One, taking the golden color as his name. From then on he resolved to leave home, hoping to liberate all beings of existence. The Buddha said: Welcome, bhikshu. His hair and beard fell off by themselves, and the kasaya robe was on his body. He was always praised in the assembly as foremost. The Buddha further said: I entrust to you the pure Dharma eye; you may spread it and not let it be cut off. The Nirvana Sutra says: At that time the World-Honored One was about to enter nirvana, and Kasyapa was not in the assembly. The Buddha told the great disciples: When Kasyapa comes, let him proclaim the treasury of the true Dharma eye. At that time Kasyapa was in the Pippala cave on Vulture Peak, saw an extraordinary radiance, and entered samadhi, and with the pure heavenly eye saw the World-Honored One entering parinirvana beside the Hiranyavati River, so he told his disciples: The Tathagata has entered nirvana, how swiftly! He went to the space between the twin sala trees and wept and cried out in grief. The Buddha showed his two feet from within the golden coffin. At that time Kasyapa told the bhikshus: The Buddha has already been cremated, and the vajra relics are not our concern; we should compile the Dharma eye so that it is not cut off. Then he spoke a verse:

如來弟子且莫涅槃得神通者

Disciples of the Tathagata, do not yet enter nirvana; those who have attained supernatural powers,

當赴結集

should hasten to the compilation.

於是得神通者。悉集王舍耆闍堀山賓缽羅窟。時阿難為漏未盡不得入會。後證阿羅漢果。由是得入。迦葉乃白眾言。此阿難比丘多聞總持有大智慧。常隨如來梵行清淨。所聞佛法如水傳器無有遺餘。佛所讚歎聰敏第一。宜可請彼集修多羅藏。大眾默然。迦葉告阿難曰。汝今宜宣法眼。阿難聞語信受。觀察眾心。而宣偈言。

So all those who had attained supernatural powers gathered at the Pippala cave on Vulture Peak in Rajagriha. At that time Ananda, because his outflows were not yet exhausted, could not enter the assembly; later he attained the fruit of arhat (a holy one who has exhausted afflictions and is no longer reborn), and so was able to enter. Kasyapa said to the assembly: This bhikshu Ananda has heard much and retains it all, has great wisdom and always followed the Tathagata; his pure conduct is untainted, and the Dharma he heard flowed into him like water poured into a vessel, with not a drop lost. The Buddha praised him as foremost in intelligence. He should be requested to compile the Sutra Pitaka. The assembly was silent. Kasyapa told Ananda: You should now proclaim the Dharma eye. Hearing this, Ananda accepted it in faith, observed the minds of the people, and proclaimed a verse:

比丘諸眷屬離佛不莊嚴

The bhikshu retinue, once separated from the Buddha, is without adornment,

猶如虛空中眾星之無月

like the many stars in empty space with no moon.

說是偈已。禮眾僧足升法坐而說是言。如是我聞一時佛住某處說某經教。乃至人天等作禮奉行。時迦葉問諸比丘。阿難所言不錯謬乎。皆曰。不異世尊所說。迦葉乃告阿難言。我今年不久留。今將正法付囑於汝。汝善守護。聽吾偈言。

Having spoken this verse, he bowed at the feet of the assembled monks, ascended the Dharma seat, and spoke thus: Thus have I heard: at one time the Buddha was staying at such a place and spoke such a sutra, up to the humans and gods bowing and putting it into practice. At that time Kasyapa asked the bhikshus: Are there any errors in what Ananda has said? All said: It is no different from what the World-Honored One said. Kasyapa then told Ananda: This year I will not long remain in the world; now I entrust the true Dharma to you, and you should guard it well. Hear my verse:

法法本來法無法無非法

Every dharma is originally Dharma, with no Dharma and no non-Dharma,

何於一法中有法有不法

why, within one Dharma, should there be Dharma and also non-Dharma?

說偈已。乃持僧伽梨衣入雞足山。俟慈氏下生。即周孝王五年丙辰歲也(五年當作四年自此至第十三祖迦毘摩羅年數錯誤今皆依史記年表中六甲改正)。

Having spoken the verse, he took the samghati robe and entered Mount Kukkutapada to await Maitreya's descent. That year was the fifth year of King Xiao of Zhou, year bingchen (the fifth year should be the fourth; from here to the Thirteenth Patriarch Kapimala, the counts of years contain errors, and all are now corrected according to the stems and branches of the chronological tables in the Records of the Grand Historian).

第二祖阿難。王舍城人也。姓剎利帝。父斛飯王。實佛之從弟也。梵語阿難陀。此雲慶喜。亦云歡喜。如來成道夜生因為之名。多聞博達智慧無礙。世尊以為總持第一。嘗所讚歎。加以宿世有大功德。受持法藏如水傳器。佛乃命為侍者。後阿闍世王白言。仁者。如來迦葉尊勝二師皆已涅槃。而我多故悉不能覩。仁者。般涅槃時願垂告別。阿難許之。後自念言。我身危脆猶如聚沫。況復衰老豈堪長久。又念。阿闍世王與吾有約。乃詣王宮告之曰。吾欲入涅槃來辭耳。門者曰。王寢不可以聞。阿難曰。俟王覺時當為我說。時阿闍世王夢中見一寶蓋。七寶嚴飾千萬億眾圍繞瞻仰。俄而風雨暴至吹折其柄。珍寶瓔珞悉墜於地。心甚驚異。既寤。門者具白上事王聞語已。失聲號慟哀感天地。即至毘舍離城。見阿難在常河中流跏趺而坐。王乃作禮而說偈言。

The Second Patriarch Ananda was a man of Rajagriha. His clan was Ksatriya. His father was King Dronodana, in fact a paternal cousin of the Buddha. The Sanskrit Ananda is translated here as Joy, also rendered as Delight. He was born on the night the Tathagata attained the Way, and so took this name. He was learned and broadly versed, and his wisdom was without obstruction. The World-Honored One regarded him as foremost in retention and once praised him. Besides, he had great merit from former lives, and received and upheld the Dharma treasury as water flowing into a vessel. The Buddha therefore appointed him attendant. Later King Ajatasatru said: Virtuous one, the Tathagata and Kasyapa, two honored and excellent teachers, have both entered nirvana, and because I had many affairs I could not see them with my own eyes. When you enter parinirvana, I hope you will come to take leave. Ananda agreed. Later he thought to himself: My body is fragile, like gathered foam, and I am old besides; how could it last long? He also thought that King Ajatasatru had an agreement with him, so he went to the royal palace and told him: I am about to enter nirvana, and have come to say farewell. The gatekeeper said: The King is asleep and cannot be told. Ananda said: When the King wakes, tell him for me. At that time King Ajatasatru dreamed that he saw a precious canopy adorned with the seven treasures, surrounded and gazed upon by millions of beings, when a sudden wind and rain broke the handle, and the jewels and necklaces fell to the ground, and he was deeply alarmed. After he woke, the gatekeeper told him everything above. Hearing it, the King cried aloud in grief that moved heaven and earth, and went to the city of Vaisali, where he saw Ananda seated in the lotus posture in the middle of the Ganges (the base text writes the river's name with a variant graph). The King bowed and spoke a verse:

稽首三界尊棄我而至此

I bow my head to the Honored One of the Three Realms, who abandoned me and came here,