Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 1

暫憑悲願力且莫般涅槃

for now, by the power of your compassionate vow, do not yet enter parinirvana.

時毘舍離王亦在河側。復說偈言。

At that time the King of Vaisali was also beside the river, and spoke a verse:

尊者一何速而歸寂滅場

How swift the Venerable is, about to return to the place of stillness,

願住須臾間而受於供養

may you stay a little while and accept our offerings.

爾時阿難見二國王鹹來勸請。乃說偈言。

Then Ananda, seeing that both kings had come to plead with him, spoke a verse:

二王善嚴住勿為苦悲戀

Dear kings, dwell well and do not grieve with attachment for suffering,

涅槃當我淨(舊本作靜此依寶林傳正宗記易此一字)

nirvana is just my purity (the old text reads this word as stillness, and it is changed here to purity according to the Baolin Chronicle and the Record of the Orthodox Lineage),

而無諸有故

and there is also no cause for the many states of existence.

阿難復念。我若偏向一國而般涅槃。諸國爭競。無有是處。應以平等度諸有情。遂於常河中流將入寂滅。是時山河大地六種震動。雪山中有五百仙人。覩茲瑞應飛空而至。禮阿難足胡跪白言。我於長老當證佛法。願垂大慈度脫我等。阿難默然受請。即變殑伽河悉為金地。為其仙眾說諸大法。阿難復念。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。阿難知是法器。乃告之曰。昔如來以大法眼付大迦葉。迦葉入定而付於我。我今將滅。用傳於汝汝受吾教。當聽偈言。

Ananda further thought: If I were to favor one kingdom and enter parinirvana there, the other kingdoms would contend, and this would not be right. I should liberate all sentient beings equally. So in the middle of the Ganges he was about to enter stillness. At that moment mountains, rivers and the great earth shook in six ways. In the Snowy Mountains there were five hundred immortals who, seeing these auspicious signs, flew through the air to him, bowed at Ananda's feet, knelt on one knee and said: We should realize the Buddha's Dharma in the presence of the elder; we hope you will have great compassion and liberate us. Ananda silently accepted their request and transformed the entire Ganges into golden ground, and for these immortals he taught various great Dharmas. Ananda further thought: The disciples liberated earlier should come and gather. In a moment, five hundred arhats came down from the sky and had the immortals leave home and receive full ordination. Among the immortals were two arhats, one named Sanavasa and the other Madhyantika. Ananda knew they were vessels of the Dharma and told them: Formerly the Tathagata entrusted the great Dharma eye to Mahakasyapa, and Kasyapa entered samadhi and entrusted it to me. Now I am about to pass away, and I transmit it to you. Receive my teaching and hear my verse:

本來付有法付了言無法

What was originally entrusted was a Dharma that exists, but once entrusted it is said to be no Dharma,

各各須自悟悟了無無法

each must awaken to it himself; once awakened, there is no nothingness and no Dharma.

阿難付法眼藏竟。踴身虛空作十八變。入風奮迅三昧分身四分。一分奉忉利天。一分奉娑竭羅龍宮。一分奉毘舍離(舊本作毘舍離龍王今依寶林傳正宗記除龍字)王。一分奉阿闍世王。各造寶塔而供養之。乃厲王十二年癸巳歲也(當作十年)。

After Ananda had entrusted the treasury of the Dharma eye, he leapt into the sky and performed eighteen transformations, entered the swift-wind samadhi, and divided his body into four parts: one part he offered to the Trayastrimsa Heaven, one to the dragon palace of Sagara, one to the King of Vaisali (the old text reads King of the Dragons of Vaisali, and the word dragon is removed here according to the Baolin Chronicle and the Record of the Orthodox Lineage), and one to King Ajatasatru. Each built a precious stupa to make offerings. That year was the twelfth year of King Li of Zhou, year guisi (it should be the tenth year).

第三祖商那和修者(正宗記雲。梵語商諾迦此雲自然服。以生時身自有衣也。洪覺範志林雲。謂僧伽梨衣與雲巖同也。而傳燈曰自然服。即西域九枝秀草名未詳)摩突羅國人也。亦名舍那婆斯姓毘舍多。父林勝。母憍奢耶。在胎六年而生。梵雲商諾迦。此雲自然服。即西域九枝秀草名也。若羅漢聖人降生則此草生於淨潔之地。和脩生時瑞草斯應。昔如來行化至摩突羅國。見一青林枝葉茂盛。語阿難曰。此林地名優留茶。吾滅度後一百年。有比丘商那和脩。於此地轉妙法輪。後百歲果誕。和脩出家證道。受慶喜尊者法眼。化導有情及止此林。降二火龍歸順佛教。龍因施其地以建梵宮。尊者化緣既久思付正法。尋於吒利國得優波毱多以為給侍。因問毱多曰。汝年幾耶。答曰。我年十七。師曰。汝身十七性十七耶。答曰。師髮已白。為髮白耶。心白耶。師曰。我但髮白。非心白耳。毱多曰。我身十七。非性十七也。和脩知是法器。後三載遂為落髮受具。乃告曰昔如來以無上法眼藏付囑迦葉。展轉相授而至於我。我今付汝勿令斷絕。汝受吾教。聽吾偈言。

The Third Patriarch Sanavasa (the Record of the Orthodox Lineage says: the Sanskrit Sanakavasa is translated here as Natural Garment, because he had clothing on his body at birth. Hong Jue Fan in his Records of the Forest says it refers to the samghati robe, the same as the account of Yunyan. But the Transmission of the Lamp says Natural Garment is the name of a nine-branched auspicious grass of the Western Regions; this is not yet clear) was a man of Mathura, also called Sanavasu. His clan was Vaisata. His father was named Linsheng and his mother Kausiki. He was in the womb six years before being born. The Sanskrit Sanakavasa is translated here as Natural Garment, which is the name of a nine-branched auspicious grass of the Western Regions. When an arhat saint is born, this grass grows on clean ground. When Sanavasa was born, the auspicious grass appeared in response. Formerly, when the Tathagata traveled teaching to Mathura, he saw a green grove with luxuriant branches and leaves and said to Ananda: This grove is named Urumunda; one hundred years after my passing, a bhikshu Sanavasa will turn the wondrous wheel of the Dharma in this place. A hundred years later he was indeed born. Sanavasa left home and realized the Way, received the Dharma eye from the Venerable Ananda, guided sentient beings, and lived in this grove, where he subdued two fire dragons and brought them to the Buddha's teaching. The dragons therefore donated this land to build a Brahma hall. The Venerable had been teaching for a very long time and wished to entrust the true Dharma; in his search he found Upagupta in the country of Pataliputra to serve as his attendant, and asked Upagupta: How old are you? He replied: I am seventeen. The master said: Is your body seventeen or your nature seventeen? He replied: The master's hair has already turned white; is it the hair that is white or the mind that is white? The master said: Only my hair is white, not my mind. Upagupta said: My body is seventeen, not my nature. Sanavasa knew he was a vessel of the Dharma. Three years later he shaved his head and gave him full ordination, and told him: Formerly the Tathagata entrusted the treasury of the supreme Dharma eye to Kasyapa, and it was passed on successively until it reached me. Now I entrust it to you; do not let it be cut off. Receive my teaching and hear my verse:

非法亦非心(舊本作非法亦非法今依寶林傳正宗記改作非法亦非心也)

Not Dharma, and not mind (the old text reads this as not Dharma, also not Dharma, and it is changed here to not Dharma, also not mind according to the Baolin Chronicle and the Record of the Orthodox Lineage),

無心亦無法說是心法時

without mind and without Dharma; when speaking of this mind-Dharma,

是法非心法

this Dharma is not the mind-Dharma.

說偈已。即隱於罽賓國南象白山中。後於三昧中見弟子毱多。有五百徒眾常多懈慢。尊者乃往彼。現龍奮迅三昧以調伏之。而說偈曰。

Having spoken the verse, he lived in seclusion on Mount Elephant White south of the country of Kashmir. Later, in samadhi, he saw that his disciple Upagupta had five hundred followers who were often lazy and arrogant. The Venerable went there and manifested the dragon's swift samadhi to subdue them, and spoke a verse:

通達非彼此至聖無長短

Penetrate to where there is no this and that; the supreme sage has no long or short,

汝除輕慢意疾得阿羅漢

if you remove the mind of contempt, you will soon attain arhatship.

五百比丘聞偈已。依教奉行皆獲無漏。尊者乃作十八變火光三昧用焚其身。毱多收舍利葬於梵迦羅山。五百比丘人持一幡。迎導至彼建塔供養。乃宣王二十三年乙未歲也(當作二十二年)。

The five hundred bhikshus, having heard the verse, practised as instructed and all attained freedom from outflows. The Venerable then performed eighteen transformations and burned his own body with the fire-light samadhi. Upagupta gathered the relics and buried them on Mount Brahmakala. Each of the five hundred bhikshus carried a banner to escort and welcome them there, and built a stupa to make offerings. That year was the twenty-third year of King Xuan of Zhou, year yiwei (it should be the twenty-second year).

第四祖優波毱多者。吒利國人也。亦名優波崛多。又名鄔波毱多。姓首陀。父善意。十七出家。二十證果。隨方行化至摩突羅國。得度者甚眾。由是魔宮震動。波旬愁怖遂竭其魔力以害正法。尊者即入三昧觀其所由。波旬復伺便。密持瓔珞縻之於頸。及尊者出定。乃取人狗蛇三屍化為華鬘。軟言慰諭波旬曰。汝與我瓔珞甚是珍妙。吾有華鬘以相酬奉波旬大喜引頸受之。即變為三種臭屍蟲蛆壞爛。波旬厭惡大生憂惱。盡己神力不能移動。乃升六慾天告諸天王。又詣梵王求其解免。彼各告言。十力弟子所作神變。我輩凡陋何能去之。波旬曰。然則奈何。梵王曰。汝可歸心尊者即能除斷。乃為說偈令其迴向曰。

The Fourth Patriarch Upagupta was a man of Pataliputra, also called Upagupta in other renderings. His clan was Sudra. His father was named Shanyi. He left home at seventeen and realized the fruit at twenty. He traveled everywhere teaching, and when he reached Mathura, an exceedingly great number of people were saved. As a result the palace of Mara shook, and Papiyas was anxious and afraid, and used all his demonic power to harm the true Dharma. The Venerable then entered samadhi and examined the reason for it. Papiyas waited for his chance and secretly put a necklace around his neck. When the Venerable came out of samadhi, he took the corpses of a man, a dog and a snake and transformed them into a garland, and with gentle words comforted Papiyas: The necklace you gave me is very precious, and I have a garland to repay you. Papiyas was overjoyed, stretched out his neck to receive it, and it immediately turned into three foul-smelling corpses, rotting and full of maggots. Papiyas was disgusted and greatly distressed, and could not move it despite using all his own spiritual power, so he rose to the Heaven of the Six Desires and told the heavenly kings, and went also to the Brahma King to ask for release. They each told him: The spiritual transformation made by a disciple of the Ten-Powered One, how could ordinary and base beings like us remove it? Papiyas said: What shall I do? The Brahma King said: You can take refuge with the Venerable and then it can be removed. And he spoke a verse for him, telling him to turn toward the Way:

若因地倒還因地起離地求起

If one falls because of the ground, one must rise by means of the ground; to seek to rise apart from the ground,

終無其理

there is in the end no such principle.

波旬受教已。即下天宮禮尊者足哀露懺悔。毱多告曰。汝自今去。於如來正法更不作嬈害否。波旬曰。我誓迴向佛道永斷不善。毱多曰。若然者汝可口自唱言歸依三寶。魔王合掌三唱。華鬘悉除乃歡喜踴躍。作禮尊者而說偈曰。

After Papiyas received the instruction, he went down to the heavenly palace, bowed at the Venerable's feet, and sorrowfully made a confession. Upagupta asked him: From now on, will you still harass or harm the Tathagata's true Dharma? Papiyas said: I vow to turn toward the Buddha's Way and forever cut off what is unwholesome. Upagupta said: If so, you may take refuge in the Three Jewels in your own voice. The demon king joined his palms and chanted three times, and the garland was entirely removed, and he leapt for joy and bowed to the Venerable, speaking a verse:

稽首三昧尊十力聖弟子

I bow my head to the Honored One of samadhi, the holy disciple of the Ten-Powered One,

我今願迴向勿令有劣弱

I now wish to turn toward the Way; do not let me be weak and inferior.

尊者在世化導證果最多。每度一人以一籌置於石室。其室縱十八肘。廣十二肘。充滿其間。最後有一長者子。名曰香眾。來禮尊者志求出家。尊者問曰。汝身出家心出家。答曰。我來出家非為身心。尊者曰。不為身心復誰出家。答曰。夫出家者無我我故。無我我故即心不生滅。心不生滅即是常道。諸佛亦常。心無形相其體亦然。尊者曰。汝當大悟心自通達。宜依佛法僧紹隆聖種。即為剃度受具足戒仍告之曰。汝父嘗夢金日而生汝。可名提多迦。復謂曰。如來以大法眼藏。次第傳授以至於我。今復付汝。聽吾偈言。

The Venerable, during his life, guided and brought to the fruit the largest number of people. For every person he saved, he placed one counting rod in a stone chamber. That stone chamber was eighteen cubits long and twelve cubits wide, and it was filled with rods. Last of all, the son of an elder named Xiangzhong came to bow to the Venerable and resolved to seek to leave home. The Venerable asked: Do you leave home with the body or with the mind? He replied: I come to leave home, not for body or mind. The Venerable said: If not for body or mind, then who leaves home? He replied: One who speaks of leaving home does so because there is no self and nothing belonging to a self. Without self and what belongs to a self, the mind neither arises nor ceases. A mind that neither arises nor ceases is the constant Way. The Buddhas are also constant. The mind has no form, and its substance is also thus. The Venerable said: You should be greatly awakened, your mind penetrating by itself, and it is fitting that you take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and continue the holy seed. He shaved his head, gave him full ordination, and told him: Your father once dreamed of a golden sun and then had you, so you may be named Dhritaka. He further said to him: The Tathagata transmitted the treasury of the great Dharma eye in succession until it reached me. Now I entrust it to you again. Hear my verse:

心自本來心本心非有法

The mind itself is originally mind, the original mind is not a thing that exists,

有法有本心非心非本法

it is because there is a thing that there is an original mind; neither mind, nor the original Dharma.

付法已。乃踴身虛空呈十八變。然復本坐跏趺而逝。多迦以室內籌用焚其軀。收舍利建塔供養即平王三十一年庚子歲也(當作三十年)。

When the entrusting was complete, he leapt into the sky and displayed eighteen transformations, then returned to his seat, sat in the lotus posture and passed away. Dhritaka burned his body with the counting rods in the chamber, gathered the relics, and built a stupa to make offerings. That year was the thirty-first year of King Ping of Zhou, year gengzi (it should be the thirtieth year).

第五祖提多迦者。摩伽陀國人也。初生之時父夢金日自屋而出照耀天地。前有大山諸寶嚴飾。山頂泉湧滂沱四流。後遇毱多尊者。為解之曰。寶山者吾身也。泉湧者法無盡也。日從屋出者汝今入道之相也。照耀天地者汝智慧超越也。尊者本名香眾。師因易今名焉。梵雲提多迦。此雲通真量也。多迦聞師說已歡喜踴躍。而唱偈言。

The Fifth Patriarch Dhritaka was a man of Magadha. When he was first born, his father dreamed that a golden sun came out from the house and lit up heaven and earth; before it was a great mountain adorned with many treasures, from whose summit a spring welled up and poured forth in all directions in torrents. Later he met the Venerable Upagupta, who explained it to him: The treasure mountain is my body, the welling spring is the Dharma without end, the sun coming out from the house is the sign of your entering the Way now, and its lighting heaven and earth is your wisdom surpassing. The Venerable's original name was Xiangzhong, and the master changed it to the present name for this reason. The Sanskrit Dhritaka is translated here as Penetrating True Measure. Dhritaka, having heard his master's explanation, leapt for joy and sang a verse:

巍巍七寶山常出智慧泉

Towering is the mountain of seven treasures, always welling up springs of wisdom,

迴為真法味能度諸有緣

turning back to become the true flavor of the Dharma, able to liberate all those with affinity.

毱多尊者亦說偈曰。

The Venerable Upagupta also spoke a verse:

我法傳於汝當現大智慧

My Dharma is passed to you, you should manifest great wisdom,

金日從屋出照耀於天地

the golden sun comes out of the house and shines upon heaven and earth.