佛說申日經

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha, together with a great assembly of bhikkhus numbering one thousand two hundred and fifty, was dwelling upon the summit of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak), in the city of Rājagṛha.

At that time, in the city of Rājagṛha there was a great and wealthy elder named Candraprabha-sūrya, whose treasures were beyond measure. He reverently believed in the Buddha-Dharma, made offerings to the Saṅgha, and in diligence was equaled by none.

The elder had a younger brother named Sūryadeva, who did not believe in the Buddha-Dharma but placed his faith in the various heterodox paths. Seeing his elder brother honor and serve the true Dharma, he harbored anger and resentment in his heart. He served a non-Buddhist teacher named Pūraṇa Kāśyapa.

One day Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, together with five hundred adherents of the heterodox paths, summoned Sūryadeva and said:

"Now it is only your elder brother who refuses to follow us, who does not know the true and right path but instead turns to believe in the Buddha."

At that time, Candraprabha-sūrya, knowing what the heterodox practitioners had been discussing, said to Sūryadeva:

"Tomorrow I wish to invite your teachers. Would the venerable ones be willing to honor my house with their presence?"

Sūryadeva replied:

"You should go there and invite them first."

Sūryadeva then went to the place of his teachers, knelt upon his knees, and said:

"Now my elder brother wishes to submit and pay homage; he invites the great ones. Tomorrow may the venerable ones graciously come to my brother's house to receive a meal."

The teachers said:

"Very good!"

The teachers then accepted the invitation.

At that, Sūryadeva returned and reported to his elder brother:

"Today the teachers have accepted. Tomorrow they will come."

Then Candraprabha-sūrya ordered many servants to dig a great pit, five feet deep, right in the middle of the doorway, and to fill the pit with blue-green mud. After that they covered it with a thin layer of mud and earth to make it level. He further prepared five hundred beds, each with one loosened leg, and draped them with cloth. He also took five hundred bowls and filled them with cooked cow's milk, all made ready in expectation of the arrival of the heterodox teachers.

The next morning, Sūryadeva went to invite the teachers.

The Nirgranthas had no rules of conduct; they walked and stood in disorder, jostling one another to take the front seats, yielding nothing to their elders. As soon as they reached the door, they hurried forward in haste and at once fell into the pit of mud, soiling their robes. The teachers were all enraged and wished to depart.

At that moment, Candraprabha-sūrya had his servants pull them back and restrain them, and with consoling words he said:

"This is an old mud pit. The men of the Way did not know of it and so have fallen in. It was not done on purpose; please do not be angry. I invite the teachers to come and receive the meal; change your robes and then come in to dine."

The teachers went inside, and the household offered each of them a bowl of milk. The teachers took them and looked for seats. No sooner had they sat down than the beds all tilted and collapsed, and the five hundred men of the Way all fell to the ground, the bowls of milk spilling over their faces and their robes. At that the men of the Way grew even more furious and said to Sūryadeva:

"Today you and your brother have plotted to harm us and to disgrace us. This matter is truly no small thing!"

At that, Sūryadeva too was greatly distressed. The men of the Way, in their anger, all departed.

Then Candraprabha-sūrya pulled them back and restrained them, and using a skillful means and a parable, he said:

"When you fell into the mud, your bodies were black and filthy, truly foul and unclean, just like your path. Now you are covered with white milk, a color pure and clean, like unto the path of the Buddha. You too could abandon the path of your false arts and come to the Dharma of our Way."

The heterodox practitioners would not heed him, and in their anger they departed.

The next morning, Sūryadeva went to his teachers, knelt upon his knees, and said:

"My elder brother was without good sense and has done what is contrary to the Dharma. I truly did not know of it; I beg the teachers to have compassion and not to reproach me. Even so, today I shall avenge upon them yesterday's wrong against the teachers. My brother only made a mud pit and milk to disgrace the teachers. Now my vengeance shall be even greater than that. I shall invite the very teacher in whom my brother believes. I shall dig a pit five rods deep in the middle of the doorway, place fire within it, and cover it over with a thin layer of earth. I shall set out food mixed with poison. When the Buddha comes, if he does not fall into the pit of fire, then he will be killed by the poisoned food. What do the teachers think of this?"

At that, the teachers replied:

"As for the Buddha, the World-Honored One, his sagely wisdom is valiant and mighty; he sees the affairs of the past and the future. Whatever others discuss, the Buddha knows beforehand. Though you wish to do this, I fear it cannot be accomplished."

"First I shall invite them to come. If they accept, then they do not know; but if he is indeed a sage of bright wisdom, then he will not accept my invitation."

The teachers said:

"Very good!"

Then Sūryadeva went out of the city of Rājagṛha, came to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, came before the Buddha, joined his palms in salutation, and said to the Buddha:

"I wish to invite the Buddha and the disciples. I pray that you will graciously come to my house to partake of a humble meal."

The Buddha said:

"Very good!"

At that, Sūryadeva returned home rejoicing and reported again to his teachers:

"The Buddha has accepted the invitation; this means he does not know. We need only dig the pit and prepare the food mixed with poison."

At that, the heterodox practitioners were all greatly delighted and discussed the matter among themselves with much merriment.

Sūryadeva had a son named Candraprabha-dharma (rendered in Chinese as the youth Moonlight), who in a former life had already formed the karmic conditions of studying the scriptures of the Buddha's Way. He possessed spiritual power, was valiant in will, and inclined toward the Mahāyāna. The youth said to his father:

"The Buddha is a Great Sage who has attained the spiritual penetrations; he knows beforehand affairs without limit and sees clearly affairs without bound. Even the thoughts of insects and crawling creatures the Buddha knows beforehand. Father, you must not believe in evil, slanderous, and crooked words and so incur grave offense."

Then Candraprabha-dharma further said to his father:

"Even if it were the destruction of the kalpa, with fire blazing throughout the three thousand realms of lands, and even if one took poisons as many as Mount Sumeru, still they could not stir a single hair of the Buddha—how much less this small pit of fire that you wish should harm the Buddha. What you are doing is like the fire of a firefly trying with its tiny light to obscure the sun and the moon. It is like a little bird that wishes to use its own body to wear down Mount Cakravāḍa: in return its own body would be shattered, yet it could accomplish nothing. The deeds of these heterodox practitioners now are just like this. Father, you should not invite the Buddha."

The father did not believe him and still carried out his former plot.

The next morning, the elder sent a man to go to the Buddha and say:

"The food and offerings have been prepared; I pray that you will graciously come to my house."

At that, the Tathāgata raised the thought of going forth and emitted a great radiance that illuminated all things.

At that time, throughout the ten directions there were ten Bodhisattvas, all of whom were Ekajātipratibaddha (bound to but one more birth). Each of these Bodhisattvas, together with hundreds of koṭis of countless Bodhisattvas, came flying to the great assembly. They all brought precious flowers, the fragrant incense of sandalwood, and all manner of music as offerings to the World-Honored One. They came to the city of Rājagṛha, wishing to behold how the Tathāgata would transform and convert Sūryadeva.

At that time, the house of Sūryadeva shone with a golden-colored radiance, bright as the sun.

Candraprabha-dharma said:

"Today the Buddha has manifested a golden radiance at our house. Because the Buddha is mindful of our house, there is this response and resonance. He may be coming; let him stop here, and there is no need to send a man ahead to receive him."

The father still did not believe.

At that time, the chief consort of Sūryadeva—named Candraprabhā-varṣa (Moon-Rain)—seeing this strange and wondrous transformation, was greatly delighted and gave rise to the aspiration for Supreme, Right, and True Enlightenment.

Then Candraprabha-dharma said to his mother:

"Mother, you should tell the five hundred consorts to adorn themselves and go forth to welcome the Tathāgata. Why so?—Because the World-Honored One is difficult to encounter. Only once in hundreds of thousands of kalpas does a Buddha appear in the world."

The five hundred consorts all heeded him and went forth from the palace joyfully to welcome the Buddha.

When the Buddha entered the city, just as his foot reached the threshold of the doorway, the three thousand realms of lands shook violently. Those afflicted with illness were all cured of their illnesses; the blind could see, the deaf could hear, the mute could speak, the lame could walk; those who had been poisoned were such that the poison could no longer harm them; the musical instruments, though unstruck, sounded of themselves; gold, silver, and the seven treasures all gave forth sounds; the flying birds and running beasts called and sang most beautifully.

At that time, the spirits and the heavenly multitudes of the ten directions, together with the great spirits beyond all reckoning, all followed one another to the house of Sūryadeva.

When the Buddha stepped upon the pit of fire, the pit of fire was transformed into a bathing pond. Within it sprang up a great lotus flower as large as a wheel, the flower having a thousand petals, its stem made of the seven treasures, its colors fresh and beautiful. The Buddha walked upon that lotus flower; the Bodhisattvas walked upon flowers with five hundred petals; and the disciples walked upon flowers with five hundred petals.

When Sūryadeva saw the pit of fire transformed in this way, he was greatly terrified and bowed his head in homage.

The Buddha entered the house, and the Bodhisattvas and disciples all took their seats. Sūryadeva repented, and before the Buddha he said:

"I have been exceedingly foolish; knowing nothing, I have done what is contrary to the Dharma. In today's food there is poison mixed throughout; I pray that the World-Honored One will wait a little while so that I may prepare other food."

The Buddha said:

"Just bring the food laced with poison and set it before Me."

Sūryadeva joyfully did as the Buddha said and distributed the food to all. The Buddha and the great assembly received it and pronounced a blessing upon it. The poisoned food was transformed into food of a hundred flavors, its fragrance wafting throughout the ten directions. Whoever smelled the fragrance of this food was naturally filled and satisfied, their bodies made peaceful and at ease, and all gave rise to the aspiration for supreme and impartial enlightenment.

When the great assembly had finished partaking of the meal, the five hundred consorts and Candraprabha-dharma paid homage to the Buddha and then stood to one side. The elder Sūryadeva himself took a small seat and sat before the Buddha, saying:

"World-Honored One! You have attained the spiritual penetrations and acquired the three knowledges. Whatever I think and do, the Buddha knows it all—why then did you not instruct us, but allowed us to do what is contrary to the Dharma and to create this evil offense? How could the Buddha not have known what we were discussing?!"

The Buddha said to Sūryadeva:

"Long ago, in a time past, countless kalpas hence, there was a Buddha named Dīpaṅkara Tathāgata, the Equally and Rightly Enlightened One, whose wisdom was beyond measure and who transformed and delivered those who were indolent.

At one time, that Buddha, together with the host of Bodhisattvas and countless great disciples, went into a city.

At that time, there was an elder's son named Megha, who, having just gone out of the city, met a beautiful Brahmin maiden, one of few equals, holding in her hand fair and fragrant flowers.

At that, the elder's son took five hundred pieces of silver coin and bought flowers from the maiden. The flowers had five sprays. The elder's son tossed them up as an offering to the Buddha. The Buddha bestowed a prediction upon him, saying:

'After countless asaṃkhyeya kalpas hence, you shall become a Buddha named Śākyamuni. In the age when you are a Buddha there will be an elder named Sūryadeva who, together with the heterodox practitioners, will join in doing evil and rebellious deeds: digging a pit of fire, preparing food with poison, and scheming to put you to the test. Though he does such evil, he shall yet be transformed and delivered by you.'"

The Buddha said to Sūryadeva:

"The elder's son of that time is none other than Myself. At the very moment I received the Tathāgata's prediction, I straightway attained the wisdom of meditative concentration and knew beforehand your name and lineage—how much more, then, the scheme that you devised and discussed yesterday: how could I not have known it? Know, then, that the Buddhas possess wisdom of skillful expedients and wish to employ causes and conditions in order to transform and deliver beings."

When the elder Sūryadeva heard the Buddha's teaching, he straightway attained the forbearance of the Dharma and praised the World-Honored One, saying:

"The wisdom of the Tathāgata surpasses all; he knows clearly that today I incur no offense. Why so?—Because in an age past, Dīpaṅkara Buddha foretold my name, saying that now I would be transformed and delivered by the Buddha. Therefore I do not incur offense."

Then the Buddha expounded the Dharma in the city of Rājagṛha. Thousands of elders and laypeople and the five hundred heterodox practitioners all gave rise to the aspiration for Supreme, Right, and True Enlightenment, and the five hundred consorts attained the stage of non-retrogression.

The youth Moonlight rose from his seat, praised the Buddha, and then said:

"In an age to come, if I should become a Buddha, I vow that in my Buddha-land all people shall be without evil minds, but gentle and honest. If there be any evil, hard, and obstinate beings within my Buddha-land in the age of the five turbidities and corruptions, I vow that I shall transform and deliver them."

The Buddha said to Ānanda:

"Did you hear what the youth Moonlight said?"

Ānanda replied:

"Yes, I heard it."

The Buddha said to Ānanda:

"One thousand years after I enter Nirvāṇa, when the true Dharma is about to come to an end, the youth Moonlight shall appear in the world in the land of Qin, becoming a sage-ruler, upholding and maintaining the scriptures and Dharma that I have taught, propagating and transforming so as to make My Way flourish and prosper. The land of Qin and the lands nearby—Shanshan (to the west of the Han dynasty), Wuchanggui, Sizhuile (Kashgar), Dayuan (Ferghana), Yutian (Khotan), and the various Yi peoples—shall all believe in the Buddha, revere the Dharma, and very many shall be ordained as bhikkhus.

As for all men and women who hear the Sūtra of Sūryadeva: if they have formerly committed evil offenses, they shall now be wholly freed of those offenses. Know, then, that the World-Honored One responds and manifests, transforming and delivering beings in this way. One who has committed evil and rebellious offenses can still be delivered and liberated—how much more one who with utmost sincerity studies the Buddha's Way."

When the Buddha had finished expounding the sūtra, the entire assembly was filled with joy, paid homage, and took their leave.

THE SŪTRA SPOKEN BY THE BUDDHA ON SŪRYADEVA

The End