The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 4
Page 49
The two Honored Ones obeyed and took the four pilgrims to the space beneath the tower, where countless rare dainties and exotic treasures were laid out in a seemingly endless spread. Those deities in charge of offerings and sacrifices began to serve a magnificent feast of divine food, tea, and fruit—viands of a hundred flavors completely different from those of the mortal world. After master and disciples had bowed to give thanks to Buddha, they abandoned themselves to enjoyment. In truth
Treasure flames, gold beams on their eyes have shined;
Strange fragrance and feed even more refined.
Boundlessly fair the tow’r of gold appears;
There’s immortal music that clears the ears.
Such divine fare and flower humans rarely see;
Long life’s attained through strange food and fragrant tea.
Long have they endured a thousand forms of pain.
This day in glory the Way they’re glad to gain.
This time it was Eight Rules who was in luck and Sha Monk who had the advantage, for what the Buddhist Patriarch had provided for their complete enjoyment was nothing less than such viands as could grant them longevity and health and enable them to transform their mortal substance into immortal flesh and bones.
When the four pilgrims had finished their meal, the two Honored Ones who had kept them company led them up to the treasure loft. The moment the door was opened, they found the room enveloped in a thousand layers of auspicious air and magic beams, in ten thousand folds of colored fog and hallowed clouds. On the sūtra cases and jeweled chests red labels were attached, on which the volumes of the books were written in clerkly script as follows:8
1. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra, 1 volume 748 scrolls
2. The Ākāśagarbha-bodhisattva-dharmi Sūtra, 1 volume 400 scrolls
3. The Gracious Will Sūtra, Major Collection, 1 volume 50 scrolls
4. The Prajñāpāramitā-saṁkaya gāthā Sūtra, 1 volume 45 scrolls
5. The Homage to Bhūtatathātā Sūtra, 1 volume 90 scrolls
6. The Anakṣara-granthaka-rocana-garbha Sūtra, 1 volume 300 scrolls
7. The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra, 1 volume 170 scrolls
8. The Vajracchedika-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, 1 volume 100 scrolls
9. The Buddha-carita-kāvya Sūtra, 1 volume 800 scrolls
10. The Bodhisattva-piṭaka Sūtra, 1 volume 1,021 scrolls
11. The Sūraṅgama-samādhi Sūtra, 1 volume 110 scrolls
12. The Arthaviniścaya-dharmaparyāya Sūtra, 1 volume 140 scrolls
13. The Avataṁsaka Sūtra, 1 volume 500 scrolls
14. The Mahāprajñā-pāramitā Sūtra, 1 volume 916 scrolls
15. The Abūta-dharma Sūtra, 1 volume 1,110 scrolls
16. The Other Mādhyamika Sūtra, 1 volume 270 scrolls
17. The Kāśyapa-parivarta Sūtra, 1 volume 120 scrolls
18. The Pañca-nāga Sūtra, 1 volume 32 scrolls
19. The Bodhisattva-caryā-nirdeśa Sūtra, 1 volume 116 scrolls
20. The Magadha Sūtra, 1 volume 350 scrolls
21. The Māyā-dālamahātantra mahāyāna-gambhīra
nāyaguhya-paraśi Sūtra, 1 volume 100 scrolls
22. The Western Heaven Śāstra, 1 volume 130 scrolls
23. The Buddha-kṣetra Sūtra, 1 volume 1,950 scrolls
24. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra, 1 volume 1,080 scrolls
25. The Original Loft Sūtra, 1 volume 850 scrolls
26. The Mahāmayūrī-vidyārajñī Sūtra, 1 volume 220 scrolls
27. The Abhidharma-kośa Śāstra, 1 volume 200 scrolls
28. The Mahāsaṃghaṭa Sūtra, 1 volume 130 scrolls
29. The Saddharma-puṇḍarika Sūtra,1 volume 100 scrolls
30. The Precious Permanence Sūtra, 1 volume 220 scrolls
31. The Sāṅghika-vinaya Sūtra, 1 volume 157 scrolls
32. The Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda Śāstra, 1 volume 1,000 scrolls
33. The Precious Authority Sūtra, 1 volume 1,280 scrolls
34. The Correct Commandment Sūtra, 1 volume 200 scrolls
35. The Vidyā-mātra-siddhi Śāstra, 1 volume 100 scrolls
After Ānanda and Kāśyapa had shown all the volumes to the Tang Monk, they said to him, “Sage Monk, having come all this distance from the Land of the East, what sort of small gifts have you brought for us? Take them out quickly! We’ll be pleased to hand over the scriptures to you.”
On hearing this, Tripitaka said, “Because of the great distance, your disciple, Xuanzang, has not been able to make such preparation.”
“How nice! How nice!” said the two Honored Ones, snickering. “If we imparted the scriptures to you gratis, our posterity would starve to death!”
When Pilgrim saw them fidgeting and fussing, refusing to hand over the scriptures, he could not refrain from yelling, “Master, let’s go tell Tathāgata about this! Let’s make him come himself and hand over the scriptures to old Monkey!”
“Stop shouting!” said Ānanda. “Where do you think you are that you dare indulge in such mischief and waggery? Get over here and receive the scriptures!” Controlling their annoyance, Eight Rules and Sha Monk managed to restrain Pilgrim before they turned to receive the books. Scroll after scroll were wrapped and laid on the horse. Four additional luggage wraps were bundled up for Eight Rules and Sha Monk to tote, after which the pilgrims went before the jeweled throne again to kowtow and thank Tathāgata. As they walked out the gates of the monastery, they bowed twice whenever they came upon a Buddhist Patriarch or a Bodhisattva. When they reached the main gate, they also bowed to take leave of the priests and nuns, the upāsakas and upāsikās, before descending the mountain. We shall now leave them for the moment.
We tell you now that there was up in the treasure loft the aged Dīpaṁkara, also named the Buddha of the Past, who overheard everything and understood immediately that Ānanda and Kāśyapa had handed over to the pilgrims scrolls of scriptures that were actually wordless. Chuckling to himself, he said, “Most of the priests in the Land of the East are so stupid and blind that they will not recognize the value of these wordless scriptures. When that happens, won’t it have made this long trek of our sage monk completely worthless?” Then he asked, “Who is here beside my throne?”
The White Heroic Honored One at once stepped forth, and the aged Buddha gave him this instruction: “You must exercise your magic powers and catch up with the Tang Monk immediately. Take away those wordless scriptures from him, so that he will be forced to return for the true scriptures with words.” Mounting a violent gust of wind, the White Heroic Honored One swept out of the gate of the Thunderclap Monastery. As he called up his vast magic powers, the wind was strong indeed! Truly
A stalwart Servant of Buddha
Is not like any common wind god;
The wrathful cries of an immortal
Far surpass a young girl’s whistle!
This mighty gust
Causes fishes and dragons to lose their lairs
And angry waves in the rivers and seas.
Black apes find it hard to present their fruits;
Yellow cranes turn around to seek their nests.
The phoenix’s pure cries have lost their songs;
The pheasant’s callings turn most boisterous.
Green pine-branches snap;
Blue lotus-blossoms soar.
Stalk by stalk, verdant bamboos fall;
Petal by petal, gold lotus quakes.
Bell tones drift away to three thousand miles;
The scripture chants o’er countless gorges fly.
Beneath the cliff rare flowers’ colors fade;
Fresh, jadelike grasses lie down by the road.
Phoenixes can’t stretch their wings;
White deer hide on the ledge.
Vast waves of strange fragrance now fill the world
As cool, clear breezes penetrate the Heavens.
The elder Tang was walking along when he encountered this churning fragrant wind. Th
inking that this was only an auspicious portent sent by the Buddhist Patriarch, he was completely off guard when, with a loud crack in midair, a hand descended. The scriptures that were loaded on the horse were lifted away with no effort at all. The sight left Tripitaka yelling in terror and beating his breast, while Eight Rules rolled off in pursuit on the ground and Sha Monk stood rigid to guard the empty pannier. Pilgrim Sun vaulted into the air. When that White Heroic Honored One saw him closing in rapidly, he feared that Pilgrim’s rod might strike out blindly without regard for good or ill to cause him injury. He therefore ripped the scriptures open and threw them toward the ground. When Pilgrim saw that the scripture wrappers were torn and their contents scattered all over by the fragrant wind, he lowered the direction of his cloud to go after the books instead and stopped his pursuit. The White Heroic Honored One retrieved the wind and fog and returned to report to the Buddha of the Past.
As Eight Rules sped along, he saw the holy books dropping down from the sky. Soon he was joined by Pilgrim, and the two of them gathered up the scrolls to go back to the Tang Monk. His eyes brimming with tears, the Tang Monk said, “O Disciples! We are bullied by vicious demons even in this land of ultimate bliss!” When Sha Monk opened up a scroll of scripture that the other two disciples were clutching, his eyes perceived only snow-white paper without a trace of so much as half a letter on it.
Hurriedly he presented it to Tripitaka, saying, “Master, this scroll is wordless!” Pilgrim also opened a scroll and it, too, was wordless. Then Eight Rules opened still another scroll, and it was also wordless. “Open all of them!” cried Tripitaka. Every scroll had only blank paper.
Heaving big sighs, the elder said, “Our people in the Land of the East simply have no luck! What good is it to take back a wordless, empty volume like this? How could I possibly face the Tang emperor? The crime of mocking one’s ruler is greater than one punishable by execution!”
Already perceiving the truth of the matter, Pilgrim said to the Tang Monk, “Master, there’s no need for further talk. This has all come about because we had no gifts for these fellows, Ānanda and Kāśyapa. That’s why we were given these wordless texts. Let’s go back quickly to Tathāgata and charge them with fraud and solicitation for a bribe.”
“Exactly! Exactly!” yelled Eight Rules. “Let’s go and charge them!” The four pilgrims turned and, with painful steps, once more ascended Thunderclap.
In a little while they reached the temple gates, where they were met by the multitude with hands folded in their sleeves. “Has the sage monk returned to ask for an exchange of scriptures?” they asked, laughing. Tripitaka nodded his affirmation, and the Vajra Guardians permitted them to go straight inside. When they arrived before the Great Hero Hall, Pilgrim shouted, “Tathāgata, we master and disciples had to experience ten thousand stings and a thousand demons in order to come bowing from the Land of the East. After you had specifically ordered the scriptures to be given to us, Ānanda and Kāśyapa sought a bribe from us; when they didn’t succeed, they conspired in fraud and deliberately handed over wordless texts to us. Even if we took them, what good would they do? Pardon me, Tathāgata, but you must deal with this matter!”
“Stop shouting!” said the Buddhist Patriarch with a chuckle. “I knew already that the two of them would ask you for a little present. After all, the holy scriptures are not to be given lightly, nor are they to be received gratis. Some time ago, in fact, a few of our sage priests went down the mountain and recited these scriptures in the house of one Elder Zhao in the Kingdom of Śrāvastī, so that the living in his family would all be protected from harm and the deceased redeemed from perdition. For all that service they managed to charge him only three pecks and three pints of rice. I told them that they had made far too cheap a sale and that their posterity would have no money to spend. Since you people came with empty hands to acquire scriptures, blank texts were handed over to you. But these blank texts are actually true, wordless scriptures, and they are just as good as those with words. However, those creatures in your Land of the East are so foolish and unenlightened that I have no choice but to impart to you now the texts with words.”
“Ānanda and Kāśyapa,” he then called out, “quickly select for them a few scrolls from each of the volumes of true scriptures with words, and then come back to me to report the total number.”
The two Honored Ones again led the four pilgrims to the treasure loft, where they once more demanded a gift from the Tang Monk. Since he had virtually nothing to offer, Tripitaka told Sha Monk to take out the almsbowl of purple gold. With both hands he presented it to the Honored Ones, saying, “Your disciple in truth has not brought with him any gift, owing to the great distance and my own poverty. This almsbowl, however, was bestowed by the Tang emperor in person, in order that I could use it to beg for my maigre throughout the journey. As the humblest token of my gratitude, I am presenting it to you now, and I beg the Honored Ones to accept it. When I return to the court and make my report to the Tang emperor, a generous reward will certainly be forthcoming. Only grant us the true scriptures with words, so that His Majesty’s goodwill will not be thwarted nor the labor of this lengthy journey be wasted.” With a gentle smile, Ānanda took the alms-bowl. All those vīra who guarded the precious towers, the kitchen helpers in charge of sacrifices and incense, and the Honored Ones who worked in the treasure loft began to clap one another on the back and tickle one another on the face. Snapping their fingers and curling their lips, every one of them said, “How shameless! How shameless! Asking the scripture seeker for a present!”
After a while, the two Honored Ones became rather embarrassed, though Ānanda continued to clutch firmly at the almsbowl. Kāśyapa, however, went into the loft to select the scrolls and handed them item by item to Tripitaka. “Disciples,” said Tripitaka, “take a good look at these, and make sure that they are not like the earlier ones.”
The three disciples examined each scroll as they received it, and this time all the scrolls had words written on them. Altogether they were given five thousand and forty-eight scrolls, making up the number of a single canon. After being properly packed, the scriptures were loaded onto the horse. An additional load was made for Eight Rules to tote, while their own luggage was toted by Sha Monk. As Pilgrim led the horse, the Tang Monk took up his priestly staff and gave his Vairocana hat a press and his brocade cassock a shake. In delight they once more went before our Buddha Tathāgata. Thus it is that
Sweet is the taste of the Great Piṭaka,
Product most refined of Tathāgata.
Note how Xuanzang has climbed the mount with pain.
Pity Ānanda who has but love of gain.
Their blindness removed by Buddha of the Past,
The truth now received they have peace at last—
Glad to bring scriptures back to the East,
Where all may partake of this gracious feast.
Ānanda and Kāśyapa led the Tang Monk before Tathāgata, who ascended the lofty lotus throne. He ordered Dragon-Tamer and Tiger-Subduer, the two arhats, to strike up the cloudy stone-chime to assemble all the divinities, including the three thousand Buddhas, the three thousand guardians, the Eight Vajra Guardians, the five hundred arhats, the eight hundred nuns and priests, the upāsakas and upāsikās, the Honored Ones from every Heaven and cave-dwelling, from every blessed land and spirit mountain. Those who ought to be seated were asked to ascend their treasure thrones, while those who should stand were told to make two columns on both sides. In a moment celestial music filled the air as layers of auspicious luminosity and hallowed mist loomed up in the sky. After all the Buddhas had assembled, they bowed to greet Tathāgata.
Then Tathāgata asked, “Ānanda and Kāśyapa, how many scrolls of scriptures have you passed on to him? Give me an itemized report.” The two Honored Ones said, “We have turned over to the Tang court the following:
1. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra 400 scrolls
2. The Ākāśagarbha-bodhisattva-dharmi Sūtra 20 scrolls
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3. The Gracious Will Sūtra, Major Collection 40 scrolls
4. The Prajñāpāramitā-saṁkaya gāthā Sūtra 20 scrolls
5. The Homage to Bhūtatathātā Sūtra 20 scrolls
6. The Anakṣara-granthaka-rocana-garbha Sūtra 50 scrolls
7. The Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa Sūtra 30 scrolls
8. The Vajracchedika-prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 1 scroll
9. The Buddha-carita-kāvya Sūtra 116 scrolls
10. The Bodhisattva-piṭaka Sūtra 360 scrolls
11. The Sūraṅgama-samādhi Sūtra 30 scrolls
12. The Arthaviniścaya-dharmaparyāya Sūtra 40 scrolls
13. The Avataṁsaka Sūtra 81 scrolls
14. The Mahāprajñā-pāramitā Sūtra 600 scrolls
15. The Abūta-dharma Sūtra 550 scrolls
16. The Other Mādhyamika Sūtra 42 scrolls
17. The Kāśyapa-parivarta Sūtra 20 scrolls
18. The Pañca-nāga Sūtra 20 scrolls
19. The Bodhisattva-caryā-nirdeśa Sūtra 60 scrolls
20. The Magadha Sūtra 140 scrolls
21. The Māyā-dālamahātantra mahāyāna-gambhīra nāyaguhya-paraśi Sūtra 30 scrolls
22. The Western Heaven Śāstra 30 scrolls
23. The Buddha-kṣetra Sūtra 1,638 scrolls
24. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra 90 scrolls
25. The Original Loft Sūtra 56 scrolls
26. The Mahāmayūrī-vidyārajñī Sūtra 14 scrolls
27. The Abhidharma-kośa Śāstra 10 scrolls
28. The Mahāsaṃghaṭa Sūtra 30 scrolls
29. The Saddharma-puṇḍarika Sūtra 10 scrolls
30. The Precious Permanence Sūtra 170 scrolls
31. The Sāṅghika-vinaya Sūtra no scrolls
32. The Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda Śāstra 50 scrolls
33. The Precious Authority Sūtra 140 scrolls
34. The Correct Commandment Sūtra 10 scrolls
35. The Vidyā-mātra-siddhi Śāstra 10 scrolls
From the thirty-five volumes of scriptures that are in the treasury, we have selected altogether five thousand and forty-eight scrolls9 for the sage monk to take back to the Tang in the Land of the East. Most of these have been properly packed and loaded on the horse, and a few have also been arranged in a pannier. The pilgrims now wish to express their thanks to you.”