Daeseong Is Filial to the Parents of Two Lives — Reign of King Sinmun大城孝二世父母 神文代
1He Gives Away the Field He Worked
大城孝二世父母神文代牟梁里〔一作浮雲村.〕之貧女慶祖有児.頭大頂平如城因名大城.家窘不能生育,因伇傭於貨殖福安家.其家俵田數畒以備衣食之資.時有開士漸開欲設六輪㑹於興輪寺,勸化至福安家.安施布五十疋,開呪願曰,“檀越好布施天神常護持,施一得萬倍,安樂壽命長.”大城聞之跳踉而入謂其母曰,“予聴門僧誦倡,云施一得萬倍.念我定無宿善今兹困匱矣,今又不施來世益艱.施我傭田於法㑹以啚後報何如.”母曰,“善.”乃施田於開.
Daeseong is filial to the parents of two lives — reign of King Sinmun.
Gyeongjo (慶祖), a poor woman of Moryangni,〔It is also called Buuncheon.〕 had a child.
His head was large and its top flat like a fortress (城), and for this reason he was named Daeseong (大城).
The house was so poor that she could not raise him, so he hired himself out to the house of Bogan (福安), a man who made money.
That house gave him a few furrows of field as the means for his clothing and food.
At that time the bodhisattva-monk Jeomgae (漸開) was going to hold the Six Wheels assembly at Heungnyunsa, and he came to Bogan's house seeking donations.
Bogan gave fifty bolts of cloth, and Jeomgae prayed for him. "The donor loves to give, so the gods of heaven will always guard and help him. Give one and gain ten thousandfold, and be at ease with a long life."
Daeseong heard it, ran in, and said to his mother:
"At the gate I heard the monk chanting that if one gives one, one gains ten thousandfold.
I think I surely did no good in a former life, and so I am now in such want. If I do not give now, in the life to come it will be harder still.
What if I gave the field I work to the dharma assembly, to plan for a reward later?"
His mother said, "Good," and so he gave the field to Jeomgae.
Interlinear notes 1
一作浮雲村.
It is also called Buuncheon.
2The Slip of Gold Clutched in His Hand at Birth
未㡬城物故,是日夜國宰金文亮家有天唱云,“牟梁里大城児今杔汝家.”家人震驚使檢牟梁里,城果亡其日與唱同時.有娠生児,左手握不發七日乃開,有金簡子彫‘大城’二字,又以名之,迎其母於第中兼飬之.
Not long after, Daeseong died.
That night, in the house of Gim Munnyang (金文亮), the prime minister of the state, a voice from heaven called, "The child Daeseong of Moryangni will now be entrusted to your house."
The household was startled and sent to look into Moryangni, and Daeseong had indeed died that day, at the very time of the call.
A child was conceived and born, and its left hand stayed clenched and would not open until the seventh day.
Inside was a slip of gold engraved with the two characters 'Daeseong,' so he was named by it again, and his former mother was brought into the house and supported as well.
3The Bear Comes in a Dream to Accuse Him
既壯好逰獵.一日登吐含山捕一熊宿山下村.夢熊變爲鬼訟曰,“汝何殺我.我還啖汝.”城怖懅請容赦.鬼曰,“能爲我創佛寺乎.”城誓之曰,“喏.”既覺汗流被蓐.自後禁原野,爲熊創長壽寺於其㭪地.
When he grew up he loved hunting.
One day he climbed Tohamsan, caught a bear, and lodged in a village at the foot of the mountain.
In a dream the bear turned into a ghost and accused him. "Why did you kill me? I will eat you in turn."
Daeseong was afraid and begged forgiveness.
The ghost said, "Can you build a temple for me?"
Daeseong swore, "I will."
When he woke, sweat had soaked his bedding.
From then on he gave up hunting in the fields, and for the bear he built Jangsusa (長壽寺) on the spot where he had caught it.
4Bulguksa and Seokbulsa
因而情有所感,悲願増篤.乃爲現生二親創佛國寺,為前世爺孃創石佛寺,請神琳·表訓二聖師各住焉,茂張像設且酬鞠飬之勞,以一身孝二世父母古亦罕聞.善施之験可不信乎.将彫石佛也欲錬一大石爲龕盖,石忽三裂.憤恚而假寐.夜中天神來降畢造而還.城方枕起走跋南嶺,爇香木以供天神.故名其地爲香嶺.其佛國寺雲梯石塔彫鏤石木之㓛東都諸刹未有加也.
From this his heart was moved, and his compassionate vow grew stronger.
So for the two parents of this life he built Bulguksa, and for the parents of his former life he built Seokbulsa.
He invited the two holy masters Sillim and Pyohun to live in each, set out the images in splendor, and repaid the labor of those who had raised him.
To be filial with one body to the parents of two lives was rarely heard of even in ancient times. How could one fail to believe in the power of good giving?
When he was about to carve the stone Buddha, he was shaping a great stone to be the lid of the niche when the stone suddenly split in three.
He was vexed and dozed off, and in the middle of the night a god of heaven came down, finished the work, and went back.
Daeseong rose from his pillow and ran to the southern ridge, where he burned fragrant wood as an offering to the god of heaven. So the place was named Hyangnyeong (香嶺), the Ridge of Incense.
The cloud bridges and stone pagodas of Bulguksa, with their carved and chiseled work in stone and wood, are surpassed by no temple in the Eastern Capital.
5The Temple Record Tells It Differently
古郷傳所載如上,而寺中有記云,“景徳王代大相大城以天寳十年辛夘始創佛國寺.歴恵恭世以大歴九年甲寅十二月二日大城卒,國家乃畢成之.初請瑜伽大徳降魔住此寺継之至于今.”與古傳不同,未詳孰是.讃曰.牟梁春後施三畝,香嶺秋来獲萬金.萱室百年貧富貴,槐庭一夢去来今.
What the old local record contains is as above.
But there is a record within the temple that says this:
"In the reign of King Gyeongdeok, the chief minister Daeseong first built Bulguksa in the tenth year of Tianbao, the year sinmyo.
Through the reign of King Hyegong, on the second day of the twelfth month of the ninth year of Dali, the year gabin, Daeseong died, and the state then finished it.
At first the great Yogacara master Hangma was invited to live at this temple, and it has continued down to today."
This differs from the old record, and which is right is not known in detail.
In praise it is said:
In Moryangni, after spring, he gave three furrows; on Hyangnyeong, when autumn came, he reaped ten thousand in gold. His mother's room was poor for a hundred years, and then rich and noble; in one dream in the pagoda-tree courtyard, past and present come and go.