Epigraph
Sutta Nipata (經集)
Yo najjhagama bhavesu saram
vicinam puppham iva udumbaresu,
so bhikkhu jahati oraparam
urago jinnam iva tacam puranam.
He who does not find core or substance in any of the realms of being,
like flowers which are vainly sought in fig trees that bear none,.
— such a monk gives up the here and the beyond,
just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.
無花果樹林 求花不可得
三界諸有中 不可得堅實
共捨彼此岸 如蛇蛻舊皮
無花果の樹の林の中に花を探し求めて得られないように、諸々の生存状態のうちに堅固なものを見いださない。修行者は、この世とかの世とをともに捨て去る。──蛇が脱皮して旧い皮を捨て去るようなものである。
《
大唐西域記》(三藏法師
玄奘奉詔譯)卷第八〈
摩揭陀國上〉記載：「金剛座上菩提樹者，即畢鉢羅之樹也。昔佛在世，高數百尺，屢經殘伐，猶高四五丈。佛坐其下成等正覺，因而謂之菩提樹焉。莖幹黃白，枝葉青翠，冬夏不凋，光鮮無變。每至如來涅槃之日，葉皆凋落，頃之復故。是日也，諸國君王，異方法俗，數千萬眾，不召而集，香水香乳，以溉以洗，於是奏音樂，列香花，燈炬繼日，競修供養。如來寂滅之後，無憂王之初嗣位也，信受邪道，毀佛遺迹，興發兵徒，躬臨剪伐。根莖枝葉，分寸斬截，次西數十步而積聚焉，令事火婆羅門燒以祠天，煙焰未靜，忽生兩樹，猛火之中，茂葉含翠，因而謂之灰菩提樹。無憂王覩異悔過，以香乳溉餘根，洎乎將旦，樹生如本。王見靈怪，重深欣慶，躬修供養，樂以忘歸。王妃素信外道，密遣使人，夜分之後，重伐其樹。無憂王旦將禮敬，唯見櫱株，深增悲慨，至誠祈請，香乳溉灌，不日還生。王深敬異，壘石周垣，其高十餘尺，今猶見在。近設賞迦王者，信受外道，毀嫉佛法，壞僧伽藍，伐菩提樹，掘至泉水，不盡根柢，乃縱火焚燒，以甘蔗汁沃之，欲其燋爛，絕滅遺萌。數月後，摩揭陀國補剌拏伐摩王(唐言滿胄)，無憂王之末孫也，聞而歎曰：「慧日已隱，唯餘佛樹，今復摧殘，生靈何覩！」舉身投地，哀感動物。以數千牛搆乳而溉，經夜樹生，其高丈餘。
恐後剪伐，周峙石垣，高二丈四尺。故今菩提樹隱於石壁，出一丈餘。」
The Great Tang Records on the Western Regions (by
Xuanzang , A.D. 646)
Fascicle VIII
The bodhi tree at the diamond seat is a pipal tree, which was several hundred
feet tall in the time of the Buddha, and although it has been cut down
or damaged several times it still remains forty or fifty feet high. Because the
Buddha attained full enlightenment while sitting under this tree, it is called
the bodhi tree (“tree of enlightenment”). The trunk of the tree is yellowishwhite
in color and its branches and leaves are always green; they never wither
nor does their luster decrease, whether in winter or summer. Each year on
the day of the Tathāgata’s nirvana the leaves fade and fall but they grow out
again very soon. On that day the monarchs of various countries and monks
and laypeople from different places, thousands and myriads in number, gather
here of their own will to water and bathe the tree with scented water and
milk, accompanied by music. With arrays of fragrant flowers and lamps burning
uninterruptedly, the devotees vie with each other in making offerings to
the tree.
After the Tathāgata’s demise, when King Aśoka first ascended the throne
he believed in heretical doctrines and he destroyed the sites left by the Buddha.
He sent his troops and came in person to cut down the bodhi tree. He chopped
the roots, stalks, branches, and leaves into small pieces and had them heaped
up at a spot a few tens of paces to the west, where fire-worshiping brahmans
were ordered to burn the pile as a sacrifice to their god. Before the smoke
and flames had dissipated, however, two trees with luxuriant and verdant
leaves grew out of the furious fire; these trees were thus called ash bodhi
trees. On seeing this strange sight, King Aśoka repented his misdeeds and
water the remnant roots with sweet milk. When it was nearly dawn the tree
grew up as before. The king, greatly exhilarated to have seen this spiritual
wonder, made offerings to the tree in person with such delight that he forgot
to return home. The queen, a heretical believer, secretly sent someone to cut
down the tree after nightfall. When King Aśoka went to worship the tree at
dawn he was very sad to see only the stump of the tree. He prayed earnestly
and watered the stump with sweet milk, and in a few days the tree grew up
once again. With deep respect and astonishment the king built a stone enclosure
to the height of more than ten feet around the tree, which is still in existence.
Recently King Śaśāṅka, a heretical believer, denounced the buddhadharma
out of jealousy, destroyed monasteries, and cut down the bodhi tree
[again]. He dug the ground so deep as to reach spring water but he could not
get at the ends of the roots, so he set fire to burn it and soaked it with sugarcane
juice with the intention of making it rotten and prevent it from sprouting.
Several months later, King Pūrṇavarman (known as Manzhou, “Full Armor,”
in Chinese) of Magadha, the last descendant of King Aśoka, heard about the
event and said with a sigh of regret, “The Sun of Wisdom has sunk and only
the Buddha’s tree remained in the world; now that the tree has been destroyed
what else is there for living beings to see?” He prostrated himself on the
ground and wept piteously. He watered the tree with milk obtained from several
thousand cows and it grew up to some ten feet high in one night. Fearing
that people of later times might cut it down [again], he surrounded it with a
stone enclosure to the height of twenty-four feet.
Thus the bodhi tree at
present is behind the stone wall, and more than 28 feet of branches grow
out above the wall.
Mahabodhi temple, Bodhgaya (Bihar). 27 December 1824 (Source:
The British Library )
1.亞歷山大·康寧漢爵士（英語：
Sir Alexander Cunningham，1814年1月23日－1893年11月28日），英國軍事工程師、和考古學家。康寧漢以創建印度考古勘探團，發現鹿野苑、那爛陀寺、桑奇大塔等重要佛教遺址而聞名於世。大英博物館收藏了他挖掘出土的印度與巴克特里亞的錢幣及佛教典籍(資料出處：維基百科)
"Mahâbodhi, or the great Buddhist temple under the Bodhi tree at Buddha-Gaya", by
Alexander Cunningham, 1892
VIII.-BODHI TREE. ( page 30 )
Afterwards in 1880, when I saw the Vajrasan Throne uncovered outside the back wall of the Temple, it struck me that possibly some trace of the old Bodhi Trees might still be found where the original Tree must have stood. I, therefore, had the ground dug up at a short distance to the west of the Vajrasan Throne. In the sandy soil, just outside the granite facing of the Throne, 3 feet below the level of the foot of the Throne, and 30 feet below the terrace level where the modern Tree had stood, I found two large pieces of an Old Pipal Tree, one 6J inches in length, and the other 4 inches. As the whole mass of the great buttress at the back of the Temple, 32 feet long and 30 feet high by 14 feet thick, had been standing over this spot for more than 12 centuries, it seems not improbable that these two fragments may be part of the Pipal Tree which was cut down by Sasangka about A.D. 600 to 620. '
The story of the destruction of the Tree by Tishya Rakshita, the Queen of Asoka, is differently told in the Asoka Avadana, but the result is the same.
No doubt the Bodhi Tree was often cut down, although we have so few notices of such a catastrophe. Taranath records an invasion of Magadha by the Western King,Hunimanta, apparently about the 1 st century A.D.2 As the Temples are said to have been destroyed, the Canopied Walk must have been thrown down and destroyed, and the famous Bodhi Tree could not have escaped. It seems to have been spared during the latter end of the 7th century, after the death of Harsha Yardhana had left the country in the power of the Brahmans under Aditya Sena and his successors. During their time the Mahabodhi was repeatedly visited by Chinese pilgrims, all of whom mention the Bodhi Tree as still standing. If it escaped during the following century, 700 to 800 A.D., the Tree planted by Purna Varmma may have lasted down to the time of the Buddhist dynasty of Pala Kings, which began to reign about A.D. 813. After this it was safe until the time of the Muhammadan invasion under Bakhtiyar Khalji in A.D. 1201. As the Moslems spared the famous Tree at Peshawar, it is probable that the Mahabodhi Tree was then left untouched.
As the Pipal is a quick growing and short-lived Tree, there must have been a long succession of fresh trees raised from seed, from the time of Asoka down to the present day ; perhaps as many as twelve or fifteen, or even twenty, to meet the frequent destruction to which it was exposed.
