注維摩詰經 1.4

1.4

The Heavenly King of the Great Qin, with extraordinary spirit surpassing the world and an arcane mind self-awakened, promoted the ultimate governance above the myriad affairs of state and propagated the teachings of the Way for a thousand years to come. Constantly examining and savoring this scripture, he considered it the dwelling of his spirit; yet he regretted that the translations produced by Zhi [Qian] and Zhu [Shulan] had their principles hindered by the phrasing, constantly fearing that the arcane tradition would fall by the wayside due to the translators. In the fortune of the northern sky, the arrival of good fortune was destined. In the eighth year of Hongshi, the year of Chunhuo, he commanded the Senior General the Duke of Changshan and the Right General the Marquis of Ancheng, together with one thousand two hundred śramaṇas learned in doctrinal meaning, to invite the Dharma Master Kumārajīva at the Great Monastery of Chang'an to retranslate the authentic text. With a worldly-transcending capacity, [Kumāra]jīva merged his mind with the true realm; having exhausted the center of the ring, he was also skilled in local languages. At that time, holding the Sanskrit text in his hand, he personally proclaimed and translated it orally. Monks and laity were reverent and earnest, repeating each word three times, refining and searching meticulously, striving to preserve the holy intention. Its phrasing is concise yet penetrating; its purport is subtle yet apparent; the deep and distant words were thereby made manifest here. Because I was dim-witted and narrow-minded, I occasionally attended the lectures; though lacking the thought to engage in the arcane, I roughly grasped the textual meaning, and accordingly composed annotations following what I heard. Briefly recording the established words, I transmit rather than innovate, hoping that gentlemen of future generations in different ages may hear the same.