金光明最勝王經疏 1.20

1.20

Later, regarding the dates of translation by the disciples: This sūtra recounts the profound mysteries of the three bodies and discourses on the subtle pivot of the four virtues; it is a dragon chariot crossing to the other shore, an elephant carriage leaving the burning homestead. Therefore it dispels the three hindrances repeatedly and equips the practice with the two causes; it is a sturdy fortress protecting the royal domain and acts as a sword and armour conquering Māra. For this reason, it has been received with reverence and circulated throughout the lands of the ten directions. Thus, in this land of China, it has already undergone five translations: Tripiṭaka Master Dharmakṣema first transmitted it in the Northern Liang; Dharma Master Yaśas retranslated it in the Guisheng Temple during the Later Zhou; Paramārtha retranslated it in Jianye; Jñānagupta translated it again in the Sui dynasty. Although each relied on Sanskrit manuscripts and fully dedicated their sincerity, because lacunae sometimes occurred when the text was transmitted on palm leaves, this caused the translators to vary in additions and omissions. Tripiṭaka Master Yijing had luminous understanding and outstanding talent, displaying brilliance from the young age of rescuing ants; with natural discernment, he stood out upon the shore of receiving full ordination. The four Vedas and three Piṭakas shone brighter than the morning sun; the five sections and seven treatises were clearer than the evening moon. Cherishing the intention to ferry others like a boat, and possessing an earnest desire to carry on the transmission, he sacrificed himself for the Dharma and forgot fatigue—why shrink from broken bones? He traveled through the Western Regions for more than twenty years, fully plumbing the depths of heavenly treasuries and dragon palaces. Inquiring into various Sanskrit texts, he investigated and compared them without omission; vibrating his staff, he returned to the East and translated by imperial decree. In the second year of Chang'an, the year of renyin, he received the brush for this sūtra, striving diligently without cease. By the fourth day of the tenth month in the third year of Chang'an, the year of guimao, the polishing was complete, and it was produced in ten fascicles and thirty-one chapters. Its prose is complete and its principles fully provided, striking the balance between embellishment and substance; only now has the jewel in the topknot been attained, and together opened the treasure stupa. Mortals and sages rejoiced, and it was presented above to the Emperor's mind; where the voice of the teaching extended, an imperial decree commanded it to be copied. The gaps and completions therein will be clarified as the meaning is reached. These are the two different aspects of the disciples' translation era, both of which belong to analyzing the period.