肇論 1.18

1.18

Now, prajñā, empty and profound, is indeed the culmination of the triyāna. Truly it is the singular real without divergence, yet heterodox discourses have long been in contention. There is the Indian śramaṇa Kumārajīva, who in his youth trod the Great Way and investigated the subtleties of this purport. He stood uniquely beyond words and forms, and subtly accorded with the realm of the silent and formless; he rivaled different traditions in Kapilavastu, and spread the pure breeze eastward. When about to illuminate distant lands, he concealed his brilliance in the Liang territory; this was because the Way does not respond in vain, but when it responds, there is surely a reason. In the third year of Hongshi, the year being Xingji, the Qin planned an expedition into the state, raising an army with the intent of bringing him. This was the destiny of the Northern Heavens, its timing being naturally so. The Heavenly King of Great Qin accords in his Way with the beginning of the hundred kings, and his virtue embraces a thousand generations; gliding easily through the ten thousand affairs of state, he propagates the Way all day long; he is truly relied upon as heaven by the populace of this degenerate age, and leaned upon by the bequeathed teachings of Śākyamuni. At that time, he gathered over five hundred śramaṇas versed in doctrine at the Xiaoyao Garden, personally held the Qin texts, and collated the vaipulya scriptures together with Kumārajīva. What they opened up was surely not merely a benefit for their own time, but a bridge spanning countless kalpas. Incompetent and lacking as I am, I once took part in that auspicious gathering, and consider that my hearing of supreme and extraordinary essentials began at that time. However, the sage's wisdom is subtle and profound, deeply concealed and difficult to fathom. Being without characteristics and nameless, it cannot be captured by words or images. Attempting here to vaguely trace what lies in my mind, I merely express it in unrestrained words; how could I claim to analyze the holy mind! Let us tentatively discuss it, saying: