佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 9.3

9.3

這公案。洞下謂之借事問。亦謂之辨主問。用明當機。鹿與麈尋常易射。唯有麈中麈。是鹿中之王。最是難射。此麈鹿常於崖石上利其角。如鋒鋩頴利。以身護惜群鹿。虎亦不能近傍。這僧亦似惺惺。引來問藥山。用明第一機。山云。看箭。作家宗師。不妨奇特。如擊石火。似閃電光。豈不見。三平初參石鞏。鞏才見來。便作彎弓勢云。看箭。三平撥開胸云。此是殺人箭活人箭。鞏彈弓弦三下。三平便禮拜。鞏云。三十年。一張弓兩隻箭。今日只射得半箇聖人。便拗折弓箭。三平後舉似大顛。顛云。既是活人箭。為什麼向弓弦上辨。三平無語。顛云。三十年後。要人舉此話。也難得。法燈有頌云。古有石鞏師。架弓矢而坐。如是三十年。知音無一箇。三平中的來。父子相投和。子細返思量。元伊是射垛。石鞏作略。與藥山一般。三平頂門具眼。向一句下便中的。一似藥山道看箭。其僧便作麈放身倒。這僧也似作家。只是有頭無尾。既做圈繢要陷藥山。爭奈藥山是作家。一向逼將去。山云。侍者拕出這死漢。如展陣向前相似。其僧便走也好。是則是。爭奈不脫灑。粘脚粘手。所以藥山云。弄泥團漢有什麼限。藥山當時。若無後語。千古之下遭人檢點。山云。看箭。這僧便倒。且道。是會是不會。若道是會。藥山因什麼。却恁麼道。弄泥團漢。這箇最惡。正似僧問德山。學人仗鏌鎁劍。擬取師頭時如何。山引頸近前云。㘞。僧云。師頭落也。德山低頭歸方丈。又巖頭問僧。什麼處來。僧云。西京來。巖頭云。黃巢過後。曾收得劍麼。僧云。收得。巖頭引頸。近前云。㘞。僧云。師頭落也。巖頭呵呵大笑。這般公案。都是陷虎之機。正類此。恰是藥山不管他。只為識得破。只管逼將去。雪竇云。這僧三步雖活。五步須死。這僧雖甚解看箭。便放身倒。山云。侍者拕出這死漢。僧便走。雪竇道。只恐三步外不活。當時若跳出五步外。天下人便不奈他何。作家相見。須是賓主始終互換。無有間斷。方有自由自在分。這僧當時既不能始終。所以遭雪竇檢點。後面亦自用他語。頌云。

This gong'an is what the Dongshan lineage calls a "question borrowing an event," and also a "question distinguishing the host," used to clarify the dynamic occasion. Deer and elk are ordinarily easy to shoot; only the elk among elks, being the king among deer, is the most difficult to shoot. This elk constantly sharpens its horns on craggy rocks so that they are sharp as spear points; shielding the herd of deer with its own body, even tigers cannot approach. This monk also seemed sharp; he brought this forward to question Yaoshan, using it to clarify the primary dynamic. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" As an adept lineage master, he was indeed extraordinary—like sparks struck from stone, like a flash of lightning. Have you not seen? When Sanping first visited Shigong, as soon as Shigong saw him coming, he assumed the posture of drawing a bow and said, "Watch the arrow!" Sanping parted his robes at the chest and said, "Is this a person-killing arrow or a person-reviving arrow?" Shigong twanged the bowstring three times, and Sanping made prostrations. Shigong said, "For thirty years, with one bow and two arrows, today I have only shot half a sage," and snapped his bow and arrows in two. Later, Sanping brought this up to Dadian. Dadian said, "If it was a person-reviving arrow, why did you discern it upon the bowstring?" Sanping was speechless. Dadian said, "Thirty years from now, to find someone who can bring up this topic will also be difficult." Fadeng composed a verse saying: / "Anciently there was Master Shigong, / Who sat with bow and arrows drawn. / For thirty years like this, / Not a single intimate knower appeared. / Sanping came and hit the bullseye; / Father and son joined in harmony. / When you reflect upon it carefully, / He was originally the shooting target." / Shigong's strategy was identical to Yaoshan's. Sanping had an eye in his forehead, hitting the mark beneath a single phrase, just as when Yaoshan said "Watch the arrow," the monk acted like the elk and let his body fall down. This monk also seemed like an adept, only he had a head but no tail. Since he set a snare wishing to entrap Yaoshan, how could it be helped that Yaoshan was an adept who pressed him straight on? Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out!"—just like deploying battle lines forward. That the monk thereupon ran off was well enough; it was indeed so, yet he was not unattached and nimble, but sticky in hands and feet. Therefore Yaoshan said, "What limit is there to a fellow playing with mud balls?" At that time, had Yaoshan lacked these later words, down through a thousand ages he would have suffered people's scrutiny. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" and this monk fell down: but tell me, did he understand, or did he not understand? If you say he understood, why did Yaoshan then say, "A fellow playing with mud balls"? This point is the most sinister. It is just like when a monk asked Deshan, "What is it like when a student brandishes the Moyé sword and intends to take the master's head?" Deshan stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Deshan bowed his head and returned to the abbot's quarters. Also, Yantou asked a monk, "Where do you come from?" The monk said, "I come from the Western Capital." Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve a sword?" The monk said, "I retrieved one." Yantou stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Yantou gave a hearty laugh. Gong'ans of this sort are all dynamics for trapping tigers, precisely of this class. It was just that Yaoshan paid him no heed; because he saw through him, he simply kept pressing forward. Xuedou said, "Though alive after three paces, this monk must die at five paces." Although this monk understood very well how to "watch the arrow" and let his body fall down, when Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out," the monk ran away. Xuedou said, he feared only that beyond three paces he would not be alive. At that time, if he had leaped out beyond five paces, no one in the world could have done anything to him. When adepts meet, guest and host must interchange from beginning to end without interruption; only then is there a share of unfettered freedom. Because this monk at that time could not carry it through from beginning to end, he suffered Xuedou's scrutiny. Afterward, [Xuedou] also used his words in his verse, saying: