歷代三寶紀 12.36

12.36

右一部六十卷。招提寺沙門釋僧就。開皇六年新合。就少出家專寶坊學。依如梵本此大集經凡十萬偈。若具足翻可三百卷。見今譯經崛多三藏口每說云。于闐東南二千餘里。有遮拘迦國。彼王純信敬重大乘。諸國名僧入其境者並皆試練。若小乘學即遣不留。摩訶衍人請停供養。王宮自有摩訶般若大集華嚴三部大經。並十萬偈。王躬受持親執鍵鑰。轉讀則開香花供養。又道場內種種莊嚴。眾寶備具。兼懸諸雜花時非時果。誘諸小王令入禮拜。彼土又稱。此國東南二十餘里。有山甚嶮。其內安置大集華嚴方等寶積楞伽方廣舍利弗陀羅尼華聚陀羅尼都薩羅藏摩訶般若八部般若大雲經等。凡十二部皆十萬偈。國法相傳防護守視。兼云有三滅定羅漢。在彼山窟寂禪冥衛。半月一月或有僧往山為羅漢淨髮。信哉神力固當實焉。鬚髮剃還生入滅定不動。難思議福地獲此寶任持。所冀今來明王睿主。種賢紹聖。弘法化君。寫以傳流。所統之內聞善尚傳。故因敘載。然去聖將遠凡識漸惛。不能總持隨分撮寫。致來梵本部夾弗全。略至略翻廣來廣譯。緣是前哲支曇所翻及羅什出。或二十七。或復三十。或三十一卷軸匪定。就既宣揚每恒嗟歎。及覩耶舍。高齊之世出月藏經一十二卷。至今開皇復屬耶舍譯日藏經一十五卷。既並大集廣本舊品。內誠欣躍。即依合之成六十軸。就雖附入未善精。比有大興善寺沙門洪慶者。識度淵明。奉為皇后檢校抄寫。眾經兩藏遂更正就。所合名題甚為整頓。又今見翻。其間尚有是大集分。略撮都訖應滿百卷。於本梵文三分將一。且夫土石末為細塵。無自持之力。及其結為坤阜。有生載之功。況條離林希盛榮。流捨源求廣潤。而可得乎。我皇帝之挺生。應天時順地理。九州離隔出三百年。十萬偈分將踰千祀。散經還聚。聚光大集之文。別壤遂通。通顯大興之國。非夫位握金輪化弘方等。先皇前帝弘化闡法。其孰並斯焉。

The single work above, in sixty fascicles, was newly collated in the sixth year of Kaihuang by the śramaṇa Shi Sengjiu of Zhaoti Temple. In his youth, Sengjiu left the household life and devoted himself to study in monasteries. According to the Indic text, this Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra consists of 100,000 verses; if fully translated, it would comprise about three hundred fascicles. At present, the Tripiṭaka Master [Dharma]gupta, who is now engaged in translating sūtras, frequently recounts: 'More than two thousand li southeast of Khotan lies the kingdom of Cokkuka. Its king possesses pure faith and deeply venerates the Mahāyāna. When eminent monks from various kingdoms enter his territory, he subjects them all to examination: if they study the Hīnayāna, he sends them away without allowing them to remain; if they are followers of the Mahāyāna, he invites them to stay and makes offerings to them. In the royal palace itself are kept three great scriptures: the Mahāprajñā[pāramitā], the Mahāsaṃnipāta, and the Avataṃsaka, each comprising 100,000 verses. The king personally receives and upholds them, holding the key in his own hand; when they are to be unrolled and read, he opens [the repository] and makes offerings of incense and flowers. Furthermore, within the sanctuary (bodhimaṇḍa), there are various adornments, with all kinds of precious gems complete, and diverse mixed flowers and seasonal and unseasonal fruits are suspended there, inviting the various lesser kings to enter and pay homage.' In that land, it is also said: 'More than twenty li southeast of this kingdom, there is a mountain exceedingly precipitous. Within it are preserved the Mahāsaṃnipāta, Avataṃsaka, Fangdeng baoji (Ratnakūṭa), Laṅkāvatāra, Fangguang (Vaipulya), Śāriputra-dhāraṇī, Huaju tuoluoni (Kusumasañcaya-dhāraṇī), Dusalozang (Tuṣitakośa), Mahāprajñā, eight divisions of Prajñā, and Dayun jing (Mahāmegha Sūtra), amounting to twelve works in all, each comprising 100,000 verses. The laws of the state have traditionally guarded and protected them. Furthermore, it is said that three arhats who abide in the cessation attainment (nirodhasamāpatti) reside in the mountain caves, quietly meditating and secretly protecting them. Once every half-month or month, monks sometimes go to the mountain to shave the arhats' hair. Truly, such supernatural power must certainly be real! Their beard and hair grow back after being shaved, yet they remain unmoved within the cessation attainment. What an inconceivable field of merit that preserves such treasures! One hopes that enlightened rulers and sagacious sovereigns of modern times, planting the roots of worthiness to carry on the sacred lineage, rulers who propagate the Dharma and transform [the people], will have them copied and disseminated, so that within their dominions the hearing of what is good will continue to be transmitted; hence, this narrative is recorded here.' However, as the Holy One recedes into the distance, ordinary minds grow dim; unable to retain the entirety, they merely extract and transcribe according to their capacity. Consequently, the Indic manuscripts that arrived here were incomplete in their volumes and sections: when an abridged version arrived, it was translated briefly; when a full version arrived, it was translated extensively. For this reason, in the translations made by the past masters Zhi Tan and Kumārajīva, the fascicles were variously twenty-seven, thirty, or thirty-one, never fixed in number. As Sengjiu propagated the teaching, he continually lamented this. When he saw that Yaśas had translated the Yuezang jing (Candragarbha Sūtra) in twelve fascicles during the Northern Qi, and that now under the Kaihuang era of the Sui, Yaśas had again translated the Rizang jing (Sūryagarbha Sūtra) in fifteen fascicles, both belonging to the original chapters of the comprehensive text of the Mahāsaṃnipāta, he was deeply delighted in his heart. Thereupon, he combined them according to this arrangement into sixty fascicles. Although Sengjiu assembled them, his collation was not yet refined. At Daxingshan Temple, there was a śramaṇa named Hongqing, whose discernment and intellect were profound and luminous. Acting on behalf of the Empress, he collated and transcribed the scriptures of the two canonical collections; he subsequently corrected the titles and sections combined by Sengjiu, rendering them extremely well ordered. Furthermore, in what is presently being translated, there are still sections belonging to the Mahāsaṃnipāta. If gathered together in brief, they should fill a hundred fascicles, which would constitute nearly one-third of the original Indic text. Now, when earth and stone are ground into fine dust, they have no power to support themselves; but when they consolidate into mounds and hills, they have the virtue of generating and carrying [all things]. How much less could a branch separated from the grove hope to flourish luxuriantly, or a stream severed from its spring seek to provide wide moisture? Could that be possible? Our Emperor was born endowed with extraordinary qualities, responding to heaven's seasons and according with earth's principles. The Nine Provinces had been divided and separated for more than three hundred years; the hundred-thousand-verse text had been scattered for over a thousand years. The dispersed scriptures have now been reunited, their gathering illuminating the text of the Mahāsaṃnipāta; the divided territories have finally been unified, their unity making manifest the country of the Great Prosperity (Da Xing). If not for one who holds the Golden Wheel in his hands and propagates the Vaipulya in his transformation, among all the past august emperors and former rulers who promoted transformation and expounded the Dharma, who could match this?