歷代三寶紀 8.59

8.59

When Ānanda recited the sūtras, the Buddha's passing was not long past. The Venerable Mahākāśyapa commanded five hundred arhats endowed with the six spiritual penetrations to scrutinize and record them in turns. Now, separated by a thousand years, we measure and judge them with our limited understanding. Those arhats were as cautious and fearful as that, while these ordinary mortals bound to birth and death are so complacent and casual as this. Is it not that those who do not understand the Dharma are emboldened? This is the third difficulty. Venturing into these five losses and experiencing these three difficulties, how can one not be cautious when translating from the foreign into Qin? It is proper simply to convey the text without introducing disparate words so that readers may comprehend and synthesize it. Why should one further carp over gains and losses? This is truly something I dare not presume to know. He also said: 'Among the earlier translators, only Lokakṣema and An Shigao accurately grasped the foreign originals, proving difficult to rival. Kang Senghui and Zhi Qian were skilled craftsmen who carved and chiseled.' When sages and worthies guide and communicate, they can indeed inspire us; like a tortoise shell or mirror, or as words inscribed on a sash, they serve forever as admonitions. Yet referring to Sanskrit as 'foreign' does slight violence to the root, which I privately cannot accept.