[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛祖統紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035) › 29.31 # 佛祖統紀 29.31 佛祖統紀 29.31 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [29.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29.31) 法師玄奘。洛陽陳氏。年十一誦通維摩法華。時道基法師化行長安。師負笈西遊。從受阿毘曇婆沙雜心論等。基贊之曰予遊講肆多矣。未見少年神悟若此。武德中在京師講雜心論。以不泥文相為世所服。僕射蕭瑀。奏住大莊嚴寺。正觀二年上表遊西竺。上允之。杖策西征。遠逾葱嶺。毒風切肌。飛沙塞路。遇溪㵎懸絕。則以繩為梁。梯空而進。及登雪山。壁立千仞。人持四棧。手足更互著崖孔中。猿臂而過。張騫甘延壽所未至也。過沙河逢惡鬼異類出沒前後。師一心念觀音及般若心經。倏然退散。稜山氷雪春夏不解。徒侶凍死者十之四。入銕門峯壁皆銕。即突厥關塞也。所歷百三十國。凡如來所化之地。泥洹堅固之林。降魔菩提之樹。迦路崇高之塔。那揭留影之山。皆申禮敬。獲寶像舍利貝葉七十五部。耆山方等之教。鹿苑半字之文。馬鳴龍樹諸所著述。十八異執之宗。五部殊途之致。收羅研究悉得其文。雖七例八轉之音。三聲六釋之句。無不盡其微妙。既而祗羅國王。賜青象白馬。以助馱載。十九年正月歸長安。留守房元齡。備幢旛鼓吹釋部威儀。道俗數萬眾。以寶輦迎師。二月至洛陽。見上於儀鸞殿（時帝行幸洛京）尉勞勤至。問西域事迹。詔撰西域記。山川風俗前史未聞。詔就弘福寺與沙門道宣靈綱等同翻譯。二十年上新譯菩薩藏經顯揚聖教論。請上製聖教序。二十二年進瑜伽師地論。上親覽。歎曰。佛教廣大。猶瞻天瞰海。莫極高深。九流典籍若汀瀅方溟渤耳。世言三教齊致。此妄談也。詔寫新譯經論。宣賜九道總管（時天下分為九道）展轉流布。詔於京師紫微殿西。別創弘法院。延師居之。選名德七人以自從。對上論道之餘。則與眾隨時翻譯。上令翻老子為梵文以遺西竺。師曰。佛老二教其致大殊。安用佛言以通老義。且老子立義膚淺。五竺聞之適足見薄。遂止。永徽三年。表請創塔於慈恩寺。以奉藏梵本及兩朝御製聖教序。上許之。仍裒七宮亡人衣財以助其費。顯慶元年皇子生（中宗）神光滿室。上賜號佛光王。越月表請佛光王出家。詔落髮授歸戒。進金字心經法衣鉢具。二年帝幸洛陽。詔師陪駕。便道陳留。改葬二親。勅供給葬具。四年以玉華宮為寺。追崇先帝。詔師居之。譯大般若經。及四年成六百卷。麟德元年二月四日。告眾曰。幻泡之質何得久停。令眾稱彌勒。願與含識速奉慈顏。遂右脇累足。以手支頤。凝然不動。帝哭之慟。廢朝五日。五詔褒恤。用佛故事。以金棺銀槨葬於滻東。初臥病。明藏禪師問疾。見二長人捧白蓮至前。曰師從無始損惱有情。因今小疾並得消殄。師顧大眾合掌而聽。得非譯般若力轉重罪為輕受乎。初遊天竺。手摩門逕松曰。吾西求法可枝向西。吾若言歸枝可東指。既往枝果西。一日忽東指。弟子曰。教主歸矣。因號摩頂松。師至天竺。遇龍樹宗。欲從其學。其徒令服藥求長生。方可窮研宗旨。師自念。本欲求經。恐仙術不就。有負宿願。遂學法相於戒賢傳唯識宗。賢時年一百三歲。蒙文殊付託。忍死以遲奘。賢用三時教。一有。二空。三不空不有。起信論雖出馬鳴。久而無傳。師譯唐為梵。俾流布五天。復聞要道。師之功也。 > Dharma Master Xuanzang was from the Chen clan of Luoyang. At age eleven, he could recite and thoroughly understand the Vimalakīrti and the Lotus Sūtra. At that time, Dharma Master Daoji was propagating the teachings in Chang'an; the Master carried his book-box and traveled west, studying the Abhidharma-vibhāṣā, the Samyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya-śāstra, and other texts under him. Ji praised him, saying, 'I have visited many lecture halls, but have never seen a youth of such spiritual comprehension as this.' During the Wude era, he lectured on the Samyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya-śāstra in the capital, winning the admiration of the world by not adhering rigidly to literal marks. Xiao Yu, the Vice Director of the Right of the Department of State Affairs, memorialized that he take up residence at the Great Zhuangyan Monastery. In the second year of Zhenguan, he submitted a memorial requesting permission to travel to Western India; the Emperor granted it. Leaning on his staff, he set out on his westward expedition, traversing far beyond the Congling mountains. Noxious winds cut to the bone, and flying sands blocked the way. When encountering sheer ravines and abysses, he made bridges of ropes and advanced by scaling the void. When ascending the Snow Mountains, where cliffs stood thousands of fathoms high, each person held four planks, alternating hands and feet in holes on the precipice, passing across like apes swinging by their arms—a place that neither Zhang Qian nor Gan Yanshou had ever reached. Crossing the Sand River, he met malignant ghosts and strange creatures emerging and disappearing before and behind him; the Master single-mindedly recollected Guanyin and the Heart of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, whereupon they abruptly retreated and dispersed. On Lengshan, the ice and snow did not thaw in spring or summer, and four out of ten of his companions froze to death. Entering the Iron Gate, the peaks and walls were entirely of iron; this was the frontier pass of the Turks. He traveled through one hundred and thirty countries. Everywhere that the Tathāgata had taught—the grove of enduring adamantine nirvāṇa, the bodhi tree where Māra was subdued, the lofty stupa of Kaniṣka, and the mountain where the shadow was left in Nagarahāra—he paid his respects and offered worship. He obtained precious images, relics, and seventy-five works of palm-leaf manuscripts. The Vaipulya teachings of Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, the incomplete-letter texts of the Deer Park, the various works written by Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna, the tenets of the eighteen different factions, and the principles of the diverse approaches of the five nikāyas—he collected, examined, and obtained all their texts. Even as to the sounds of the seven cases and eight inflections, and the phrases of the three voices and six compound analyses, there was nothing whose subtlety he did not fully plumb. Thereafter, the king of the country of Jalandhara bestowed upon him a blue elephant and a white horse to aid his transport. In the first month of the nineteenth year, he returned to Chang'an. Fang Xuanling, the regent of the capital, prepared banners, pennants, drums, flutes, and the ceremonial dignity of the Buddhist community; several tens of thousands of monastics and laypeople welcomed the Master with a precious carriage. In the second month, he reached Luoyang and met the Emperor in the Yiluan Hall (at that time the Emperor had made an imperial tour to the eastern capital of Luoyang). The Emperor comforted and commended his tireless diligence, questioned him about the events and traces of the Western Regions, and issued an edict commanding him to compose the Datang xiyu ji (Record of the Western Regions), for its mountains, rivers, and customs were unheard of in previous histories. An edict directed him to proceed to the Hongfu Monastery to translate along with the śramaṇas Daoxuan, Linggang, and others. In the twentieth year, he presented the newly translated Bodhisattvapiṭaka Sūtra and the Prakaraṇāryavācā-śāstra, requesting the Emperor to compose an imperial preface to the sacred teachings. In the twenty-second year, he presented the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra. The Emperor personally examined it and sighed in praise, saying, 'The Buddhist teachings are vast and great, like gazing up at the heavens or looking out over the ocean, incapable of having their heights or depths exhausted. The scriptures of the nine schools of thought are mere puddles compared to the vast sea. When people say that the three teachings lead to the same destination, it is idle talk.' An edict ordered that the newly translated scriptures and treatises be copied and bestowed upon the commanders of the nine circuits (at that time the empire was divided into nine circuits) to be successively distributed. An edict commanded that, to the west of the Ziwei Hall in the capital, a separate Court for the Propagation of the Dharma be established, and the Master was invited to reside there, choosing seven eminent and virtuous monks to accompany him. In his spare moments from discussing the Way with the Emperor, he translated at all times together with the assembly. The Emperor ordered that Laozi be translated into Sanskrit to be sent to Western India. The Master said, 'The Buddhist and Daoist teachings differ greatly in their principles; how could the words of the Buddha be used to express the meaning of Laozi? Moreover, the doctrines established by Laozi are superficial; if the Five Indias hear them, it would only be enough to invite their contempt.' Thereupon, the matter was dropped. In the third year of Yonghui, he submitted a memorial requesting the construction of a pagoda at the Cien Monastery to enshrine and preserve the Sanskrit manuscripts and the imperial prefaces to the sacred teachings composed by the two reigns; the Emperor granted it, and further gathered the garments and wealth of deceased individuals from the seven palaces to assist with the expenses. In the first year of Xianqing, an imperial prince was born (Emperor Zhongzong), and a spiritual light filled the room. The Emperor bestowed upon him the title 'King of Buddha's Light'. A month later, \[the Master\] submitted a memorial requesting that the King of Buddha's Light enter monastic life; an edict ordered his hair shorn and the refuge precepts conferred, and \[the Master\] presented a golden-lettered Heart Sūtra, dharma robes, and a bowl set. In the second year, the Emperor toured Luoyang and decreed that the Master accompany the imperial carriage; taking the opportunity to pass through Chenliu, he reburied his parents, and an imperial decree provided the burial requisites. In the fourth year, the Yuhua Palace was converted into a monastery to honor the late emperor, and an edict commanded the Master to reside there to translate the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra; by the fourth year \[of translation\], it was completed in six hundred fascicles. On the fourth day of the second month in the first year of Linde, he announced to the assembly: 'How can this body of phantom foam remain for long?' He had the assembly recite Maitreya's name, wishing to swiftly behold his compassionate countenance together with all sentient beings. He then reclined on his right side with his legs crossed, supported his cheek with his hand, and became still and motionless. The Emperor wept for him in bitter grief, suspended court audiences for five days, and issued five edicts of praise and condolence. Following Buddhist precedents, he was buried east of the Chan River in a gold inner coffin and a silver outer coffin. When he first took ill, Chan Master Mingzang came to inquire about his sickness; he saw two tall persons holding white lotuses coming before him, saying, 'Master, from beginningless time you have harmed sentient beings; through this slight illness, all \[that karmic obstruction\] will be dissolved and eradicated.' The Master turned to the assembly, joined his palms, and listened. Could this not be that the power of translating the Prajñāpāramitā transformed heavy retribution into light suffering? When he first set out for India, he stroked the pine tree along the gate path with his hand and said, 'When I go west to seek the Dharma, your branches may face west; when I am to return, your branches may point east.' After he departed, the branches indeed turned west. One day, they suddenly pointed east, and his disciples said, 'Our teacher is returning!' Thus, it was called the 'Head-Stroking Pine'. When the Master reached India, he encountered the school of Nāgārjuna and wished to study under them. Its disciples bade him consume medicine to seek longevity, after which he could deeply investigate its core tenets. The Master thought to himself, 'Originally I sought to obtain scriptures; I fear that if the immortal arts are not achieved, I will fail my long-cherished aspiration.' Thereupon, he studied the characteristics of dharmas under Śīlabhadra and transmitted the Vijñaptimātra school. Śīlabhadra was then one hundred and three years old; having received the entrustment of Mañjuśrī, he had endured death while awaiting Xuanzang. Śīlabhadra employed the teachings of the three periods: first, existence; second, emptiness; third, neither empty nor existent. Although the Awakening of Faith originated with Aśvaghoṣa, its transmission had long been lost; the Master translated it from Chinese into Sanskrit to circulate it throughout the Five Indias, so that they again heard this essential doctrine—this was the Master's meritorious achievement. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 29.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29.30) - [Next: 29.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29.32) - [Up: 29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035~en-mt.29.31) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2035.29.31) · Pramāṇa