佛祖統紀 34.81

34.81

三十五年。十祖夜奢。於華氏城。以法藏付馬鳴。初馬鳴以刃貫杖。銘曰。天下智士能勝我者截首以謝。時夜奢坐閑林中。說諸法空無我無人。謂馬鳴曰。若就世諦假名為我。第一義諦我何可得。馬鳴知義不勝。欲斬首以謝。夜奢曰。我法仁慈不斬汝首。如來記汝。後六百年當傳法藏。於是度令出家。

In the thirty-fifth year, the Tenth Patriarch, Puṇyayaśas, in Pāṭaliputra, entrusted the treasury of the Dharma to Aśvaghoṣa. Originally, Aśvaghoṣa had fixed a blade upon a staff and inscribed it: 'If there is a wise man in the world who can defeat me, I will cut off my head in apology.' At that time, Puṇyayaśas was sitting in a tranquil grove, expounding that all dharmas are empty, without self, and without person. He said to Aśvaghoṣa: 'If speaking conventionally, there is the provisional name "self"; but according to the ultimate truth, how can a self be found?' Aśvaghoṣa knew that his argument was defeated and was about to cut off his head in apology. Puṇyayaśas said: 'Our Dharma is benevolent and does not cut off your head. The Tathāgata foretold that you, after six hundred years, would transmit the treasury of the Dharma.' Thereupon, he ordained him as a monk.