佛祖統紀 48.49

48.49

十七年。大元帝師癹思八示寂。翰林學士王磐等奉勅撰行狀曰。皇天之下。一人之上。開教宣文輔治大聖至德普覺真智佑國如意大寶法王西天佛子大元帝師班彌怛拔思癹帝師。乃土波國人也。生時諸種瑞應具詳家譜。初土波有國師禪怛濕乞答。具大威神。累葉相傳。其國王世師尊之凡十七代。而至薩師加哇。即師之伯父也。乃禮伯父為師。祕密伽陀一二千言過目成誦。七歲演法。辨博縱橫猶不自足。復遍咨名宿鉤玄索隱。盡通三藏。癸丑師年十五。世祖皇帝龍德淵潛。師知真命有歸。馳駔徑詣王府。世祖宮闈東宮皆稟受戒法。特加尊禮。戊午師年二十。釋道訂正化胡經。道不能答。自棄其學。上大悅。庚申師年二十二。世祖登極建元中統尊為國師。授以玉印。任中原法王。統天下教門。辭帝西歸。未期月召還。庚午師年三十二。時至元七年詔制大元國字。師獨運摸畫作成稱旨。即頒行朝省郡縣遵用迄為一代典章。升號帝師大寶法王。更賜玉印統領諸國釋教。旋又西歸。甲戌師年三十六。時至元十六年。皇上專使召之。歲抄抵京。王公宰輔士庶離城一舍。結大香壇。設大淨供。香華幢蓋。大樂仙音羅拜迎之。所經衢陌皆結五綵翼其兩傍。萬眾瞻禮若一佛出世時則大兵飛渡長江。竟成一統。雖主聖臣賢所致。亦師陰相之力也。為真金皇太子說器世界等彰所知論。尋又力辭西歸。皇上堅留之不可。庚辰師年四十二。時至元十七年十一月二十二日示寂。上聞不勝震悼。追懷舊德建大窣覩波于京師。寶藏真身舍利。輪興金碧無儔。

In the seventeenth year, the Great Yuan Imperial Preceptor Phags-pa manifested nirvāṇa. The Hanlin Academician Wang Pan and others, receiving imperial orders, composed his biography, which read: 'Beneath August Heaven, above the One Man; Opener of the Teaching and Propagator of Culture, Assister of Governance, Great Sage of Supreme Virtue, Universally Enlightened True Wisdom, Protector of the State, Wish-Fulfilling Great Precious Dharma King, Buddha-son of the Western Heavens, Imperial Preceptor of the Great Yuan, Paṇḍita Imperial Preceptor Phags-pa was a man of the state of Tubo. The various auspicious omens at his birth are fully detailed in his family genealogy. Formerly, Tubo had the State Preceptor Chandaśikṣitā, who possessed great spiritual power and passed it down through successive generations; the kings of that country honored him as master for seventeen generations until Sakya [Pandita], who was the master's uncle. He then paid homage to his uncle as his master. Esoteric verses of one or two thousand words he could recite upon glancing over them once. At the age of seven he expounded the Dharma; his eloquence and breadth were vast and unimpeded, yet he was still not satisfied. He again inquired everywhere of famous elders, penetrating the profound and searching out the hidden, fully mastering the Three Baskets. In the guichou year, when the master was fifteen, Emperor Shizu's dragon-virtue was concealed in the deep. The master, knowing that the True Mandate had its repository, rode swiftly and directly to the royal mansion. Emperor Shizu's inner palace and the Crown Prince all received the precepts from him and paid him extraordinary respect. In the wuwu year, when the master was twenty, Buddhists and Daoists collated the Scripture of the Conversion of the Barbarians; the Daoists could not answer and abandoned their learning themselves, at which the Emperor was greatly pleased. In the gengshen year, when the master was twenty-two, Shizu ascended the throne, established the Zhongtong reign era, honored him as State Preceptor, bestowed a jade seal upon him, appointed him Dharma King of the Central Plains, and put him in charge of the religious sects under heaven. Taking leave of the Emperor to return west, he was summoned back before a month had passed. In the gengwu year, when the master was thirty-two—in the seventh year of Zhiyuan—an imperial edict ordered the creation of the national script of the Great Yuan; the master devised the strokes alone, and when it was completed, it matched the imperial will; it was promptly promulgated throughout the ministries, provinces, commanderies, and counties for official compliance, becoming the institutional standard of a whole dynasty. He was elevated to the title of Imperial Preceptor Great Precious Dharma King, was granted another jade seal, and was placed in charge of the Buddhist teachings of all realms. Soon after, he again returned west. In the jiaxu year, when the master was thirty-six—in the sixteenth year of Zhiyuan—the Emperor sent a special envoy to summon him. At the close of the year he reached the capital. Princes, dukes, grand councilors, scholar-officials, and commoners went out one stage from the city, erected a great aromatic altar, arranged a great pure offering, and with fragrant flowers, banners, parasols, grand music, and celestial sounds, lined up in obeisance to welcome him. The streets and lanes he passed through were all hung with five-colored decorations flanking both sides; the myriad multitude looked up in homage as if a Buddha had appeared in the world. At that time, the imperial army crossed the Yangtze River as if flying, ultimately accomplishing unification; although brought about by a sage ruler and worthy ministers, it was also through the power of the master's unseen assistance. He expounded the Treatise Clarifying the Knowable on the receptacle world and other matters for Crown Prince Zhenjin. Soon thereafter he again firmly declined office to return west; the Emperor earnestly sought to detain him, but could not. In the gengchen year, when the master was forty-two—on the twenty-second day of the eleventh month of the seventeenth year of Zhiyuan—he manifested nirvāṇa. When the Emperor heard of it, his grief and shock were beyond measure. Cherishing his former virtue, he built a great stūpa in the capital to enshrine his true-body relics, the tiers of gold and azure rising without peer.'