佛祖歷代通載 7.93

7.93

（二十四　庚戌）　法師法顯自西域還。初顯於隆安二年。同惠景曇整等入西域求法。渡流沙迷失路。以日準東西。視人骨處進行。遭熱風惡鬼不顧。至葱嶺積雪有毒龍飛。砂路盤空而進。不顧皆萬仞險處。梯而過者。七日以繩為梁躡而濟者。水闊八十步。漢張騫甘英皆所未至也。過小雪山寒甚。惠景股栗而死。顯哭之慟。收涕孤征。又三十餘國至中天竺。去王舍城三十里。入一寺問耆闍崛山路。僧曰。日暮矣。彼多師子。且食人。不可往。顯念吾欲瞻靈境。幸至而晚。今夕若死吾志不酬。身非所愛。乃畏師子乎。顯既至日已夕。遂留山中。流涕拜曰。我不自知至此也。坐樹下誦經。夜三更師子蹲踞舐齕。顯以手循之曰。欲肉醉我遲誦經畢乃可耳。於是妥尾而去。明日歸。老僧植杖立揖不答。徐去。有少年來。顯問耆年謂誰。曰頭陀大迦葉也。顯追之至山。有石塞岩竇不得往。至南天竺。得摩訶僧祇律泥洹等經。留三年學梵字。以經像附商。至師子國。同侶皆無存。翩然自止。會有以紈扇供佛者。顯見之動東歸之思。又二年達于青州。太守李嶷躬迎之。護送入于京師。

Dharma Master Faxian returned from the Western Regions. Earlier, in the second year of Long'an, Faxian entered the Western Regions to seek the Dharma along with Huijing, Daozheng, and others. Crossing the drifting sands, they lost their way; taking the sun as their guide for east and west, they proceeded forward by looking for human bones. Encountering scorching winds and demonic spirits, they pressed on regardless. Arriving at the Congling Mountains, snow had piled up, and venomous dragons flew about. The sand path coiled through the air as they advanced, oblivious to the fact that all were sheer precipices of ten thousand fathoms. They crossed by scaling wooden ladders for seven days and stepped across using ropes as bridges to cross waters eighty paces wide—places that Zhang Qian and Gan Ying of the Han had never reached. Crossing the Little Snow Mountains, it was bitterly cold, and Huijing trembled violently and died. Faxian wept for him in agony, then wiping away his tears, journeyed on alone. Crossing more than thirty kingdoms, he arrived in Central Tianzhu. Thirty li from Rājagṛha, he entered a monastery and asked for the path to Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain. A monk said, 'It is already dusk. There are many lions there, and they eat people; you cannot go.' Faxian thought: 'I wish to behold the sacred site, and having fortunately arrived, it is late. If I die tonight, my vow will not be fulfilled; my body is not what I cherish—should I fear lions?' When Faxian arrived, the sun had already set, so he stayed on the mountain. Weeping, he prostrated and said, 'I did not know if I would ever reach this place myself.' He sat under a tree and chanted sūtras. At the third watch of the night, a lion crouched, licked, and chewed at him. Faxian stroked it with his hand and said, 'If you want to feast on my flesh, wait until I have finished chanting the sūtra before you may do so.' Thereupon, it tucked its tail and walked away. The next day, as he was returning, an old monk stood leaning on a staff, bowed, made no reply, and slowly walked away. A young man came by, and Faxian asked who the elder was. He said, 'It was the ascetic Mahākāśyapa.' Faxian pursued him to the mountain, but a boulder blocked the rock cavern, preventing him from proceeding. Arriving in Southern Tianzhu, he obtained the Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya and the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. He stayed for three years to learn Sanskrit script. Entrusting the scriptures and images to a merchant ship, he arrived in the Lion Country [Śrī Laṅkā]. None of his companions survived; he was left entirely on his own. It happened that someone offered a white silk fan to the Buddha; Faxian saw it, and thoughts of returning east were stirred. After two more years, he arrived in Qingzhou. The prefect Li Yi personally welcomed him and escorted him to the capital.