釋鑑稽古略續集 1.44

1.44

皇天之下。一人之上開教宣文輔治大聖至德普覺真智裕國。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。初禮伯父薩師加哇為師。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。年十五。世祖皇帝龍德淵潛。師知真命有歸。馳驛徑詣王府。世祖官闈東宮。皆秉授戒法。特加尊禮。年二十。釋道訂正化胡經。憲宗皇帝詔師剖析是非。道不能答。自棄其學。上大悅。年二十二。世祖登極。建元中統尊為國師。授以玉印。任中原法主。統天下教門。辭帝西歸未朞月召還。年三十一。時至元七年。詔制大元國字。師獨運摹畫作成。稱旨即頒行朝省郡縣。遵用迄為一代典章。升為帝師。更賜玉印。統領諸國釋教。旋又西歸。至元十一年。專使召之抵京。王公宰輔士庶。離城一舍結大香壇。設大淨供羅拜迎之。萬眾瞻禮若一佛出世。為真金太子。設彰所知論五篇。存藏行世。

'Beneath august Heaven, above all men; Propagator of the Teaching and Promulgator of Letters, Assister of Governance, Great Sage of Utmost Virtue, Universal Awakener of True Wisdom and Enricher of the Realm, Wish-Fulfilling Great Jewel Dharma King, Buddhist Disciple of the Western Heavens, Imperial Preceptor of the Great Yuan, Pandita 'Phags-pa the Imperial Preceptor was a native of Tubo. The various auspicious omens at the time of his birth are detailed in the family genealogy. At first he paid reverence to his paternal uncle Sa-skya Pandita as his teacher. With secret gāthās of one to two thousand words, once they passed before his eyes he could recite them from memory. At the age of seven he expounded the Dharma, his eloquence broad and unrestrained, yet he was still not satisfied. He further consulted renowned elders everywhere, probing the profound and searching the hidden, thoroughly mastering the Tripiṭaka. At the age of fifteen, when Emperor Shizu's dragon virtue lay concealed in the deep, the Master knew that the true mandate had its destination and galloped directly along the post-relay to the prince's palace. Shizu, the inner quarters, and the Eastern Palace all received the precept methods from him and accorded him exceptional honour and reverence. At the age of twenty, Buddhists and Daoists corrected the Laozi huahu jing. Emperor Xianzong decreed that the Master analyze the right and wrong; the Daoists could not reply and abandoned their own doctrines. The Emperor was greatly pleased. At the age of twenty-two, Shizu ascended the throne, established the Zhongtong reign era, and honoured him as National Preceptor, conferring a jade seal upon him, appointing him as Dharma Master of the Central Plains, and putting him in charge of the teachings of the realm. He took leave of the Emperor to return west, but before a month had passed he was recalled. At the age of thirty-one, in the seventh year of Zhiyuan (1270), a decree was issued to create the Great Yuan national script. The Master designed and completed it entirely by his own hand. Fitting the imperial will, it was immediately promulgated to the imperial court, ministries, commanderies, and counties, being observed and applied right down to becoming the institutional regulations of an entire dynasty. He was elevated to Imperial Preceptor and granted an additional jade seal, overseeing the Buddhist teaching across all countries. Soon he returned west again. In the eleventh year of Zhiyuan (1274), a special envoy was sent to summon him to the capital. Princes, dukes, chancellors, ministers, literati, and commoners formed a great incense altar one stage outside the city, setting out grand pure offerings and bowing in ranks to welcome him. The myriads of people looked up in reverence as if a single Buddha had appeared in the world. For Crown Prince Zhenjin, he composed the Zhang suozhi lun (Treatise on Explaining What Should Be Known) in five chapters, which is preserved in the canon and circulates in the world.'