隋天台智者大師別傳 1.2.4

1.2.4

並諸勸助贖[竺-二+(一/(尸@邑))]一所永為放生之池。 子時計詡臨郡請講金光明經。 濟物無偏寶冥出窟。 以慈修身見者歡喜。 以慈修口聞聲發心。 善誘殷勤導達因果。 合境漁人改惡從善好生去殺。 湍潮綿亘三百餘里。 江谿[竺-二+(一/(尸@邑))]梁合六十三所。 同時永捨俱成法池。 一日所濟巨億萬數。 何止十千而已哉。 方舟江上講流水品。 又散粳糧為財法二施。 船出海口望芙蓉山。 聳峭叢起若紅蓮之始開。 橫石孤垂似萎華之將落。 師云昔夢游海畔正似於此。 沙門慧承。 群守錢玄智皆著。 書嗟詠文繁不載詡後還都。 別坐餘事因繁廷尉。 臨當伏法遙想先師。 願申一救。 其夜夢群魚巨億不可稱計。 皆吐沫濡詡。 明旦降勅特原詡罪。 當於午時忽起瑞雲。 黃紫赤白狀如月暈。 凝於虛空遙蓋寺頂。 又黃雀群飛翾動嘈噆。 棲集簷宇半日方去。 師云。 江魚化為黃雀來此謝恩耳。 師遣門人慧拔金陵表聞。 降陳宣帝勅云。 嚴禁采捕永為放生之池。 陳東宮問徐陵曰。 天台功德誰為製碑。 答云願神筆玉著。 會宣帝崩不復得就勅國子祭酒徐孝克以樹高碑。 碑今在山。 覽者墮淚。 陳文皇太子永陽王出撫甌越。 累信殷勤。 仍赴禹穴躬行方等。 眷屬同稟淨戒。 晝飡講說夜習坐禪。 先師謂門人智越云。 吾欲勸王修福禳禍可乎。 越對云。 府僚無舊必稱寒熱。 師云。 息世譏嫌亦復為善。 王後出游墜馬將絕。 越乃感悔憂愧。 若傷先師躬自帥眾作觀音懺法。 整心專志王覺小醒凭機而坐。 王見一梵僧擎香爐直進。 問王曰。 疾勢何如。 王汗流無答。 僧乃遶王一匝香氣徘徊右旋。 即覺搭然痛惱都釋。 戒慧先染其心靈驗次悅其目。 不欲生信詎可得乎。 其願文云。 仰惟天台闍黎德侔安遠。 道邁光猷遐邇傾心。 振錫雲聚紹像法之將墜以救昏蒙。 顯慧日之重光用拯澆俗。 加以游浪法門貫通禪苑。 有為之結已離。 無生之忍現前。 弟子飄颺業風沈淪愛水。 雖飡法喜弗祛蒙蔽之心。 徒仰禪悅終懷散動之慮。 日輪馳騖羲和之轡不停。 月鏡迴軒。 嫦娥之影難駐。 有離有會歎息奚言愛法敬法潺湲無已。 願生生世世值天台闍黎恒修供養。 如智積奉智勝如來。 若藥王覲雷音正覺。 安養兜率俱蕩一乘。 先師雖復懷寶窮岫。 聲振都邑藏形幽壑德慧昭彰。 陳少主顧問群臣。 釋門誰為名勝。 徐陵對曰。 瓦官禪師。 德邁風霜禪鑑淵海。 昔遠游京邑群賢所宗。 今高步天台法雲東靄。 永陽王北面親承。 願陛下詔之還都弘法使道俗咸荷。 陳主。 初遣傳宣左右趙君卿。 再遣主書朱雷。 三傳遣詔。 四遣道人法昇。 皆帝自手書。 悉稱疾不當陳主。 遂仗三使更勅州敦請。 永陽王諫曰。 主上虛己朝廷思敬一言利益。 則四生有賴。 若高讓深山則慈悲有隔。 弟子微弱尚賜迂屈不赴臺旨將何自安。 答曰自省無德出處。 又幽過則身當豈令枉濫業緣。 如水隆去窳留志不可滿任之而已。 仍出金陵。 路逢兩使。 初遣應勅左右黃吉寶。 次遣主書。 陳建宗延上東堂四事供養禮遇殷勤。 立禪眾於靈耀開釋論於太極。 又講仁王般若百座。 居左五等。 在右陳主親筵聽法。 僧正慧暅僧都慧曠長干慧辯。 皆奉勅激揚難。 似冬氷峨峨共結解。 猶夏日赫赫能消。 天子欣然百僚盡敬。 講竟慧暅擎香爐賀席曰。 國十餘。 齋身當四講。 分文析理謂得其門。 今日出星收見巧知陋。 由來諍競不止。 即座肅穆有餘。 七夜恬靜千枝華耀皆法王之力也。 陳主於廣德殿謝云。 非但佛法仰委。 亦願示諸不建。 陳世所檢僧尼無貫者。 萬人朝議策經不合者休道。 先師諫曰。 調達日誦萬言不免地獄。 槃特誦一行偈獲羅漢果。 篤論唯道豈關多誦。 陳主大悅。 即停搜揀。

Together with everyone's contributions, a fishing weir was purchased to be made permanently into a pond for releasing living beings. At that time, the commandery governor Ji Xu invited him to expound the Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra. In saving beings he was impartial, so the precious and hidden emerged from their lairs. Cultivating his body with benevolence, those who saw him rejoiced; cultivating his speech with benevolence, those who heard his voice gave rise to the aspiration [for awakening]. Skilfully and earnestly guiding them, he made them comprehend cause and effect. The fishermen throughout the entire territory reformed from evil and followed the good, loving life and renouncing killing. The swift tides extended for more than three hundred li; the fishing weirs and dams in the rivers and streams totaled sixty-three locations. All were simultaneously and permanently abandoned, together becoming Dharma ponds. Those saved in a single day numbered in the tens of billions—how could it be limited to merely ten thousand? Riding abreast in boats on the river, he expounded the Jalavāhana Chapter; he also scattered non-glutinous rice, making the twofold gift of material goods and Dharma. As the boats emerged from the mouth of the sea, they looked toward Mount Furong: towering steep and clustered high, it was like a red lotus just blooming; a solitary rock hung horizontally, resembling a withered blossom about to fall. The Master said, "A former dream of wandering by the seashore was just like this." The śramaṇa Huicheng and the commandery governor Qian Xuanzhi both wrote compositions of praise, but as the texts are voluminous they are not recorded here. Later, Xu returned to the capital, where he was implicated in another matter and consequently entangled with the Minister of Justice. When he was about to undergo punishment, he thought from afar of the late Master, wishing that he would extend a hand to save him. That night he dreamed of countless myriads of fish, beyond reckoning, all spitting foam to moisten Xu. The next morning an imperial edict was issued specially pardoning Xu's crime. At midday, auspicious clouds suddenly arose, yellow, purple, red, and white, shaped like a lunar halo; they congealed in the empty sky, covering the roof of the temple from afar. Furthermore, a flock of yellow sparrows flew about, fluttering and chirping noisily; perching and gathering along the eaves and buildings, they departed only after half a day. The Master said, "The river fish have transformed into yellow sparrows and come here to give thanks." The Master dispatched his disciple Huiba to the capital, Jinling, to present a memorial. Emperor Xuan of Chen issued an edict stating: "Hunting and fishing are strictly prohibited; let it permanently be a pond for releasing living beings." The Chen Crown Prince asked Xu Ling, "Who shall compose the stele for the Tiantai meritorious deeds?" He replied, "I hope for the divine brush and jade writing [of the Emperor]." It happened that Emperor Xuan passed away, so it could not be completed; an edict was then issued ordering the Libationer of the Directorate of Education, Xu Xiaoke, to erect a tall stele. The stele is now on the mountain; those who read it shed tears. King Yongyang, son of Emperor Wen of Chen, went out to pacify Ouyue. Repeated letters arrived with deep sincerity, whereupon [the Master] went to the Yu Cave and personally practiced the vaipulya [confession]. The king's retinue all received the pure precepts together. By day they partook of lectures, and by night they practiced seated meditation. The late Master said to his disciple Zhiyue, "I wish to encourage the king to cultivate blessings to avert calamity; may I?" Yue replied, "None of the palace officials are old acquaintances; they will surely speak of hot and cold (idle gossip)." The Master said, "Putting an end to worldly ridicule and suspicion is also good." Later, the king went out riding and fell from his horse, nearly dying. Yue then felt remorse, sorrow, and shame, as though wounding the late Master, and personally led the assembly to perform the Avalokiteśvara confession ritual. Composing their minds with single-minded focus, the king felt slightly awake and sat leaning on an armrest. The king saw an Indian monk holding an incense burner walk straight forward, and asked the king, "How is the severity of your illness?" The king sweated profusely and did not answer. The monk then circled the king once; the fragrance lingered as he turned to the right. Immediately [the king] felt relaxed, and his painful afflictions were completely relieved. Precepts and wisdom had first imbued his mind, and the efficacious response next delighted his eyes; even had he not wished to give rise to faith, how could he have helped it? His vow text said: "We look up with reverence to the Ācārya of Tiantai: his virtue equals Dao'an and Huiyuan; his Dao surpasses Dao’guang and Daoyou. Near and far turn their hearts to him. Shaking his tin staff, clouds gather; he inherits the Semblance Dharma that was on the verge of falling, in order to rescue the dark and benighted; he reveals the double brilliance of the sun of wisdom, so as to deliver the decadent world. Furthermore, he roams the gates of the Dharma and penetrates the orchards of dhyāna. The knots of conditioned existence are already cast off; the forbearance of the unproduced is manifest before him. I, your disciple, am tossed by the winds of karma and submerged in the waters of attachment. Though I partake of the joy of the Dharma, I have not dispelled my benighted mind; in vain do I revere the delight of dhyāna, while in the end harboring thoughts of distraction. The solar orb gallops along, and Xihe's reins do not halt; the lunar mirror turns its carriage, and Chang'e's reflection is hard to detain. There is parting and there is meeting—what words can express my sighs? Loving the Dharma and revering the Dharma, my feelings flow ceaselessly like a stream. I vow that life after life, world after world, I may encounter the Ācārya of Tiantai and constantly practice offerings to him, just as Jñānaprabha served the Tathāgata Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū, or as Bhaiṣajyarāja had audience with the Perfectly Awakened Meghadundubhisvararāja. May Sukhāvatī and Tuṣita both be subsumed under the One Vehicle." Although the late Master harbored treasures in the deep gorges, his fame shook the capital cities; though he hid his form in dark ravines, his virtue and wisdom were manifest and bright. The Young Master of the Chen asked the assembled ministers, "Who is celebrated and preeminent within the Śākya gate?" Xu Ling replied, "The Dhyāna Master of Waguan: his virtue surpasses wind and frost; his mirror of dhyāna is as deep as the ocean. Formerly, when he journeyed afar to the capital, he was revered by all the worthies; now he strides loftily on Tiantai, while the Dharma clouds mist over the east. King Yongyang faced north to serve him personally. We pray that Your Majesty summon him to return to the capital to propagate the Dharma, so that both monastics and laity may receive the benefit." The Chen ruler first sent the Imperial Attendant Zhao Junqing; second, he sent the Chief Secretary Zhu Lei; a third imperial decree was dispatched; and fourth, he sent the man of the Dao, Fasheng. All carried letters written by the Emperor's own hand. [The Master] pleaded illness in all cases and would not comply. Thereupon, relying on the three envoys, the Chen ruler further ordered the prefecture to urge and invite him earnestly. King Yongyang admonished, "His Majesty has humbled himself, and the court contemplates reverence; if there is one word of benefit, the four classes of living beings will rely upon it. If you yield loftily in the deep mountains, compassion will be obstructed. Though I, your disciple, am insignificant, you still deigned to bend your steps; if you do not comply with the court's decree, how can you remain at ease?" He replied, "Examining myself, I lack virtue whether retiring or appearing in public; moreover, if there is hidden fault, my own person must bear it—how could I allow it to unjustly entangle others? Karmic conditions are like water: the elevated drains and the sunken remains; one's intentions cannot always be fulfilled; I simply leave it to conditions." Thereupon he set out for Jinling. On the road he met two envoys: first sent was the Imperial Commission Attendant Huang Jibao; next sent was the Chief Secretary Chen Jianzong. He was invited into the East Hall, provided with the four requisites, and received with earnest courtesy. An assembly of dhyāna practitioners was established at Lingyao, and an exposition of the Śāstra was begun at Taiji. He also lectured on the Humane Kings Prajñā for a hundred seats. The five ranks [of nobility] sat on the left, and on the right the Chen ruler personally took his seat to listen to the Dharma. The Rectifier of Monks Huixuan, the Overseer of Monks Huikuang, and Chang'gan Huibian, all having received the imperial command, raised difficult challenges. Like high winter ice freezing together, the solutions, like the blazing summer sun, were able to melt them. The Son of Heaven rejoiced, and all the officials showed complete reverence. When the lecture ended, Huixuan held up an incense burner to congratulate the assembly, saying, "In the state for more than ten years, I have personally presided over four lecture series. Dividing the passages and analyzing the principles, I thought I had attained the entrance. Today the sun has risen and the stars have withdrawn; seeing the masterly, I know my own crudeness. From of old, contention has never ceased, but around this seat there is solemnity and to spare. Seven nights of tranquility, and a thousand branches of flowers gleaming—this is all the power of the Dharmarāja." In the Parade Hall, the Chen ruler expressed his gratitude, saying, "Not only is the Buddha-Dharma entrusted to you, but we also wish you to point out whatever is improperly established." When the Chen dynasty investigated unregistered monks and nuns, tens of thousands of people were to be unfrocked if their examination on the sūtras failed to meet the standard at court deliberations. The late Master admonished, "Devadatta daily recited ten thousand words, yet could not escape hell; Śuddhipanthaka recited a single verse of gāthā and attained the fruit of an arhat. In true assessment, it is only the Dao that matters; how could it depend on much recitation?" The Chen ruler was greatly delighted, and immediately halted the investigation and purging.