大唐故大德贈司空大辨正廣智不空三藏行狀 1.2.3

1.2.3

相望道路。 九年春正月。 賜綵六十疋。 夏四月。 賜絹三百疋。 充衣鉢。 六月十一日。 有詔。 就加開府儀同三司。 封肅國公。 食邑三千戶。 餘如故。 累讓不許。 諸弟子相次馳賀。 大師不悅曰。 聖眾儼如。 舒手相慰。 白月圓滿。 吾之去時。 柰何臨終。 更竊名位。 附令懇讓。 大師自去。 冬臘中夜。 命弟子趙遷。 持筆硯。 吾欲略一涅槃荼毘儀軌。 使爾後代。 准此送終。 遷稽首三請。 伏乞慈悲。 且久住世。 大師笑而不許。 自春及夏。 停飧輟寢。 宣揚妙法。 誡勗門人。 每語乃普賢行願出生無邊門經。 勸令誦持。 再三歎息。 其先受法者。 偏使屬意觀菩提心本尊大印真詮阿字。 了法不生證大覺身。 若指諸掌。 慰誨勤勤悲喜交集。 汝等於法。 宜踰身命。 是所聞者斯不易焉。 吾思往日。 涉險冐危。 為法委身。 窮歷拜國。 周遊往返。 十餘萬里。 爾等當思此意。 速此修行。 無殉利以辱身。 勿為名而喪道奉我臨終之誠。 成爾書紳之勗。 以大曆九年六月十五日午時。 浴香水。 換新服。 端居正容。 命草辭表。 北面瞻望。 東首倚臥。 住大印身定中便去。 神雖往而容貌如舊。 氣將盡而色澤逾鮮。 斯法力之加。 豈死相而能壞。 行年七十。 僧臘五十。 僧弟子惠朗。 次承灌頂之位。 餘知法者。 蓋數十人而已。 聖上哀悼。 輟朝三日。 念師資之啟沃。 觀遺跡而惻愴。 絹三百匹布二百端。 米麵四百石。 油七石。 柴十五車。 炭三車。 賜錢四十萬。 又賜造塔錢二百餘萬。 齋七供養。 仍別支給。 日日中使予慰存問。 勅功德使李元琮知喪事。 初大師之將終。 眾相先現。 諸僧夢千仞寶幢。 無故摧倒。 文殊新閣。 忽然崩壞。 大振院宇。 比至驚悟。 聲猶在耳。 金剛智杵飛空上。 大興善寺後。 池水盡枯涸。 林竹生實。 庭花變色。 諸事異相。 近數十條今略序之。 餘皆不錄。 昔者如來滅度。 雙林改白。 文宣歿世。 泗水逆流。 雖古今之有殊。 驗徵應之不異也。 七月六日。 就塔所。 具荼毘之禮。 隨喜者億千萬數。 是日有詔。 使高品劉仙鶴就致祭。 并贈司空諡曰大辨正廣智不空三藏和上。 尊其德也。 荼毘火滅。 於餘燼中。 凡得舍利數百粒。 八十粒進入內。 又於頂骨中。 有一粒。 半隱半現。 後有勅。 令於大興善寺舊住院中。 起舍利塔。 特賜造塔錢萬餘貫。 承後諸弟子在院者。 聖恩愛及如大師在日。 皇上據四海之圖籍。 十有三年矣。 所賜大師手詔數十首。 皆聖人密旨。 並却進奉。 遠自先朝。 至今聖代。 所有黑制卷軸盈篋。 錫賚束帛。 不知其數。 累年繫月。 積若岳。 未甞言貯畜。 輒不謀於生計。 今並不書。 每在中禁。 建立道場。 頗積年歲。 傳授法印。 加持護摩。 殄除災異。 增益吉祥。 祕密之事。 大師未曾輒有宣爾。 今並不列於行狀。 諸類事跡。 其徒寔繁。 蓋存於別傳。 付法弟子。 輸誠國家。 則在於遺書進奉。 陳博情蓋題於辭表。 大師自開元。 至今大曆。 翻譯經法。 凡一百二十餘卷。 諸佛示權。 摧魔護國。 非臣下堪聞者。 緘在於天宮。 普賢行門。 菩提般若。 是瑜伽修行者。 須宣於人代。 大師據灌頂師位。 四十餘年。 入壇弟子。 授法門人。 三朝宰臣。 五京大德。 緇素士流。 方牧岳主。 農商庶類。 蓋億萬計。 其登戒壇。 二千弟子。 一切有部。 獨為宗師。 嗚呼大師。 訓人之道。 其徒不一。 泯合二諦。 適于眾因。 先觀性以示方。 非妄投而虛力。 以大海之法寶。 隨所受而適心。 以雪山之妙藥。 故應病而令服。 是以有蘇悉地毘盧遮那金剛頂經諸真言部。 若戒定慧。 頓漸半滿。

looked upon one another on the roads. In the ninth year, in the first month of spring, sixty bolts of coloured silk were bestowed. In the fourth month of summer, three hundred bolts of plain silk were bestowed to replenish his robes and bowl. On the eleventh day of the sixth month, an edict was issued: he was promoted on the spot to Specially Advanced with the Same Ceremonial Treatment as the Three Excellencies (kaifu yitong sansi), enfeoffed as Duke of the State of Su (Suguogong), with an estate of three thousand households; the rest remained as before. He repeatedly declined, but it was not granted. The various disciples came in succession to offer congratulations. The Master, displeased, said, 'The noble assembly appears before me, extending their hands to console me. When the white moon is full, that will be the time of my departure. Facing death, how could I further steal renown and rank?' He sent someone to earnestly decline it. In the winter during the twelfth month, in the middle of the night, the Master himself took his leave [of worldly affairs and] ordered his disciple Zhao Qian to hold brush and inkstone, saying, 'I wish to outline a ritual manual for nirvāṇa and cremation (jhāpeti), so that you of future generations may see me off in accordance with this.' Qian bowed his head and made three requests, humbly begging his compassion to remain long in the world. The Master smiled and did not consent. From spring to summer, he stopped eating and went without sleep, proclaiming the wondrous Dharma and admonishing his disciples. Whenever he spoke, it was from the Samantabhadra-caryā-praṇidhāna and the Anantamukha-nirhāra-dhāraṇī-sūtra, urging them to recite and uphold them, sighing again and again. To those who had previously received the Dharma, he especially instructed them to set their minds on contemplating the bodhicitta, the Great Mudrā of the tutelary deity (yidam), and the true principle of the syllable A, understanding that dharmas are unborn and realizing the body of Great Enlightenment. [He explained these] as clearly as pointing to the palm of his hand. His consoling admonitions were earnest and frequent, grief and joy mingling together: 'Toward the Dharma, you must value it beyond life and limb. What you have heard is indeed not easy to obtain. Recalling past days, I braved hazards and risked danger, giving my life for the Dharma, journeying throughout the kingdoms of homage, travelling back and forth over a hundred thousand li. You must contemplate this intention and swiftly cultivate this practice. Do not pursue gain so as to disgrace your person, nor seek fame so as to forfeit the Path. Receive my sincerity at death, and let it become an admonition written upon your sashes.' On the fifteenth day of the sixth month of the ninth year of Dali, at midday, he bathed in fragrant water, changed into fresh robes, sat upright with a dignified countenance, and ordered a farewell memorial to be drafted. Facing north and gazing forth, with his head toward the east, he reclined and departed while abiding in the bodily samādhi of the Great Mudrā. Though his spirit departed, his countenance remained as before; though his breath was exhausted, his complexion grew ever fresher. This was the empowerment of the Dharma's power—how could the marks of death destroy it? His worldly age was seventy; his monastic age was fifty. His monk-disciple Huilang succeeded him in the rank of consecration (abhiṣeka). The others who knew the Dharma were only several tens of people. The Sovereign mourned deeply, suspending court for three days. Mindful of the master's instruction and moistening rain, he gazed upon his remaining traces in sorrow. [The court granted] three hundred bolts of plain silk, two hundred bolts of cloth, four hundred piculs of rice and flour, seven piculs of oil, fifteen carts of firewood, three carts of charcoal, and forty myriads of cash. In addition, more than two hundred myriads of cash were bestowed to construct a stūpa. Offerings for the seven seven-day memorial services were also provided separately. Daily, palace messengers conveyed condolences and made inquiries. An imperial edict directed the Commissioner of Merits Li Yuancong to oversee the funeral arrangements. Earlier, when the Master was about to pass away, many signs had appeared beforehand. Various monks dreamt that a jewelled banner of a thousand fathoms collapsed without cause, and the new pavilion of Mañjuśrī suddenly crumbled, shaking the courtyards violently; by the time they awoke in fright, the sound was still in their ears. A diamond vajra pestle flew up into the sky. Behind Daxingshan Monastery, the pond water dried up completely, the bamboo groves bore fruit, and the garden flowers altered their colours. These anomalous occurrences numbered nearly several dozen; they are briefly summarized here, and the rest are not recorded. Of old, when the Tathāgata entered extinction, the twin groves turned white; when Wenxuan passed from the world, the waters of the Si River flowed backward. Though ancient and modern times differ, their verified signs and responses are no different. On the sixth day of the seventh month, at the stūpa site, the cremation rites were fully performed. Those who rejoiced in sympathy numbered tens and hundreds of millions. On this day an edict was issued, sending the High-grade Official Liu Xianhe to present sacrifices on the spot, and posthumously conferring the title of Grand Preceptor (sikong) with the posthumous name Master of Grand Distinction and Correctness, Vast Wisdom, Amogha Tripiṭaka Preceptor (Dabianzheng Guangzhi Bukong Sanzang Heshang), in honour of his virtue. When the fire of cremation had died down, within the remaining ashes, several hundred relics (śarīra) were obtained in all. Eighty grains were presented into the palace. Moreover, in the parietal bone, there was one grain, half-hidden and half-visible. Later an edict was issued ordering that a relic stūpa be erected in his former residing courtyard at Daxingshan Monastery, with a special bestowal of more than ten thousand strings of cash to build the stūpa. Toward the disciples who succeeded him in the courtyard, the imperial love and favour extended just as during the Master's lifetime. The Emperor has held the maps and registers of the four seas for thirteen years. The imperial letters handwritten by the Sovereign and bestowed upon the Master numbered several tens, all being confidential edicts of the Sage, and all were returned and submitted [to the court]. Extending from the previous reign down to the present holy era, the scrolls of black-ink edicts filled chests; the gifts of tied silks were beyond count. Accumulated through years and months, they piled up like a mountain; yet he never spoke of hoarding, nor did he ever scheme for a livelihood. Now these are not recorded. Whenever he established a ritual site (bodhimaṇḍa) in the inner precincts, over many passing years, he transmitted the seals of the Dharma, performed empowerment homa, eliminated calamities and anomalies, and increased auspiciousness. Of these esoteric matters, the Master never readily spoke. Now they are not set down in this account of conduct. The various events of this kind were truly numerous; they are preserved in separate biographies. His transmission disciples' dedication of loyalty to the state was submitted in his testamentary letters; the expression of his profound sentiments was inscribed in his farewell memorials. From the Kaiyuan era down to the present Dali era, the Master translated sūtras and teachings totalling more than one hundred and twenty fascicles. Those wherein the Buddhas revealed expedient means to vanquish māras and protect the state, which ministers and subjects are not suited to hear, are sealed away in the celestial palace. The gates of practice of Samantabhadra, bodhi, and prajñā—these are for yoga practitioners, and must be proclaimed in the human realm. The Master held the rank of Consecration Master for more than forty years. Disciples who entered the maṇḍala and students who received the Dharma—chancellors of three reigns, eminent virtues (bhadantas) of the five capitals, monastics and lay literati, regional governors and mountain lords, peasants and merchants of all classes—numbered tens and hundreds of millions. Those who mounted his ordination platform numbered two thousand disciples; for the Sarvāstivāda, he stood alone as ancestral master. Alas, the Master's way of instructing men was manifold! Reconciling the two truths, he adapted to their various causes. First observing their natures to show them the path, he did not mistakenly bestow teachings or expend effort in vain. Using the Dharma-jewels of the great ocean, he pleased their hearts according to what they could receive; using the wondrous medicine of the Snow Mountains, he ordered them to take it in response to their illness. Thus there are the Susiddhikara, the Vairocana, the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha (Vajraśekhara), and the various dhāraṇī sections, with the precepts, concentration, and wisdom, sudden and gradual, half and full,