高僧傳 1.56

1.56

至隆安元年，來遊京師，晉朝王公及風流名士，莫不造席致敬。時衛軍東亭侯瑯瑘王珣，淵懿有深信，荷持正法，建立精舍，廣招學眾，提婆既至，珣即延請，仍於其舍講《阿毘曇》，名僧畢集。提婆宗致既精，詞旨明析，振發義理，眾咸悅悟。時王彌亦在座聽，後於別屋自講，珣問法綱道人：「阿彌所得云何？」答曰：「大略全是，小未精覈耳。」其敷析之明，易啟人心如此。其冬，珣集京都義學沙門釋慧持等四十餘人，更請提婆重譯《中阿含》等，罽賓沙門僧伽羅叉執梵本，提婆翻為晉言，至來夏方訖。其在江洛左右所出眾經百餘萬言。歷遊華戎，備悉風俗，從容機警，善於談笑，其道化聲譽，莫不聞焉。後不知所終。

In the first year of the Long'an era, Saṃghadeva traveled to the capital. The princes, nobles, and stylish celebrities of the Jin dynasty all visited his seat to pay their respects. At that time, General of the Guard and Marquis of Dongting, Wang Xun of Langye, possessed deep and magnificent faith; upholding the true Dharma, he established a vihāra and widely invited a gathering of scholars. Once Saṃghadeva arrived, Wang Xun immediately invited him, and Saṃghadeva expounded the *Abhidharma* at his residence, with famous monks gathering completely. As Saṃghadeva's doctrines were refined and his phrasing clear and analytical, giving vitality to the doctrinal principles, the entire assembly was pleased and enlightened. At that time Wang Mi was also listening in the audience, and later gave his own lecture in a separate chamber. Wang Xun asked the Director of the Dharma, the man of the Way: “How much did A-Mi grasp?” He replied: “In broad outline, he got it entirely; it is just slightly lacking in precision.” Saṃghadeva's clarity in exposition was so capable of opening people's minds. That winter, Wang Xun gathered over forty śramaṇas of doctrinal learning from the capital, including Shi Huichi, to request that Saṃghadeva retranslate the *Madhyama-āgama* and other texts. The Kashmiri śramaṇa Saṃgharakṣa held the Sanskrit text, and Saṃghadeva translated it into Chinese, completing it only by the following summer. The various scriptures he produced around the Yangtze and Luoyang totaled more than a million words. Having traveled among both Chinese and barbarians, he was thoroughly familiar with their customs; he was composed, quick-witted, and skilled in witty conversation, and his renown for preaching the Way was heard everywhere. Later, it is not known where he ended his life.