高僧傳 1.9

1.9

安清，字世高，安息國王正后之太子也。幼以孝行見稱，加又志業聰敏，剋意好學，外國典籍，及七曜五行醫方異術，乃至鳥獸之聲，無不綜達。嘗行見群燕，忽謂伴曰：「燕云應有送食者。」頃之，果有致焉。眾咸奇之，故俊異之聲，早被西域。高雖在居家，而奉戒精峻，王薨便嗣大位，乃深惟苦空，厭離形器，行服既畢，遂讓國與叔出家修道。博曉經藏，尤精阿毘曇學，諷持禪經，略盡其妙。既而遊方弘化，遍歷諸國，以漢桓之初，始到中夏。才悟機敏一聞能達，至止未久，即通習華言。於是宣譯眾經，改胡為漢，出《安般守意》、《陰持入》、大小《十二門》及《百六十品》。初，外國三藏眾護撰述經要為二十七章，高乃剖析護所集七章譯為漢文，即《道地經》是也。其先後所出經、論，凡三十九部。義理明析，文字允正，辯而不華，質而不野，凡在讀者，皆亹亹而不勌焉。高窮理盡性，自識緣業，多有神迹，世莫能量。初，高自稱先身已經出家，有一同學多瞋，分衛值施主不稱，每輒懟恨。高屢加訶諫，終不悛改。如此二十餘年，乃與同學辭訣云：「我當往廣州，畢宿世之對，卿明經精懃，不在吾後，而性多瞋怒，命過當受惡形，我若得道，必當相度。」既而遂適廣州。值寇賊大亂，行路逢一少年，唾手拔刃，曰：「真得汝矣。」高笑曰：「我宿命負卿，故遠來相償。卿之忿怒，故是前世時意也。」遂申頸受刃，容無懼色，賊遂殺之。觀者填陌，莫不駭其奇異。既而神識還為安息王太子，即今時世高身是也。

An Qing, courtesy name Shigao, was the crown prince of the principal queen of the king of the Arsacid Empire. In his youth, he was praised for his filial conduct, and in addition was intellectually astute and resolutely fond of learning; he comprehensively mastered foreign classical texts, the seven luminaries, the five phases, medical recipes, unusual arts, and even the sounds of birds and beasts. Once, while walking, he saw a flock of swallows and suddenly said to his companions: 'The swallows say that someone ought to be bringing food.' In a short while, someone indeed brought [food]. Everyone marvelled at it, and therefore his reputation for extraordinary talent spread early throughout the Western Regions. Although Shigao was living as a householder, he observed the precepts strictly and meticulously. When the king passed away, he succeeded to the royal throne, but contemplating deeply on suffering and emptiness, he grew weary of and detached from material existence. Once the mourning observances were completed, he yielded the kingdom to his uncle and left home to practice the Path. He was broadly versed in the sūtrapiṭaka and especially refined in Abhidharma studies; chanting and upholding dhyāna sūtras, he grasped nearly all of their subtleties. Thereafter, he traveled abroad to propagate and convert, journeying through various countries, and at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han, he first arrived in China. With sharp aptitude and quick wit, he could comprehend upon hearing once, and not long after his arrival, he was fully fluent in the Chinese language. Thereupon, he proclaimed and translated various sūtras, changing the foreign into Chinese, producing the Ānāpānasmṛti, the Skandhadhātvāyatana-sūtra, the Greater and Lesser Twelve Gates, and the One Hundred and Sixty Sections. Earlier, the foreign Tripiṭaka master Saṃgharakṣa had compiled the essentials of the sūtras into twenty-seven chapters; Shigao analyzed the seven chapters compiled by [Saṃgha]rakṣa and translated them into the Han language, which is the Yogācārabhūmi-sūtra. In all, the sūtras and treatises he produced earlier and later numbered thirty-nine texts. Their meaning was clear and precise, the phrasing fitting and correct, eloquent without being florid, plain without being crude; all who read them did so tirelessly without fatigue. Shigao investigated principles and fully realized nature, knowing his own karmic affinities; he possessed many miraculous signs that the world could not fathom. In the beginning, Shigao stated of himself that in a previous life he had already left home: he had a fellow student who was prone to anger, and whenever he encountered a donor who was not compliant during piṇḍapāta, he would always resent him. Shigao repeatedly admonished him, but he never reformed. After more than twenty years of this, he bid farewell to his fellow student, saying: 'I must go to Guangzhou to settle an account from a past life. You are clear in the sūtras and diligent, not behind me; however, by nature you are given to anger, and when your life ends you will receive an evil rebirth. If I attain the Path, I will surely deliver you.' Afterwards, he proceeded to Guangzhou. Encountering the great turmoil of bandits, as he walked along the road he met a youth who spat on his hands, drew a blade, and said: 'I have truly caught you!' Shigao smiled and said: 'In a previous life I owed you, so I have come from afar to repay you. Your fury is simply the intention from our former life.' Thereupon, he stretched out his neck to receive the blade, his countenance showing no fear. The bandit then killed him. Those who watched filled the streets, and all were astonished at this extraordinary event. Subsequently, his vijñāna returned to become the crown prince of the Arsacid king, which is the present Shigao in this life.