高僧傳 13.47

13.47

釋僧辯，姓吳，建康人。出家止安樂寺。少好讀經，受業於遷、暢二師。初雖祖述其風，晚更措意斟酌。哀婉折衷，獨步齊初。嘗在新亭劉紹宅齋，辯初夜讀經，始得一契。忽有群鶴下集階前，及辯度卷，一時飛去。由是聲振天下，遠近知名。後來學者，莫不宗事。永明七年二月十九日，司徒竟陵文宣王夢於佛前詠《維摩》一契。同聲發而覺，即起至佛堂中，還如夢中法，更詠《古維摩》一契，便覺韻聲流好，著工恒日。明旦，即集京師善聲沙門龍光普智、新安道興、多寶慧忍、天保超勝，及僧辯等。集第作聲。辯傳《古維摩》一契、瑞應七言偈一契，最是命家之作。後人時有傳者，並訛漏失其大體。辯以齊永明十一年卒。

Śramaṇa Sengbian, whose secular surname was Wu, was a native of Jiankang. Having left home, he resided at Anle Temple. In his youth he was fond of reciting sūtras and studied under the two masters Tanqian and Fachang. Though he initially transmitted their style, in his later years he reflected and refined it further. Mournfully resonant and perfectly balanced, he was without rival at the beginning of the Qi. He once held a fast at the residence of Liu Shao in Xinting: when Sengbian chanted the scriptures during the early night, having only completed a single section (qi), a flock of cranes suddenly descended and gathered before the steps; as soon as Sengbian rolled up the scroll, they all flew away at once. Because of this, his fame shook the empire and was known far and wide. Later students all revered and served him. On the nineteenth day of the second month of the seventh year of Yongming [489 CE], Prince Wenxuan of Jingling, the Minister of Education, dreamed of chanting a section of the Vimalakīrti before the Buddha. Awakening with the same sound on his lips, he immediately rose, went into the Buddha hall, and chanted a section of the ancient Vimalakīrti just as in the dream; he found its resonance flowing and beautiful, and practiced it continuously throughout the day. The next morning, he gathered the monks of the capital skilled in chanting—Puzhi of Longguang, Daoxing of Xin'an, Huiren of Duobao, Chaosheng of Tianbao, and Sengbian. They assembled at his mansion to practice the sounds. Sengbian transmitted one section of the ancient Vimalakīrti and one section of the heptasyllabic verses of the Ruiying, which were truly the masterpieces of a consummate artist. When later people occasionally transmitted them, they became corrupted or omitted the essentials. Sengbian died in the eleventh year of Yongming of the Qi [493 CE].