高僧傳 3.27

3.27

後文帝重勅觀等復更敦請，乃汎舟下都，以元嘉八年正月達于建鄴。文帝引見，勞問慇懃，因又言曰：「弟子常欲持齋不殺，迫以身殉物，不獲從志。法師既不遠萬里，來化此國，將何以教之？」跋摩曰：「夫道在心，不在事，法由己，非由人。且帝王與匹夫所修各異，匹夫身賤名劣，言令不威，若不剋己苦躬，將何為用？帝王以四海為家，萬民為子，出一嘉言，則士女咸悅，布一善政，則人神以和。刑不夭命，役無勞力，則使風雨適時，寒暖應節，百穀滋繁，桑麻欝茂。如此持齋齋亦大矣，如此不殺德亦眾矣。寧在闕半日之餐，全一禽之命，然後方為弘濟耶。」帝乃撫机歎曰：「夫俗人迷於遠理，沙門滯於近教，迷遠理者，謂至道虛說；滯近教者，則拘戀篇章。至如法師所言，真謂開悟明達，可與言天人之際矣。」乃勅住祇洹寺，供給隆厚，公王英彥，莫不宗奉。俄而於寺開講《法華》及《十地》，法席之日，軒蓋盈衢，觀矚往還，肩隨踵接。跋摩神府自然，妙辯天絕，或時假譯人，而往復懸悟。

Later, Emperor Wen again ordered Huiguan and the others to urge and invite him further, whereupon he sailed by boat down to the capital, arriving in Jianye in the first month of the eighth year of Yuanjia (431 CE). Emperor Wen granted him an audience, greeted and questioned him attentively, and then said: 'This disciple has always wished to maintain the fast and refrain from killing, but constrained by sacrificing myself for worldly affairs, I have not been able to fulfill my intention. Since the Dharma Master did not consider ten thousand li too far and has come to transform this country, with what will you instruct me?' Guṇavarman said: 'The Way lies in the mind, not in outer matters; the Dharma comes from oneself, not from others. Moreover, the cultivation of an emperor and king differs from that of a common man. A common man's person is humble and his reputation minor, and his words and commands carry no authority; if he does not overcome himself and exert his body, what can he accomplish? An emperor takes the four seas as his home and the myriad people as his children; when he utters a single good word, men and women all rejoice, and when he issues a single benevolent policy, humans and spirits are harmonized. If punishments do not cut lives short and corvée labor does not exhaust physical strength, then the wind and rain will arrive in due season, cold and warmth will respond to the proper times, the hundred grains will flourish, and mulberry and hemp will grow luxuriant. Maintaining the fast in this way makes the fast great indeed! Refraining from killing in this way makes the virtue abundant indeed! Why must it depend on missing half a day's meal and preserving the life of a single bird before it can be considered vast deliverance?' The Emperor then patted the table and sighed, saying: 'Worldly people are confused by distant principles, while śramaṇas are stuck in near teachings. Those confused by distant principles consider the ultimate Way to be empty talk; those stuck in near teachings cling stubbornly to textual chapters. As for what the Dharma Master has said, it may truly be called enlightening and clear-sighted, worthy of discussing the boundary between heaven and humanity!' He then ordered that he reside at Jetavana Monastery, where provisions were lavishly supplied, and dukes, kings, and outstanding talents all honored and venerated him. Soon after, in the monastery, he began expounding the Lotus [Sūtra] and the Daśabhūmika. On the days of the Dharma assembly, canopied carriages filled the streets, and onlookers coming and going were shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe. Guṇavarman's spiritual capacity was natural, and his subtle eloquence was extraordinarily transcendent; sometimes relying on an interpreter, he nonetheless had profound and spontaneous mutual comprehension.