高僧傳 3.45: 求那跋陀羅

3.45

求那跋陀羅，此云功德賢，中天竺人，以大乘學，故世號摩訶衍。本婆羅門種，幼學五明諸論，天文書算，醫方呪術，靡不該博。後遇見《阿毘曇雜心》，尋讀驚悟，乃深崇佛法焉。其家世外道，禁絕沙門，乃捨家潛遁，遠求師友，即投簪落彩，專精志學。及受具足，博通三藏，為人慈和恭恪，事師盡禮。頃之，辭小乘師，進學大乘。大乘師試令探取經匣，即得《大品》、《華嚴》，師嘉而歎曰：「汝於大乘有重緣矣。」於是讀誦講宣，莫能詶抗，進受菩薩戒法。乃奉書父母，勸歸正法，曰：「若專守外道，則雖還無益，若歸信三寶，則長相見。」其父感其言至，遂棄邪從正。

Guṇabhadra, translated as "Virtuous and Auspicious," was a native of Madhyadeśa. Because he studied the Mahāyāna, the world called him Mahāyāna. He was originally of brahmin lineage, and in his youth he studied the treatises of the five sciences, astronomy, arithmetic, medicine, and incantations, being comprehensively versed in them all. Later, he happened to read the Za xin [lun] (Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya), and as he read it, he had a startling awakening and came to deeply revere the Buddhadharma. For generations his family had followed non-Buddhist traditions and strictly banned śramaṇas; he therefore abandoned his family and fled in secret to seek teachers and friends from afar, casting off his hairpins and shaving his head to devote his mind earnestly to learning. Upon receiving the full precepts, he attained wide mastery of the Tripiṭaka. By nature gentle, reverent, and conscientious, he served his masters with complete propriety. Before long, he took leave of his Hīnayāna master to advance his studies in the Mahāyāna. His Mahāyāna master tested him by having him draw a sūtra box, and he immediately drew the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā and the Avataṃsaka-sūtra. Delighted, the master praised him, saying, "You have a profound affinity with the Mahāyāna!" Thereupon he chanted and expounded them, and none could rival him; he then advanced to receive the bodhisattva precepts. He then presented a letter to his parents urging them to take refuge in the true Dharma, saying, "If you adhere strictly to non-Buddhist paths, my return will be of no benefit; but if you take refuge and have faith in the Three Jewels, we shall meet for eternity." His father was moved by the sincerity of his words and abandoned the heterodox paths to follow the orthodox.