高僧傳 5.7

5.7

既達襄陽，復宣佛法。初經出已久，而舊譯時謬，致使深藏，隱沒未通，每至講說，唯敘大意轉讀而已。安窮覽經典，鉤深致遠，其所注《般若道行》、《密迹》、《安般》諸經，並尋文比句，為起盡之義，乃析疑甄解，凡二十二卷。序致淵富，妙盡深旨，條貫既敘，文理會通，經義克明，自安始也。自漢魏迄晉，經來稍多，而傳經之人，名字弗說，後人追尋，莫測年代。安乃總集名目，表其時、人，詮品新舊，撰為《經錄》。眾經有據，實由其功。四方學士，競往師之。時征西將軍桓朗子鎮江陵，要安暫往，朱序西鎮，復請還襄陽，深相結納，序每歎曰：「安法師道學之津梁，澄治之鑪肆矣。」安以白馬寺狹，乃更立寺名，曰「檀溪」。即清河張殷宅也。大富長者，並加贊助，建塔五層，起房四百。涼州刺史楊弘忠送銅萬斤，擬為承露盤。安曰：「露盤已訖汰公營造，欲迴此銅鑄，像事可然乎？」忠欣而敬諾。於是眾共抽捨，助成佛像，光相丈六，神好明著，每夕放光，徹照堂殿像。後又自行至萬山，舉邑皆往瞻禮，遷以還寺。安既大願果成，謂言：「夕死可矣。」

Once he reached Xiangyang, he again proclaimed the Buddhadharma. Initially, scriptures had been produced long before, but earlier translations were occasionally erroneous, causing the deep store of meaning to remain concealed and not fully understood; whenever lectures were given, they merely narrated the general gist and read the text aloud. An thoroughly examined the canonical texts, drawing out the deep and reaching the far; as for the various scriptures he commented upon, including the Prajñā Daoxing, the Miji, and the Anban, he pursued the text and compared sentences to determine where meanings began and ended, analyzing doubts and distinguishing interpretations in a total of twenty-two fascicles. His prefaces were profound and rich, marvelously exhausting the deep purports; once the orderly threads were set out, the textual principles converged and were fully understood. That the meanings of the scriptures were clearly elucidated truly began with An. From the Han and Wei dynasties down to the Jin, scriptures arrived in increasing numbers, but the names of those who transmitted them were often unrecorded, so later people tracing them could not determine their dates. An therefore gathered all the titles, indicated their times and translators, and evaluated the old and the new, compiling them into the Scripture Catalogue (Jinglu). That the various scriptures have reliable provenance is truly due to his merit. Scholars from the four quarters competed to go and take him as their teacher. At that time Huan Langzi, General Who Subdues the West, was garrisoned at Jiangling and invited An for a short visit; Zhu Xu, commanding the western garrison, again requested his return to Xiangyang and forged deep ties with him. Xu often sighed, saying: “Master An is the ferry and bridge of the study of the Way, the furnace and workshop of purification.” Because Baima Temple was cramped, An established another temple named Tanxi, which was the residence of Zhang Yin of Qinghe. Wealthy elders all offered support, erecting a five-storey stūpa and four hundred rooms. Yang Hongzhong, Inspector of Liangzhou, sent ten thousand catties of copper intended for a dew-receiving basin. An said: “The dew-receiving basin has already been completed through Master Tai's construction; would it be permissible to redirect this copper to cast a Buddha image?” Hongzhong joyfully and respectfully agreed. Thereupon the assembly pooled their donations to help complete the Buddha image; its luminous marks were sixteen feet tall, and its spiritual splendour was bright and distinct; every night it emitted light that illuminated the halls and chambers. Later, the image moved on its own to Mount Wan; the entire town went to gaze upon and worship it, and then brought it back to the temple. Having fulfilled his great vow, An said: “If I die this evening, it would be well.”