高僧傳 7.54

7.54

後宋高祖西伐長安，擒獲偽主，蕩清關內，既素籍導名，迺要與相見，謂導曰：「相望久矣，何其流滯殊俗？」答云：「明公盪一九有，鳴鑾河、洛，此時相見，不亦善乎？」高祖旋斾東歸，留子桂陽公義真鎮關中，臨別謂導曰：「兒年小留鎮，願法師時能顧懷。」義真後為西虜勃勃赫連所逼，出自關南。中途擾敗，醜虜乘凶追騎將及。導率弟子數百人遏於中路，謂追騎曰：「劉公以此子見託，貧道今當以死送之，會不可得，不煩相追。」群𡨥駭其神氣，遂迴鋒而反。義真走竄于草，會其中兵段宏，卒以獲免，蓋由導之力也。高祖感之，因令子姪內外師焉。後立寺於壽春，即東山寺也。常講說經論，受業千有餘人。會虜俄滅佛法，沙門避難投之者數百，悉給衣食。其有死於虜者，皆設會行香，為之流涕哀慟。至孝武帝升位，遣使徵請，導翻然應詔，止于京師中興寺，鑾輿降蹕，躬出候迎。導以孝建之初，三綱更始，感事懷惜，悲不自勝。帝亦哽咽良久，即勅於瓦官寺開講《維摩》。帝親臨幸，公卿必集。導登高座曰：「昔王宮託生，雙樹現滅，自爾以來，歲逾千載，淳源永謝，澆風不追。給苑丘墟，鹿園蕪穢。九十五種以趣下為升高；三界群生，以火宅為淨國。豈知上聖流涕，大士栖惶者哉？」因潛然泫淚，四眾為之改容。又謂帝曰：「護法弘道，莫先帝王。陛下若能運四等心，矜危勸善，則此沙石瓦礫，便為自在天宮。」帝稱善久之。坐者咸悅。後辭還壽春，卒於石磵，春秋九十有六。

Later, when Emperor Gaozu of the Song campaigned westward against Chang'an, captured the illegitimate ruler, and pacified Guannei, he already knew of Daodao's reputation. He invited him to an interview and said to Daodao: "I have long looked forward to meeting you. Why have you lingered so long among different customs?" Daodao replied: "Your enlightened Excellency has swept clean the nine provinces, and your carriage bells chime by the Yellow River and the Luo. Is it not wonderful to meet at such an hour?" When Gaozu turned his banners to return eastward, he left behind his son, the Duke of Guiyang, Liu Yizhen, to garrison Guanzhong. At their parting, he said to Daodao: "My son is young to remain in command; I hope the Dharma Master might look after him from time to time." Later, Yizhen was pressed by the western barbarian Helian Bobo and fled south of the passes. Thrown into confusion and defeated on the road, the brutal barbarians pressed forward, and their pursuing cavalry were about to overtake him. Daodao led several hundred disciples to block the middle of the road, saying to the pursuing horsemen: "Lord Liu entrusted this child to me. I, a poor monk, shall escort him even at the cost of my life. You will never take him; do not trouble yourselves to give chase!" The band of raiders was daunted by his commanding presence and turned their blades back. Yizhen fled into the grass, where he met Duan Hong, his commander of the palace guards, and in the end escaped—truly through the power of Daodao. Gaozu was moved by this, and accordingly bade his sons and nephews, within and outside the court, take him as their master. Later, Daodao founded a temple in Shouchun, which was the Dongshan Temple. He continually expounded the sūtras and treatises, and more than a thousand people studied under him. When the northern barbarians briefly abolished the Buddhadharma, several hundred śramaṇas fled from disaster to take refuge with him; he provided food and clothing to them all. For any who had died at the hands of the barbarians, he held memorial services, offered incense, and wept in deep sorrow for them. When Emperor Xiaowu ascended the throne, he dispatched envoys to summon Daodao. Daodao promptly responded to the decree and stayed at Zhongxing Temple in the capital. The imperial chariot paused along its route as the emperor personally came forth to welcome him. Because the Xiaojian era was beginning and the imperial order was being renewed, Daodao, deeply affected by circumstances and moved by nostalgic regret, could not contain his grief. The emperor likewise sobbed for a long while, and immediately decreed that Daodao expound the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa at Waguan Temple. The emperor attended in person, and the ministers and dukes all gathered. Daodao mounted the high seat and said: "Long ago, the Buddha took birth in a royal palace and manifested his extinction between the twin trees. Since then, over a thousand years have passed; the pure spring has departed forever, and the degenerating customs can no longer be checked. Anāthapiṇḍada's park lies in ruins, and the Deer Park is overgrown with weeds. The ninety-five non-Buddhist schools take descent into the lower realms to be ascent to the heights; sentient beings of the triple realm mistake the burning house for a pure land. How could they know of the tears shed by the supreme Sage, or the anxious wandering of the great beings?" He then wept silently, and the fourfold assembly changed countenance before him. He also said to the emperor: "In protecting the Dharma and propagating the Way, none precedes the sovereign. If Your Majesty can exercise the mind of the four immeasurables, pity those in danger, and encourage the good, then this sand, gravel, and broken tile will instantly become the palace of Paranirmitavaśavartin." The emperor praised him at length, and all in attendance were delighted. Later, he took leave and returned to Shouchun, passing away at Shijian at the age of ninety-six.