高僧傳 2.31

2.31

Buddhayaśas, translated as Jueming (“Enlightened Fame”), was a man of Jibin. He belonged to a Brahmin clan that had served non-Buddhist traditions for generations. A śramaṇa once begged at his house; his father was angered and had someone beat the monk. Subsequently, the father's hands and feet became crippled and lame so that he could not walk. He then inquired of a diviner, who replied: “Because you offended a worthy man, ghosts and spirits have brought this about.” Thereupon he invited this śramaṇa and repented with utmost sincerity. In a few days he was cured. He then had Yaśas leave home (pravrajyā) to become the monk's disciple, at the age of thirteen. He often accompanied his master on distant journeys. Once in the wilderness they encountered a tiger; the master wished to flee, but Yaśas said: “This tiger is already sated; it will surely not harm anyone.” Shortly after, the tiger left, and as they proceeded forward they indeed found the remains of its prey. His master privately marvelled at him. By the age of fifteen, he memorised twenty to thirty thousand words of sūtras each day. At the temple where he resided, he frequently had to go outside for piṇḍapāta, which neglected his chanting and study. An arhat, admiring his intelligence, constantly begged food to provide for him. By the age of nineteen, he had memorised several million words of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras. However, his disposition was aloof and proud; he took considerable pride in his own understanding and considered few fit to be his teacher, so he was not held in high regard by the monks. Yet his comportment was handsome and he was skilled in pleasant conversation, so that whoever saw him forgot their deep resentment toward him. When he reached the age to receive full precepts, no one would preside at the altar for him; thus, as he approached thirty, he was still a śrāmaṇera. He then studied the treatises on the five sciences and worldly arts from his maternal uncle, practising many of them. Only at the age of twenty-seven did he receive full ordination. He always took reading and chanting as his task, never letting manuscripts leave his hand. Whenever he sat upright contemplating the meanings, he would still say he did not notice the idle passage of time; such was his dedicated focus.