高僧傳 2.49

2.49

At that time, Tuoba Tao, the ruler of the Wei caitiffs, heard that Dharmakṣema possessed spiritual arts and dispatched an envoy to invite him, furthermore telling Mengxun: "If you do not send Dharmakṣema, troops will be deployed immediately." Having served Dharmakṣema for a long time, Mengxun could not bear to allow him to leave. Later, [Wei] again dispatched Li Shun, the Duke of Gaoping and illegitimate Minister of Ceremonies, to invest Mengxun with the credentials of Commissioner Bearing Credentials, Cavalier Regular Attendant, Commander-in-Chief of Military Affairs in Liangzhou and the Western Regions, Grand Tutor, General of Chariots and Cavalry, Shepherd of Liangzhou, and King of Liang, conferring upon him the nine distinctions. He also commanded Mengxun, saying: "We hear that you have Dharma Master Dharmakṣema there, who is broadly learned and knowledgeable, of the caliber of Kumārajīva, and whose secret spells have miraculous efficacy, the equal of Master Fotudeng. We desire to discuss the Way; you may dispatch him swiftly by relay courier." Mengxun banqueted with Li Shun atop the Xinle Gate. Mengxun said to Shun: "I, Mengxun, an old vassal of the western frontier, have served the court without daring to falter or err. Yet the Son of Heaven heeds flattering words and unnecessarily pressures me. Formerly I submitted a memorial requesting to retain Dharmakṣema, but now you come demanding him. He is my master; I should die together with him, and truly do not begrudge my remaining years. A man dies but once—how could he care how soon!" Shun said: "Your Majesty's sincerity was evident early on when you sent your beloved son to enter the court's service. The court admires Your Majesty's loyal achievements, and therefore openly conferred special honors upon you. Yet Your Majesty would, on account of this single barbarian man of the Way, diminish an achievement high as mountains and peaks, and unable to bear the anger of a single morning, impair your long-standing glory. Is this the court's generous treatment of you? I privately do not endorse this for Your Great King. That His Majesty is exceedingly open-minded is known to Hongwen." Hongwen was the envoy whom Mengxun had sent on a diplomatic mission to the Wei. Mengxun said: "The Minister of Ceremonies' speech is as fine as Su Qin's; I fear only that your true sentiments do not match your words." Mengxun, begrudging Dharmakṣema and unwilling to send him, was also pressed by the might of the Wei. In the third month of the third year of Mengxun's Yihe era, Dharmakṣema firmly requested to journey west to search further for the "Latter Part" of the Nirvāṇa-sūtra. Resenting his desire to leave, Mengxun secretly plotted to harm Dharmakṣema, pretending to provide provisions for his departure and bestowing abundant treasures upon him. On the day of departure, Dharmakṣema wept and told the assembly: "My karmic retribution is about to arrive; even all the sages cannot save me." Because of his original vow, in principle he could not stay. When he departed, Mengxun indeed sent assassins to murder him on the road, at the age of forty-nine, which was the tenth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song. Monastics and laypeople, near and far, all mourned him together. Thereafter, Mengxun's attendants often saw spirits striking Mengxun with swords in broad daylight; by the fourth month, Mengxun took to his bed with illness and died.