高僧傳 3.37

3.37

Always regarding the royal domain east of the Yangtze River as a place where he aspired to transmit the Dharma, in the first year of the Yuanjia reign-era of the Song he traveled by stages to Shu. Soon he came out through the gorges and stayed in Jingzhou, building a dhyāna pavilion at Changsha Temple; with fervent and sincere earnestness, he prayed for a relic. After ten-odd days, one was miraculously obtained; hitting against the vessel, it made a sound and emitted light filling the room. Disciples, monastics, and laity alike all redoubled their vigor, their enthusiasm increasing a hundredfold. Shortly after, he traveled eastward downstream and arrived at the capital. At first he stayed at Zhongxing Temple, and later rested at Qihuan. Mitra’s reputation for the Way had long been celebrated, and his converting influence had reached neighboring states; no sooner had he arrived in the capital than the entire city came out to pay respects and make inquiries. From Empress Yuan of Emperor Wen of the Song down to the Crown Prince and princesses, all laid out vegetarian feasts in the cassia palaces and requested the precepts in the pepper chambers; emissaries inquiring after his health looked toward one another within ten-day spans. He translated the Dhyāna-sūtra, the Essentials of Dhyāna, the Contemplation of Samantabhadra, the Contemplation of Ākāśagarbha, and others at Qihuan Temple. He constantly instructed through the path of dhyāna; people traveled from a thousand li to consult and receive teachings, and the four groups from near and far all styled him "Great Dhyāna Master." Meng Yi of Pingchang, the grand administrator of Kuaiji, deeply had faith in the correct Dharma, took the Three Jewels as his own responsibility, was long fond of the taste of dhyāna, and his reverence was profound. When he took office west of the Zhe River, he invited [Mitra] to travel with him; thereupon they established a stupa and temple on the mountain of Mao County. The old customs of the eastern region mostly tended toward shamans and diviners; when the marvelous converting influence moved them, house after house turned to the correct, and from west to east, none failed to submit. In the tenth year of the Yuanjia reign-era he returned to the capital, staying at the Lower Dinglin Temple on Mount Zhong. Mitra was by nature calm and tranquil, and he especially loved mountains and waters, considering Mount Zhong to be a guardian peak equal in beauty to Mount Song and Mount Hua; he constantly lamented that the foundation of the Lower Temple leaned low against the ravine. Thereupon he climbed high to survey the land, estimating the mountain's topography, and in the twelfth year of the Yuanjia reign-era cut stones and felled trees to construct the Upper Temple. Scholars and commoners admired his demeanor and heaped offerings upon him; dhyāna chambers and temple halls rose up in dense stories. Thereupon the assembly of those who rested their minds gathered from ten thousand li away; their chanting was solemn and harmonious, and those who beheld their demeanor were transformed. Dhyāna Master Da of Dinglin was his gifted disciple, who propagated his style and teachings, his renown shaking monastics and laity; thus the pure conversion did not diminish over time, and the superior enterprise was exalted without decline—this indeed was the lasting achievement of Mitra. From the Western Regions down to the southern land, wherever he traveled, he invariably established assemblies of generosity and expounded the teachings of the Dharma.