高僧傳 5.17

5.17

Dao'an was deeply devoted to the scriptures and dedicated to propagating the Dharma. The foreign śramaṇas he invited—Saṃghadeva, Dharmanandin, and Saṃghabhadra, among others—translated various scriptures amounting to more than one million words. He often established and settled the sounds and characters together with the śramaṇa Fahe, carefully examining the meanings of the texts; thus the newly translated scriptures gained correctness. Sun Chuo, in his *Treatise on Śramaṇas of Renowned Virtue*, wrote of him: "Shi Dao'an was widely learned and highly talented; he thoroughly understood the scriptures and penetrated their essential principles." Sun Chuo also composed a verse of praise for him: / "Things may be vast and abundant, / but individuals to govern them are indeed few. / Profound and fathomless was Shi Dao'an, / uniquely endowed with manifold capacities. / His fame soared over Qian and Long, / his renown raced across the Huai and the sea. / Though his physical form has transformed like withered grass, / it remains as though ever present."