續高僧傳 1.11

1.11

僧伽婆羅。梁言僧養。亦云僧鎧。扶南國人也。幼而頴悟。早附法津。學年出家。偏業阿毘曇論。聲榮之盛有譽海南。具足已後廣習律藏。勇意觀方樂崇開化。聞齊國弘法。隨舶至都。住正觀寺。為天竺沙門求那跋陀之弟子也。復從跋陀研精方等。未盈炎燠博涉多通。乃解數國書語。值齊曆亡墜道教淩夷。婆羅靜潔身心外絕交。故擁室栖閑養素資業。大梁御㝢搜訪術能。以天監五年。被勅徵召於楊都壽光殿華林園正觀寺占雲館扶南館等五處傳譯訖十七年。都合一十一部。四十八卷。即大育王經。解脫道論等是也。初翻經日。於壽光殿武帝躬臨法座筆受其文。然後乃付譯人盡其經本。勅沙門寶唱慧超僧智法雲及袁曇允等。相對疏出。華質有序不墜譯宗。天子禮接甚厚。引為家僧。所司資給道俗改觀。婆羅不畜私財。以為嚫施成立住寺。太尉臨川王宏。接遇隆重。普通五年因疾卒于正觀。春秋六十有五。梁初又有扶南沙門曼陀羅者。梁言弘弱。大齎梵本遠來貢獻。勅與婆羅共譯寶雲法界體性文殊般若經三部合一十一卷。雖事傳譯未善梁言。故所出經文多隱質。時有居士木道賢。以天監十五年獻優婁頻經一卷。文既尠具。不辯來由。又有太學博士江泌女僧法者。小年出家有時靜坐。閉目誦出淨土妙莊嚴等經。始從八歲終於十六。總出三十五卷。天監年中在華光殿。親對武帝誦出異經。楊都道俗咸稱神授。若驗佛經斯唯宿習未可餘談竊尋外典。生知者聖。學知者次。此則局談今身昧於過往耳。若不然者。何以辨內外賢聖淺深之通塞哉。如前傳曇諦之憶書鎮。近俗崔子之念金環。代有斯蹤。定非外託。逮太清中。湘東王記室虞孝敬。學周內外。撰內典傳要三十卷。該羅經論。條貫釋門。諸有要事備皆收錄。頗同皇覽類苑之流。渚宮陷沒便襲染衣。更名道命。流離關輔亦有著述。云云。

Saṅghabhara—in the language of Liang, 'Sengyang', also called 'Sengkai'—was a native of the country of Funan. Discerning and intelligent from childhood, he early attached himself to the ferry of the Dharma. At school age, he underwent pravrajyā, specializing in the Abhidharma treatises. The height of his fame and honor was celebrated south of the seas. After receiving full ordination, he broadly studied the Vinayapiṭaka. Possessing a courageous mind to observe other regions, he took delight in promoting and developing conversion. Hearing that the Qi state was propagating the Dharma, he came to the capital aboard a merchant ship and resided at Zhengguan Monastery, becoming a disciple of the Indian śramaṇa Guṇabhadra. He also delved deeply into the vaipulya scriptures under Bhadra. Before a year had passed, he had read widely and mastered much, understanding the scripts and languages of several kingdoms. When the Qi dynasty fell into decline and the teachings of the Way deteriorated, Saṅghabhara kept his body and mind pure and clean, severing external ties; enclosing himself in his room and dwelling in leisure, he cultivated simplicity and fostered his enterprise. When the Great Liang governed the realm, it sought out those of technique and talent. In the fifth year of Tianjian, he was summoned by imperial decree to translate scriptures in five locations in the capital: Shouguang Hall, Hualin Garden, Zhengguan Monastery, Zhanyun Pavilion, and Funan Pavilion, concluding in the seventeenth year. In total, there were eleven texts in forty-eight fascicles, which were the Da Yuwang jing, the Vimuttimagga, and others. On the first day of translating scriptures, in Shouguang Hall, Emperor Wu personally approached the Dharma seat and took down the text by brush, after which he entrusted it to the translators to exhaust its scriptural original. He decreed that Śramaṇas Baochang, Huichao, Sengzhi, Fayun, and Yuan Tanyun, among others, should work together to draft the texts. The ornate and plain styles were properly ordered, not falling away from the traditions of translation. The Son of Heaven treated him with great courtesy, receiving him as an imperial family monk. The provisions supplied by the officials caused both clergy and laity to look upon him with renewed respect. Saṅghabhara did not amass personal wealth; he used all donations and offerings to build and maintain the monastery where he resided. Grand Defender Hong, King of Linchuan, treated him with great reverence. In the fifth year of Putong, due to illness, he died at Zhengguan Monastery at the age of sixty-five. In the early Liang, there was also a śramaṇa of Funan named Mandra—in the language of Liang, 'Hongruo'—who brought a large collection of Indic manuscripts from afar to offer as tribute. He was decreed to translate together with Saṅghabhara the Baoyun jing, the Fajie tixing jing, and the Mañjuśrīprajñā Sūtra, in three works totaling eleven fascicles. Although engaged in translation, he was not proficient in the language of Liang; hence, the scriptural texts he produced were often obscure and unpolished. At that time, there was the upāsaka Mu Daoxian, who in the fifteenth year of Tianjian presented the Youloupin jing in one fascicle; as the text was incomplete, its origins could not be determined. Furthermore, the female Sengfa, daughter of the National Academy Erudite Jiang Mi, had taken pravrajyā at a young age and at times would sit quietly, closing her eyes, and recite from memory such scriptures as the Pure Land Wonderful Adornment Sūtra. Beginning from age eight and concluding at sixteen, she produced a total of thirty-five fascicles. During the Tianjian era, in Huaguang Hall, she personally recited extraordinary scriptures in the presence of Emperor Wu. The clergy and laity of the capital all called it divine inspiration. If verified against Buddhist scriptures, this was merely habitual practice from past lives, and cannot be explained otherwise. When I secretly examine external scriptures, those born with knowledge are sages, while those who attain knowledge through learning are secondary; this is merely talking within the confines of the present life, benighted regarding the past. If this were not so, how could one distinguish the profound and shallow, unobstructed and obstructed, among internal and external worthies and sages? Just as in the former biography, Tandi remembered his paperweight, and in recent worldly accounts, Cui's son recalled his gold bracelet; such traces have existed in every generation and are certainly not external fabrications. Down to the Taiqing era, Yu Xiaojing, the editorial secretary to the King of Xiangdong, was learned in both internal and external texts; he composed the Essentials of Internal Canon Biographies in thirty fascicles, which comprehensively encompassed scriptures and treatises and brought order to the Buddhist tradition. All essential matters were completely recorded, much in the style of the Huanglan and the Leiyuan. When Zhugong fell, he donned the dyed robes and changed his name to Daoming. Wandering in the Guanzhong region, he also left writings, and so forth.