[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060) › 11.23 # 續高僧傳 11.23 續高僧傳 11.23 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [11.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11.23) 釋普曠。俗姓樊氏。扶風𮟿人也。七歲出家。依止圓禪師而為沙彌。居山餌栢一十五載。誦讀經教日夕相連。及進大戒便行頭陀。乞食人間栖投林冢二十餘載。剛梗嚴毅卓犖不群。言議酬捷孤然天挺。後遊聚落採拾遺文因過講席聽其餘論。素未開解聞即憲章。便搆心曲陳論高座。發言新奇卒難解釋。皆歎其俊銳莫肯前驅。每與周武對揚三寶。析理開神。有聲朝典。佛法正隆未勞聽解。遂往樊川頭陀自靜。夜宿寒林。人有索其首者。曠引刀將刎。乞者止之。又從索耳便刵而惠之。建德之年將壞二教。關中五眾騷擾不安。曠聞之躬往帝庭廣陳至理。不納其言。退而私業。于斯時也寺塔湮廢投命莫從。遠造則力竭難通。近從則心輕易徙。遂因其俗位消息其中。武帝雖滅二教意存李術。便更置通道觀學士三百人。並選佛道兩宗奇才俊邁者充之。曠理義精通時共僉舉。任居學正剖斷時秀為諸生先。不久廢觀。聽士隨才賦任。曠力怯躬耕糇粒無委。寄祿登庸復任岐山從事。奉遵舊約不黷情染衣。故氈裝倨傲臨官剃髮留鬚。頭戴紗帽纓其咽頷。用為常軌。有事判約筆斷如流。務涉繁擁者。便云我本道人不閑俗網。周國上下咸委其儀度也。顧曠通博任其處世。隋氏將興菩薩僧立。相如朝服不同剃剪。員置百二十人。並括前法牙角不涅塵俗者。曠識悟聞達當其一焉。尋復廢之。大法昌顯並預出家同居興善。果敢雄敏眾所先之。隋文以通道觀鍾賜玄都觀。黃巾一族同共移來將達前所。曠率其法屬徑往爭之。立理既平便又刵耳。道士望風索然自散。乃懸于國寺聲震百里。隋高晏駕禪定欝興。乃召居之。大業末年又登綱任。大唐啟運別奉詔書。曩積芳猷日別相見。武德三年三月卒於慈門寺。春秋七十三。遺告捨身山路不須塋壟。弟子捃萃餘骨。起塔於終南龍池之峯。樹銘旌德。于今存焉。 > Śramaṇa Pukuang had the secular surname Fan and was a native of Mei in Fufeng. He went forth from home at seven years of age, relying on Dhyāna Master Yuan as a śrāmaṇera. Dwelling in the mountains and eating cedar cones for fifteen years, he recited sūtras and teachings day and night. Upon receiving full ordination, he engaged in dhūta practices, begging for food among humanity and sheltering in forests and charnel grounds for over twenty years. Resolute, strict, and peerless, his speech and debate were swift, standing alone with innate talents. Later, wandering through villages and gathering remaining texts, he passed by a lecture hall and listened to the doctrines being expounded. Though he had previously had no instruction, upon hearing them he took them as standard models. He then conceived them in his heart and advanced his arguments at the high seat; his words were novel and astonishing, hard to counter, and all sighed at his sharp brilliance, none daring to precede him. He frequently discussed the triratna with Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou, analyzing principles and opening the spirit, gaining renown in court protocols. When the Buddha-Dharma was flourishing, he did not labor over listening to expositions, but went to Fanchuan to dwell in quiet dhūta seclusion. Sleeping at night in a cold charnel grove, a man asked for his head; Kuang drew a knife and was about to cut his throat, but the beggar stopped him. The man then asked for his ear, and he cut off his ear and gave it to him. In the Jiande era, when the two teachings were about to be destroyed, the fivefold community in Guanzhong was disturbed and unsettled. When Kuang heard of this, he personally went to the imperial court to expound the ultimate principle at length, but his words were not accepted. He withdrew to his private practice. At this time, monasteries and pagodas were ruined and cast down, leaving no place to commit one's life. Going far away, one's strength was exhausted and travel difficult; staying nearby, one's mind was vulnerable and easily compromised. Therefore, relying on secular status, he navigated within it. Although Emperor Wu destroyed the two teachings, his mind favored Daoist practices; he thus established the Tongdao Academy with three hundred scholars, selecting outstanding and eminent talents from both the Buddhist and Daoist traditions to fill the posts. Kuang was thoroughly versed in doctrines and principles and was unanimously recommended by all, serving as Academy Director to evaluate contemporary talents, leading the scholars. Before long, the Academy was abolished, and the scholars were appointed to government posts according to their abilities. Kuang lacked the strength to plow fields and had no store of provisions, so he held an office and received a stipend, serving as an assistant official in Qishan. Holding to his old vows, he did not taint his feelings with dyed secular garments; wearing coarse felt robes with haughty dignity, he shaved his head but kept his beard while serving in office, wearing a gauze cap with strings tied beneath his chin, adopting this as his standard attire. When judging and settling matters, his brush decided things like flowing water; when tasks involved tangled affairs, he would say, 'I am originally a man of the Way and unfamiliar with the secular net.' The court and society of the Zhou state all entrusted themselves to his dignified bearing. Seeing Kuang's broad erudition, they let him handle worldly matters as he saw fit. When the Sui dynasty was about to rise, Bodhisattva-monks were instituted; dressed like court officials, they did not shave their heads, with an establishment of one hundred and twenty members, all gathered from the previous elites whose horns of the Dharma remained undefiled by worldly dust. Kuang, known for his insight and fame, was chosen as one among them. Soon, this too was abolished. When the Great Dharma flourished again, all returned to the monastic order, residing together at Xingshan Temple. Daring and nimble, he was the leader of the assembly. Emperor Wen of the Sui bestowed the bell of the Tongdao Academy upon the Xuandu Daoist Temple; the yellow-turbaned Daoists moved it together to their place. Kuang led his fellow monks straight there to contest it. Having established the principle equitably, he cut off his ear again. At the sight of this, the Daoists scattered in dismay. The bell was thus hung at the State Temple, its sound shaking a hundred li. When Emperor Gao of the Sui passed away, the Chanding Temple was grandly constructed, and Kuang was summoned to dwell there. In the late Daye era, he was appointed to monastic administrative office. When the Great Tang dynasty commenced its mandate, he received a separate imperial edict; his long-accumulated fragrant virtues were visible every day. In the third month of the third year of the Wude era, he died at Cimen Temple at the age of seventy-three. In his testamentary instructions, he abandoned his body on the mountain path, requiring no burial mound. His disciples collected his remaining bones and erected a pagoda at the peak of Longchi on Mount Zhongnan, setting up an inscription to praise his virtue, which remains extant today. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 11.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11.22) - [Next: 11.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11.24) - [Up: 11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.11.23) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.11.23) · Pramāṇa