續高僧傳 13.26

13.26

釋曇藏。姓楊氏。弘農華陰人。家世望門。清心自遠。年十五。占者謂為壽短。二親哀之即為姻媾。既本非情。慮有推逼。遂逃亡山澤。惟念誰度行至外野。少非遊踐莫知投告。但念觀音。久值一人貌黑而驅二牛。因問所從可得宿不。便告藏曰。西行有寺不遠當至。尋聞鍾聲。忽見僧寺。因求剃落便遂本心。即遣出門可行百步。迴望不見久乃天明。西奔隴上求法為務。晚還京邑。於旌善寺行道受戒。聽諸經律意有所昧。又往山東。彼岸諸師競留對講。地持十地名稱普聞。故東漸海濱南窮淮服。聽涉之最無與為儔。及返京師住光明寺。詮發新異擅聲日下。獻后既崩召入禪定。性度弘裕風範肅成。故使道俗推崇。綱維領袖。恒為接對之役也。賓客席上之美。談敘曠世之能。見之今矣。大唐御世。造寺會昌。又召以為上座。撫接長幼殊有奇功。貞觀譯經又召為證義。時以藏威烈氣遠容止清肅。可為興善寺主。藏深懷禮讓用開賢路。乃薦藍田化感寺閏法師焉。即依其言舉稱斯目。及皇儲失御。便召入宮。受菩薩戒翌日便瘳。勅賜絹數百段。衣對亦爾。度人三千。并造普光寺焉。尋又下勅。得遙受戒不。藏曰。地持論云。若無戒師。發弘誓願。得菩薩戒。因進論文。勅乃以懺詞令藏披讀。至皇后示疾。又請入宮。素患腰脚。勅令輿至寢殿受戒。施物極多並充功德。至貞觀九年三月十八日終於會昌寺。春秋六十有九。哀動兩宮吊贈相次。詔葬郊西嚴村。起塔圖形。東宮詹事黎陽公于志寧為碑文。見于塔所。

Śramaṇa Tancang. His secular surname was Yang, and he was a native of Huayin in Hongnong. His family was an eminent clan through generations, and from an early age his pure mind aimed afar. When he was fifteen years old, a diviner declared that his life would be short. Grieved by this, his parents immediately arranged a marriage for him. Since this was contrary to his original inclinations and he feared being pressured, he fled into the mountains and marshes. Thinking only of who might deliver him, he walked to the distant wilderness. Having never traveled there in his youth, he did not know where to turn, and so he simply called upon Avalokiteśvara. After a long while, he met a dark-complexioned man driving two oxen, and asked him where he had come from and whether he could find lodging. The man said to Tancang, "Go westward; there is a monastery not far ahead, which you will soon reach." Soon he heard the sound of a bell and suddenly saw a Buddhist monastery. There he requested the shaving of his hair, thus fulfilling his original wish. He was then sent out the gate and walked about a hundred paces. Looking back, he saw nothing; only after a long time did dawn break. He then hastened west to Longshang, making the pursuit of the Dharma his task. Later he returned to the capital, where he circumambulated the path and received the precepts at Jingshan Monastery. When hearing various sūtras and vinayas, if any meaning remained obscure to him, he went again to the region east of the mountains. The masters on the other shore competed to detain him for disputations; his fame regarding the Bodhisattvabhūmi and the Daśabhūmika spread everywhere. Thus he gradually traveled east to the seacoast and south to the reaches of the Huai River; in his extensive listening and studies, he had no peer. Upon returning to the capital, he resided at Guangming Monastery, where his novel elucidations gained renown in the capital. After Empress Xian passed away, he was summoned to enter [Dachanding Monastery]. His disposition was generous and magnanimous, his deportment dignified and mature. Thus monastics and laypeople alike revered him, appointing him as a guiding leader who constantly undertook the duties of receiving guests. His fine manners at receptions and his transcendent talent in discourse were evident in his time. When the Great Tang ruled the world, Huichang Monastery was built, and he was summoned to serve as its prior. He showed extraordinary skill in comforting and welcoming the young and old. During the translation of scriptures in the Zhenguan era, he was summoned to serve as a certifier of meaning. At the time, because Tancang had a commanding presence, far-reaching aura, and pure, solemn deportment, it was thought he could serve as abbot of Xingshan Monastery. Tancang, holding deep yielding courtesy to make way for the worthy, recommended Dharmabhāṇaka Run of Huagan Monastery in Lantian; following his words, Run was appointed to the post. When the Crown Prince fell ill, Tancang was summoned into the palace to confer the bodhisattva precepts, and the next day the prince recovered. An imperial decree bestowed several hundred bolts of silk, as well as sets of monastic robes. Three thousand people were ordained, and Puguang Monastery was founded. Soon after, another imperial decree asked: "Can one receive the precepts from afar?" Tancang replied: "The Bodhisattvabhūmi states: 'If there is no preceptor, one may generate a great vow and obtain the bodhisattva precepts.'" He then presented the treatise text, and the emperor issued a decree ordering Tancang to read the words of repentance aloud. When the Empress showed signs of illness, he was invited into the palace once more. He had long suffered from an ailment in his waist and legs, so an imperial decree ordered him carried in a sedan chair to the bedchamber to administer the precepts. The offerings bestowed were exceedingly numerous, all dedicated to acts of merit. On the eighteenth day of the third month in the ninth year of the Zhenguan era, he died at Huichang Monastery at the age of sixty-nine. His death grieved both palaces, and condolences and posthumous gifts followed one after another. An imperial decree ordered him buried at Yan Village west of the suburbs, where a stupa was erected and his portrait painted. Yu Zhining, Supervisor of the Household to the Crown Prince and Duke of Liyang, composed the stele inscription, which can be seen at the site of the stupa.