續高僧傳 13.27

13.27

釋神逈。姓田氏。馮翊臨晉人。弱齡挺悟。辭恩出俗。遠懷匠碩備歷艱虞。問道海西包括幽奧。博采三藏研尋百氏。年未及冠欝為鴻彩。雖廣融經論。而以大衍著名。至於所撰序引注解群經篇章銘論合四十餘卷。每於春初三月放浪巖阿。迄於夏首方還京邑。漁獵子史諷味名篇逸調橫馳。頗以此而懷簡傲也。兼以嘲謔豪傑辯調中外。陵轢倫右誇尚矜莊。京邑所推侯王揖仰。又以旬暇餘隙遊歷省臺。預是文雄。通名謁對。或談敘儒史。或開悟玄宗。優遊自任。亦季世縱達之高僧也。故華壤英俊謂之諺曰。大論主釋迦逈法界多羅一時領。以其竪論之時必令五三人別難後乃總領通之故。懷斯目矣。大業十年召入禪定。尋又應詔請入鴻臚。為敷大論。訓開三韓諸方士也。貞觀三年。以正道所歸通務為則。遂擁錫庸蜀流化岷峨。道俗虔虔靡若風草。法流亹亹所至汪濊。以四年七月一日遷神於法聚寺。春秋六十五矣。四眾哀慟。悲其為法來儀未幾而終素懷莫展。益州官庶士俗。及以同舟列道。爭趨奔于葬所。素幢竟野香烟蔽空。萬計哀號聲動天地。於昇遷橋南焚之。遵遺令也。弟子玄詧收其餘柩。以約秦中與同學玄究等。於終南山仙遊寺北。而繕塔焉。究為其文銘于塔所。究清貞抱素。志樂林泉。頗工篇什。時會精越學文。驚其藻銳也。未立而終。哀傷才府。

Śramaṇa Shenjiong. His secular surname was Tian, and he was a native of Linjin in Fengyi. Outstandingly perceptive from an early age, he took leave of family affection and left the secular world. From afar he cherished great masters and experienced all manner of difficulties and perils. Inquiring into the Way west of the sea, he embraced profound and hidden arcana. He broadly collected the Tripiṭaka and investigated the hundred philosophers. Before reaching the age of twenty, he flourished with magnificent literary talent. Although he broadly integrated sūtras and treatises, he was renowned for the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. As for his compositions—prefaces, introductions, commentaries on various sūtras, essays, inscriptions, and treatises—they totaled over forty fascicles. Every year in the third month of early spring, he wandered freely among the cliffs and crags, returning to the capital only at the beginning of summer. Foraging through the philosophers and historians, savoring renowned writings, his untrammeled style coursed freely; he was somewhat haughty on account of this. In addition, he bantered with the prominent and powerful, his eloquence swaying both inside and outside [the court]; he outstripped his peers and was given to proud boasting. He was esteemed by the capital, and princes and nobles bowed in admiration. During leisure days of the ten-day cycle, he also toured the imperial secretariats and departments; meeting any literary giant, he would submit his namecard to call upon them, either conversing on Confucian classics and histories or illuminating the profound teachings, living freely and at ease—he was indeed an unfettered and accomplished eminent monk of a declining age. Hence the talents of the realm had a proverb for him: "The Great Treatise Master, Śākyajiong, comprehends the Dharmadhātu and the Tāra all at once." Because whenever he held a debate, he would always have five or three people present separate objections, which he would then summarize and resolve all together, he received this moniker. In the tenth year of the Daye era, he was summoned to Dachanding Monastery. Soon after, responding to an imperial summons, he was invited to the Court of State Ceremonial to expound the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-śāstra and instruct the scholars from the Three Han and various regions. In the third year of the Zhenguan era, taking the destination of the True Path and universal service as his rule, he took his staff to Shu in Yong to spread the transformation across the Min and Emei mountains. Monastics and laypeople were devout and reverent, yielding like grass before the wind; the flow of the Dharma rolled onward, vast wherever it reached. On the first day of the seventh month in the fourth year, his spirit departed at Faju Monastery at the age of sixty-five. The four assemblies grieved bitterly, lamenting that not long after his arrival for the sake of the Dharma he passed away, unable to unfold his long-cherished ambitions. Officials, commoners, scholars, and laity of Yizhou, along with fellow travelers and monks, vied to rush to the burial place. White banners filled the wilderness, and incense smoke obscured the sky; tens of thousands wailed in sorrow, their cries shaking heaven and earth. He was cremated south of the Shengqian Bridge in accordance with his testamentary instructions. His disciple Xuancha collected his remaining relics and, in accord with his agreement in Qin with fellow student Xuanjiu and others, built a stupa north of Xianyou Monastery on Mount Zhongnan. Xuanjiu composed the inscription for the stupa. Xuanjiu was pure, upright, and embraced simplicity; his mind took delight in woods and springs, and he was quite skilled in poetic compositions. At that time, when people of refined and superior literary learning met, they were astonished by his sharp elegance. He died before achieving his full career, an occasion of sorrow for the realm of talent.