續高僧傳 18.17

18.17

釋僧淵。姓李。廣漢郪人。家本巨富。為巴蜀所稱。及淵初誕。天雨銅錢於庭。家內合運處處皆滿。父運疲久口噓唱之錢不復下。倉內貯米但及於半忽滿溢出。親姻外內莫不歎其福報也。自少至長志幹殊人。行則安而徐動。坐則儼而加趺。眼光外射焰焰發越。容色玉潤狀若赤銅。聲若洪鍾響發林動。兩足輪相十角分明。二手九井文理如畫。年十八身長七尺。其父異之命令出家。即而剃落住城西康興寺。今所謂福緣是也。博尋人法訪無遠邇。經耳不忘蘊括懷抱。奉戒守素大布為衣。瓶盋之外無所蓄積。與同寺毅法師。交遊。二人即蜀郡僧中英傑者也。相隨入京博採新異。有陟岵寺沙門僧實者。禪道幽深帝王所重。便依學定豁爾知津。經涉炎涼詳覈詞義。淵研精定道。毅博通經術。丘索草隷靡不留心。周氏廢教便還故寺。割東行房以為私宅。餘者供官。隨氏運開更新締構。領匠伐木。連雨兩月。淵執爐祈請。隨語便晴。造塔須金盤。又請地府。隨言即掘。應命藏開用足。餘金還歸本窟。詳斯福力今古未聞。常給孤獨不逆人意。遠近隨助泉布若流。又以錦水江波沒溺者眾。便於南路欲架飛橋。則扣此機眾事咸集。昔諸葛武侯指二江內。造七星橋造三鐵鐓。長八九尺徑三尺許。人號鐵鎗。擬打橋柱。用訖投江。頃便祈禱方為出水。淵造新橋將行竪柱。其鐓自然浮水來至橋津。及橋成也。又自投水。道俗歌謠于今逸耳。淵毅二師並為物軌。晨夕問法無虧遺寄。毅以仁壽二年十二月十一日寅時。告弟子曰。三界無常。吾其化矣。言終神謝福緣本住。春秋六十有九。淵聞之憫然曰。毅師已往我豈獨留。俄而遘疾。遺語同瘞。即以其月十四日又化。春秋八十有四。至十七日並窆於九里堂焉。刊石紀之于寺堂。陳子良為文。

Shi Sengyuan, whose secular surname was Li, was a native of Qi in Guanghan. His family was originally of great wealth and was celebrated throughout Ba and Shu. When Yuan was first born, the sky rained copper coins into the courtyard. The family joined together to carry them, yet everywhere was filled. His father grew exhausted from carrying them for so long and sighed aloud, whereupon the coins ceased to fall. The rice stored in the granary had only been half full, yet suddenly it brimmed over and spilled out. Relatives far and near alike marvelled at his karmic reward. From youth to adulthood, his aspiration and competence were extraordinary. When walking, he moved calmly and slowly; when sitting, he was dignified and sat cross-legged. The light of his eyes shot outward, blazing forth. His complexion was as sleek as jade, resembling red copper. His voice was like a great bell, its resonance shaking the forest. The wheel marks on the soles of his two feet had their ten horns clearly distinct, and the nine-well patterns on his two hands were like paintings. At the age of eighteen he was seven feet tall. His father found him extraordinary and ordered him to leave home. He immediately underwent tonsure and dwelt at Kangxing Temple west of the city; this is what is now called Fuyuan. He broadly sought out persons and teachings, inquiring without regard to distance. Whatever passed his ears he never forgot, keeping it gathered within his breast. Upholding the precepts and keeping to simplicity, he wore garments of coarse cloth; beyond his water jar and begging bowl, he hoarded nothing. He was closely associated with Master of the Dharma Yi of the same temple; the two were the pre-eminent talents among the monks of the Shu commandery. Following each other, they entered the capital to gather extensively what was new and uncommon. There was the śramaṇa Sengshi of Zhihu Temple, whose dhyāna path was profound and subtle, and who was held in high esteem by the emperor. [Yuan] therefore relied on him to learn dhyāna, awakening with broad clarity to the crossing. Through the heat and cold of passing seasons, he investigated words and meanings. Yuan delved deeply into the path of dhyāna, while Yi became broadly versed in scriptural traditions; to the ancient classics, the cursive script, and the clerical script, there was nothing to which they did not apply their minds. When the Zhou dynasty proscribed the Buddhist teachings, they returned to their former temple, dividing off the eastern row of chambers as their private dwelling, while the rest was surrendered to the officials. With the rise of the Sui dynasty's fortunes, they rebuilt and renovated the structures. When they led artisans to fell timber, it rained continuously for two months. Yuan held an incense burner and prayed; following his words, the skies immediately cleared. For constructing a stupa, a gold plate was needed; he again prayed to the underground realm. In accordance with his words, they dug, and responding to the demand, the treasury opened. When enough was taken for use, the remaining gold returned to its original cavern. Looking into such power of merit, nothing like it has been heard of in past or present. He constantly provided for the lonely and destitute and never went against the wishes of others. From far and near, voluntary contributions of coin flowed like water. Furthermore, seeing that many were drowned in the waves of the Jin River, he wished to erect a suspension bridge on the southern route; striking this opportunity, all tasks converged. In antiquity, Marquis Wu of Zhuge, indicating within the Two Rivers, built the Seven Stars Bridge and cast three iron ferrules, eight to nine feet long and about three feet in diameter, which people called 'iron spears', designed to drive the bridge pillars. When finished with their use, they were cast into the river; only after prayers did they emerge from the water. When Yuan was building the new bridge and about to erect the pillars, these ferrules naturally floated on the water and arrived at the bridge landing. When the bridge was completed, they cast themselves back into the water. The songs and ballads of the clergy and laity are still floating about to this day. Both Masters Yuan and Yi were exemplars for living beings; morning and evening they inquired into the Dharma without failing what was entrusted to them. On the eleventh day of the twelfth month of the second year of Renshou, at the yin hour, Yi told his disciples: 'The three realms are impermanent; I shall be transformed.' When his words ended, his spirit departed at his original dwelling of Fuyuan, at the age of sixty-nine. Yuan, hearing of this, said sorrowfully: 'Master Yi has already passed; how can I alone remain?' Soon he contracted an illness, and his dying instructions were to be buried together. On the fourteenth day of that same month, he also passed away, at the age of eighty-four. On the seventeenth day, they were buried together at the Hall of Nine Miles. A stone was inscribed to record this at the temple hall, with a text composed by Chen Ziliang.