[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) › 2.11.2 # 續高僧傳 2.11.2 續高僧傳 2.11.2 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [2.11.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11.2) 中天師表。 梵音為本。 琮乃專尋教典。 日誦萬言。 故大品法華維摩楞伽攝論十地等。 皆親傳梵書受持誦讀。 每日闇閱要周乃止。 仁壽初年。 勅令送舍利于荊州。 時漢王諒。 於所治城。 隔內造寺。 仍置寶塔。 今所謂開義寺是也。 琮初至塔所。 累日雲霧晦合。 及至下晨。 時正當午。 雲開日耀天地清朗。 便下舍利瘞而藏之。 又感瑞雲夾日五色相間。 仁壽末歲。 又勅送舍利于復州方樂寺。 今名龍蓋寺也。 本基荒毀南齊初立。 周廢頹滅纔有餘址。 而處所顯敞堪置靈塔。 令人治翦。 忽覺頭上痒悶。 因檢髮中。 獲舍利一粒。 形如黍米光色鮮發。 兩斧試之。 上下俱陷而舍利不損。 頻更椎打。 光色逾盛。 掘深七尺又獲塼藏。 銅銀諸合香泥宛然。 但見清水滿合。 其底蹤跡似有舍利。 尋覓不見。 方知髮中所獲。 乃是銀合所盛。 又覓石造函。 遍求不獲乃於竟陵縣界感得一石。 磨治既了忽變為玉。 五色光潤內徹照見旁人。 又於石中現眾色象。 引石向塔。 又感一鵝飛至函所。 自然馴狎。 隨石去住初無相離。 雖見同群了無顧眄。 逐去還來。 首尾十日恒在輿所。 有人將至餘處。 便即鳴叫飛翔踰院而入。 及至埋訖便獨守塔遶旋而已。 又感塔所前池有諸魚鱉並舉頭出水北望舍利。 琮便為說法。 竟日方隱。 又感塔所井水十五日間自然湧溢。 埋後乃止。 四月八日雲滿上空。 正午將下收雲並盡。 惟餘塔上團圓如蓋。 五色間錯映發日輪。 至藏舍利其雲乃散。 琮欣感嘉瑞。 以狀奏聞。 帝大悅錄以為記。 藏諸祕閣。 仁壽二年下勅更令撰眾經目錄。 乃分為五例。 謂單譯重翻別生疑偽。 隨卷有位。 帝世盛行。 尋又下勅。 令撰西域傳。 素所諳練周鏡目前。 分異訛錯深有徵舉。 故京壤名達。 多尋正焉。 有王舍城沙門。 遠來謁帝。 事如後傳將還本國請舍利瑞圖經及國家祥瑞錄。 勅又令琮翻隋為梵。 合成十卷。 賜諸西域。 琮以洽聞博達素所關心。 文章騰翥京輦推尚。 凡所新譯諸經。 及見講解大智釋論等。 並為之序引。 又著沙門名義論別集五卷。 並詞理清簡。 後學師欽。 大業二年。 東都新治。 與諸沙門詣闕朝賀。 特被召入內禁。 敘故累宵談述治體呈示文頌。 其為時主見知如此。 因即下勅。 於洛陽上林園。 立翻經館以處之。 供給事隆倍逾關輔。 新平林邑所獲佛經。 合五百六十四夾。 一千三百五十餘部。 並昆崙書。 多梨樹葉。 有勅送館。 付琮披覽。 并使編敘目錄。 以次漸翻。 乃撰為五卷。 分為七例。 所謂經律讚論方字雜書七也。 必用隋言以譯之。 則成二千二百餘卷。 勅又令裴矩共琮修纘天竺記。 文義詳洽條貫有儀。 凡前後譯經。 合二十三部。 一百許卷。 制序述事備于經首。 素患虛冷發痢無時。 因卒于館。 春秋五十有四。 即大業六年七月二十四日也。 俗緣哀悼歸葬柏人。 初大漸之晨。 形羸神爽。 問弟子曰。 齋時至未。 對曰未也。 還瞑目而臥。 如此再三。 乃迴身引頸向門視日曰。 齋時已至。 吾其去矣。 索水盥手焚香。 迎彌勒畫像。 合掌諦觀。 開目閉目乃經三四。 如入禪定奄爾而終。 持纊屬之方知已絕。 且琮神慧夙成。 彰於孩稚。 奉信貞恪松梓其心。 本師五臺山沙門道最。 最亦風采標映。 故琮不墜其門。 凡所遊習澹然獨靜。 雖經物忤曾無言及。 抑道從俗。 勅附文館。 屢逢光價能無會情。 斯乃立操虛宗。 遊情靡測。 講誦相沿初未休捨。 會夢入地獄。 頗見苦緣。 由念經佛等名。 蒙得解脫。 送往山樓之上。 尋又歷觀諸獄。 備覩同講名僧。 五苦加之。 具言其狀。 為說十善。 良久方覺。 至後數年更夢前事。 由稱佛菩薩名。 又蒙放免。 > Regarding the models of teachers in Central India, Indic sounds serve as the basis. Cong therefore devoted himself exclusively to investigating the doctrinal scriptures, reciting ten thousand words each day. Thus, for the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the Laṅkāvatāra, the Mahāyānasaṃgraha-śāstra, the Daśabhūmika, and so on, he personally transmitted the Indic texts, receiving, upholding, chanting, and reading them. Each day he stopped only after reviewing them by heart to completion. In the early years of the Renshou era, an imperial edict ordered him to escort relics to Jingzhou. At that time, Yang Liang, the Prince of Han, had built a monastery partitioned off within his seat of government and erected a precious stupa there; this is what is now known as Kaiyi Monastery. When Cong first arrived at the site of the stupa, clouds and mists had gathered dark and overcast for days. When the morning came for depositing \[the relics\], exactly at noon, the clouds parted, the sun shone brightly, and heaven and earth became clear and luminous. They then deposited the relics and interred them. Furthermore, auspicious clouds flanking the sun in alternating five colors were spiritually moved to appear. In the final year of the Renshou era, an imperial edict again ordered him to escort relics to Fangle Monastery in Fuzhou; it is now called Longgai Monastery. Its original foundation had fallen into ruin; it was first erected in the Southern Qi, fell into disuse and collapsed in the Zhou, leaving only remnants of its site. Yet the grounds were open and spacious, suitable for establishing a sacred stupa. When he ordered men to clear and trim the grounds, he suddenly felt an itching and stuffiness on his head. Upon inspecting his hair, he obtained a relic, shaped like a millet grain, with fresh and radiant color and light. They tested it with two axes, striking from above and below; both axe heads were dented, but the relic was undamaged. When it was struck repeatedly, its luster and light grew even more brilliant. Digging seven feet deep, they uncovered a brick vault. Various boxes of bronze and silver, along with fragrant paste, remained intact. They saw only clear water filling the boxes; on the bottom were traces as if relics had been there, but upon searching none could be found. Only then did they realize that what had been found in his hair had originally been contained in the silver box. They also sought stone to make a casket, but searching everywhere they could find none. Thereupon, within the borders of Jingling County, a stone was spiritually obtained through resonance. After it was ground and polished, it suddenly transformed into jade; with five-colored luster and translucence, it shone through clearly to reflect the people beside it. Within the stone, images of various colors also appeared. As they drew the stone toward the stupa, a goose was also moved to fly to where the casket was. It was naturally tame and familiar, following the movements of the stone without ever leaving it. Though it saw others of its flock, it did not glance at them at all. Even when chased away it returned, remaining constantly by the palanquin from beginning to end for ten days. When someone carried it off to another place, it immediately called out, flew up, soared over the courtyard walls, and came inside. When the burial was completed, it alone guarded the stupa, merely circumambulating it. Moreover, the various fish and turtles in the pond in front of the stupa site were moved to poke their heads out of the water, looking north toward the relics. Cong then preached the Dharma to them, and only after the whole day passed did they submerge. Furthermore, the well water at the stupa site was moved to bubble up and overflow naturally for fifteen days, ceasing only after the interment. On the eighth day of the fourth month, clouds filled the sky above. Exactly at noon, when the relics were about to be deposited, the clouds withdrew and completely dispersed, leaving only a circular formation directly above the stupa like a parasol, with alternating five colors illuminating the solar disk. When the relics were interred, the clouds dispersed. Cong joyfully reported these fine omens in a memorial to the throne. The Emperor was greatly delighted, recorded them as a chronicle, and stored them in the secret archives. In the second year of the Renshou era, an imperial edict ordered him to compile another catalogue of the various scriptures. He divided it into five categories: single translations, re-translations, extracted translations, doubtful texts, and spurious texts, each assigned a place according to its fascicles. It circulated widely during that reign. Soon an imperial decree was issued ordering him to compile the Records of the Western Regions. Cong was intimately familiar with the material, which was surveyed completely as if before his very eyes; his distinctions of discrepancies and errors were thoroughly supported by evidence and citation. Therefore, renowned scholars of the capital often consulted it for rectification. There was a śramaṇa from Rājagṛha who came from afar to have an audience with the Emperor. His affairs are as recorded in a later biography; as he was about to return to his native country, he requested the illustrated scripture of the relic omens and the state's register of auspicious omens. The Emperor again decreed that Cong translate them from Sui \[Chinese\] into Indic, compiling them into ten fascicles to bestow upon the Western Regions. Because of his broad learning, extensive erudition, and habitual dedication, his literary compositions soared, winning high esteem in the capital. For all newly translated scriptures, as well as when expounding the Mahāprajñāpāramitōpadeśa and other texts, he composed prefaces and introductions. He also wrote the Shamen mingyi lun in a separate collection of five fascicles. Their diction and reasoning were clear and concise, revered as a model by later scholars. In the second year of the Daye era, when the Eastern Capital was newly established, Cong went to the imperial court with various śramaṇas to offer congratulations. He was specially summoned into the inner palace, where over several nights he recounted past affairs, discussed statecraft, and presented literary compositions and hymns. Such was the high regard and recognition he received from the contemporary sovereign. An imperial edict was immediately issued to establish a translation bureau in the Shanglin Garden of Luoyang to accommodate him, with provisions far richer than those in the capital region. The Buddhist scriptures acquired from the newly subjugated Lin-yi totaled 564 bundles, over 1,350 texts, all in Kunlun script on birch-bark leaves. An imperial decree ordered them sent to the bureau, entrusted to Cong to read, compile into a descriptive catalogue, and translate gradually in sequence. He compiled it into five fascicles, divided into seven categories, namely scriptures, vinaya, eulogies, treatises, medical treatises, lexicographical works, and miscellaneous writings. If translated entirely into the language of the Sui, they would amount to over 2,200 fascicles. The Emperor also ordered Pei Ju to join Cong in compiling the Records of Tianzhu; its literary style and meanings were detailed and comprehensive, structured with clear organization. In total, all the scriptures he translated over time amounted to 23 texts in some 100 fascicles; he composed prefaces recounting their transmission at the head of each text. He had long suffered from deficiency and cold, which brought on unseasonable dysentery, and consequently died in the bureau at the age of fifty-four, on the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month in the sixth year of the Daye era. His secular relatives mourned him and took his remains back for burial in Bairen. In the morning of his terminal decline, though his body was frail, his spirit was clear. He asked his disciples, 'Has the mealtime arrived yet?' They replied, 'Not yet.' He closed his eyes and lay down again, doing so several times. He then turned his body, stretched his neck toward the door, looked at the sun, and said, 'The mealtime has arrived; I shall depart.' He called for water to wash his hands, burned incense, welcomed a painted image of Maitreya, joined his palms, and gazed intently at it. Opening and closing his eyes three or four times, as if entering dhyāna concentration, he suddenly passed away. Only when they held silk floss to his nose did they realize his breath had ceased. Furthermore, Cong's spiritual wisdom was accomplished early, manifesting in his childhood; his devotion and faith were steadfast and pure, with an aspiration as firm as pine and catalpa. His original master was the śramaṇa Daozui of Mount Wutai, who was also illustrious in demeanor and presence, so that Cong did not diminish his master's lineage. In all his studies and pursuits, he remained tranquil and solitary; even when crossed by worldly matters, he never spoke of them. When the Dao was suppressed and he was forced to adopt secular dress, he was assigned by imperial decree to the Academy of Literature; though repeatedly meeting with high honors and favor, how could his heart have been attached to them? Thus he established his discipline upon the school of emptiness, his mind roving beyond measure. He continued lecturing and reciting without ever relinquishing them. He once dreamed that he entered hell and witnessed much suffering; through reciting the names of sūtras and Buddhas, he obtained liberation and was conveyed up to a mountain tower. Soon he surveyed the various hells and saw renowned monks who had lectured alongside him afflicted with the five torments. He described their conditions in detail, expounded the ten virtues for them, and only after a long while awoke. Several years later, he had another dream of the same event; through calling on the names of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, he was again granted release. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 2.11.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11.1) - [Next: 2.11.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11.3) - [Up: 2.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.2.11.2) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.2.11.2) · Pramāṇa