續高僧傳 20.49

20.49

釋惠祥。姓周。十五出家。頭陀乞食。默自禪誦。不與眾同。人不知其道觀淺深。而高其遠度。聽三論聞提婆護法之功莫辭開腹之患。有心慕焉。遊諸法肆。見威儀不整者。謂人曰。祥受戒後。住持此寺令入律行。年十九染患三月。救療無徵。夜中宴坐歎曰。大丈夫本欲以身從道於末法中摧伏非法。如何此志未從為病所困。將曉有一人長丈餘。謂曰。但誦涅槃無愁不差。至旦即誦三日便瘳。當年誦通卒其所望。進具聽律鏡其文理。住寧國寺。常講四分及涅槃經。所以護法維持不惜身命。諸有虧違望風整肅大業末。夏中因食。口中得舍利。不辯棄地。輒還在口。如是數四。疑是真身。砧槌不碎。遂聲鐘告眾。白黑咸集。祥涕泣焚香願降威力。須臾放五色光。異香遍郭眾覩希有。屠獵改業乃使市無肉肆。因與四眾起浮圖。九級高百餘尺。今見在。然其所食日止一餐。不問多少頓受不益。體貌肥白。可長八尺有餘。行路不識莫不怪仰。刺史李昇明至寺。怪異謂群官曰。此道人膚容若此。日可應噉一羊。語訖覺手足不隨。乘馬失御。諸官以實告之。便悔謝還復。大使權茂行至鄧州。又怪。昇明曰。此大德非凡。具說往緣。茂不信。請將七日試以麁食。而膚色更悅。茂愧伏悔先不信之罪。將終手執經胡跪謂弟子曰。吾今逝矣。汝好住持無令絕滅。又感異香盈郭。以大業末年八月卒。春秋七十。氣命雖絕而胡跪執經如初。遠近奔赴。見其卓然無不歎訝。

Shi Huixiang had the secular surname Zhou. At age fifteen he underwent pravrajyā. He practiced the dhūta austerities, begging for food, and silently engaged in dhyāna and recitation by himself, not mingling with the community. People did not know the depth of his contemplation of the Way, yet they held his lofty and far-reaching capacity in high esteem. When listening to the Three Treatises, he heard of Deva's merit in defending the Dharma, who did not decline the affliction of having his belly cut open, and in his heart he admired him. Walking among the lecture halls, whenever he saw those whose deportment was not tidy, he would say to people: "After I, Xiang, receive the full precepts, I will abide in and maintain this monastery to bring them into alignment with the Vinaya's conduct." At age nineteen, he contracted an illness for three months; medical treatments brought no result. Sitting in quiet contemplation in the middle of the night, he sighed and said: "A great man originally intended to dedicate his body to following the Way and to suppress unlawful conduct in the age of the degenerating Dharma. How can it be that, before this intention is fulfilled, I am trapped by illness?" Approaching dawn, there was a man more than ten feet tall who said to him: "Simply recite the Nirvāṇa [Sūtra], and have no worry that you will not recover." Come morning, he immediately recited it, and after three days he was healed. That same year he recited it through to mastery, fulfilling what he had hoped. After receiving full ordination, he listened to the Vinaya and mirrored its texts and principles. Living at Ningguo Temple, he constantly expounded the Sifen lü and the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. Thus, he defended and maintained the Dharma without sparing his body or life. Whenever there were infractions, people became orderly upon catching wind of him. At the end of the Daye era, during a summer meal, he obtained a śarīra in his mouth. Not recognizing what it was, he discarded it on the ground, but it repeatedly returned to his mouth. When this happened several times, he suspected it was a true relic. Neither anvil nor hammer could shatter it. He then sounded the bell to announce it to the community, and both clerics and laity gathered. Huixiang wept, burned incense, and prayed for its mighty power to descend. In an instant, it radiated five-colored light, and a wondrous fragrance spread through the entire city. The crowd witnessed this rare marvel. Butchers and hunters changed their livelihoods, so that the markets had no meat stalls. Together with the fourfold assembly, he erected a stupa of nine tiers, over a hundred feet high, which still stands today. Yet regarding his food, he ate only one meal a day; regardless of quantity, he accepted it in a single bowl and never took more. His appearance was fleshy and fair, and he was more than eight feet tall. Passersby who did not know him never failed to marvel and look up to him. When Regional Inspector Li Shengming arrived at the temple, he was amazed and said to the officials: "For this Daoist to have such skin and countenance, he must eat a sheep a day!" No sooner had he finished speaking than he found his hands and feet unresponsive, and he lost control of the horse he was riding. The officials told him the truth [of the master's virtues], whereupon he repented and apologized, and was restored to normal. When Imperial Commissioner Quan Mao traveled to Dengzhou, he was likewise amazed. Li Shengming said: "This bhadanta is no ordinary man," and recounted the former circumstance in full. Quan Mao did not believe it, and asked to test him for seven days with coarse food; but Huixiang's complexion became even more radiant. Quan Mao submissively felt ashamed and repented his former sin of disbelief. Approaching his end, holding a scripture in his hands and kneeling reverently, he said to his disciples: "I am departing now. Maintain this well, and do not let it be extinguished." An extraordinary fragrance again filled the city. He died in the eighth month of the final year of the Daye era, at the age of seventy. Though his breath and life were gone, he remained kneeling reverently holding the scripture as before. People from far and near rushed to the scene; seeing his upright posture, all sighed in astonishment.