續高僧傳 24.13

24.13

釋慈藏。姓金氏。新羅國人。其先三韓之後也。中古之時。辰韓馬韓卞韓。率其部屬。各有魁長。案梁貢職圖。其新羅國。魏曰斯盧。宋曰新羅。本東夷辰韓之國矣。藏父名武林。官至蘇判異（以本王族比唐一品）既嚮高位。籌議攸歸。而絕無後嗣。幽憂每積。素仰佛理乃求加護。廣請大捨祈心佛法。并造千部觀音。希生一息。後若成長。願發道心度諸生類。冥祥顯應。夢星墜入懷。因即有娠。以四月八日誕。載良晨。道俗銜慶希有瑞也。年過小學。神叡澄蘭獨拔恒心。而於世數史籍略皆周覽。情意漠漠無心染趣。會二親俱喪。轉厭世華。深體無常終歸空寂。乃捐捨妻子第宅田園。隨須便給行悲敬業。子爾隻身投於林壑。麁服草屩用卒餘報。遂登陗隒獨靜行禪。不避虎兕常思難施。時或弊睡心行將徵。遂居小室。周障棘刺露身直坐。動便刺肉。懸髮在梁。用祛昏漠。修白骨觀轉向明利。而冥行顯被物望所歸。位當宰相頻徵不就。王大怒。勅往山所將加手刃。藏曰。吾寧持戒一日而死。不願一生破戒而生。使者見之不敢加刃。以事上聞。王愧服焉。放令出家任修道業。即又深隱。外絕來往。糧粒固窮。以死為命。便感異鳥各銜諸果就手送與。鳥於藏手就而共食。時至必爾。初無乖候。斯行感玄徵。罕有聯者。而常懷慼慼慈哀含識。作何方便令免生死。遂於眠寐見二丈夫曰。卿在幽隱欲為何利。藏曰。惟為利益眾生。乃授藏五戒訖曰。可將此五戒利益眾生。又告藏曰。吾從忉利天來。故授汝戒。因騰空滅。於是出山。一月之間國中士女咸受五戒。又深惟曰。生在邊壤佛法未弘。自非目驗無由承奉。乃啟本王西觀大化。以貞觀十二年。將領門人僧實等十有餘人。東辭至京。蒙勅慰撫。勝光別院厚禮殊供。人物繁擁財事既積。便來外盜。賊者將取心戰自驚。返來露過。便授其戒。有患生盲。詣藏陳懺後還得眼。由斯祥應。從受戒者日有千計。性樂栖靜。啟勅入山。於終南雲際寺東懸崿之上。架室居焉。旦夕人神歸戒又集。時染少疹。見受戒神為摩所苦。尋即除愈。往還三夏常在此山。將事東蕃。辭下雲際。見大鬼神其眾無數。帶甲持仗云。將此金輿迎取慈藏。復見大神與之共鬪拒不許迎。藏聞臭氣塞谷蓬勃。即就繩床。通告訣別。其一弟子又被鬼打躄死乃蘇。藏即捨諸衣財。行僧德施。又聞香氣遍滿身心。神語藏曰。今者不死。八十餘矣。既而入京。蒙勅慰問。賜絹二百匹。用充衣服貞觀十七年。本國請還。啟勅蒙許。引藏入宮。賜納一領雜綵五百段。東宮賜二百段。仍於弘福寺為國設大齋。大德法集。并度八人。又勅太常九部供養。藏以本朝經像彫落未全。遂得藏經一部并諸妙像幡花蓋具堪為福利者。齎還本國。既達鄉壤。傾國來迎。一代佛法於斯興顯。王以藏景仰大國。弘持正教。非夫綱理。無以肅清乃勅藏為大國統。住王芬寺。寺即王之所造。又別築精院。別度十人恒充給侍。又請入宮。一夏講攝大乘論。晚又於皇龍寺講菩薩戒本。七日七夜天降甘露。雲霧奄藹覆所講堂。四部興嗟聲望彌遠。及散席日。從受戒者其量雲從。因之革厲十室而九。藏屬斯嘉運。勇銳由來。所有衣資並充檀捨。惟事頭陀。蘭若綜業。正以青丘佛法東漸百齡。至於住持修奉蓋闕。乃與諸宰伯祥評紀正。時王臣上下。僉議攸歸。一切佛法須有規猷。並委僧統藏令僧尼五部各增舊習。更置綱管。監察維持。半月說戒依律懺除。春冬總試令知持犯。又置巡使。遍歷諸寺誡勵說法。嚴飾佛像營理眾業。鎮以為常。據斯以言。護法菩薩即斯人矣。又別造寺塔十有餘所。每一興建合國俱崇。藏乃發願曰。若所造有靈。希現異相。便感舍利在諸巾鉢。大眾悲慶積施如山。便為受戒。行善遂廣。又以習俗服章中華有革。藏惟歸崇正朔義豈貳心。以事商量舉國咸遂。通改邊服一准唐儀。所以每年朝集位在上蕃。任官遊踐並同華夏。據事以量通古難例。撰諸經戒疏十餘卷。出觀行法一卷。盛流彼國。有沙門圓勝者。本族辰韓清慎僧也。以貞觀初年。來儀京輦遍陶法肆。聞持鏡曉志存定攝。護法為心。與藏齊襟秉維城塹。及同返國大敞行途講開律部。惟其光肇自昔東蕃有來西學。經術雖聞無行戒檢。緣搆既重。今則三學備焉。是知通法護法代有斯人。中濁邊清於斯驗矣。

Śramaṇa Jajang, whose secular surname was Kim, was a native of the kingdom of Silla. His ancestry went back to the Three Han. In middle antiquity, Jinhan, Mahan, and Byeonhan each led their own tribes, each possessing a chieftain. According to the Liang Dynasty's Illustrative Record of Tribute Bearers, the kingdom of Silla was called Silu under the Wei, and Silla under the Song; it was originally the state of Jinhan among the eastern barbarians. Jajang's father was named Murim, who attained the rank of sup'an-i (a royal clan office equivalent to the First Rank of the Tang). Having already ascended to high office, counsels were referred to him, yet he had no heir at all. Secret grief weighed upon him constantly. Having always revered the Buddhist principles, he prayed for divine protection; making extensive offerings in grand abandonment, he directed his aspirations to the Buddha-Dharma and produced one thousand images of Avalokiteśvara, hoping to father an infant son. He vowed that if the child grew up, he would bring forth the thought of enlightenment to deliver sentient beings. A mysterious sign manifested as a clear response: [his wife] dreamt that a star fell into her bosom, whereupon she became pregnant. On the eighth day of the fourth month, he was born on this auspicious morning. Monastics and laity alike rejoiced at this rare and auspicious omen. Passing the years of elementary schooling, his spiritual acumen was pure and distinct, uniquely surpassing ordinary minds; he broadly surveyed worldly arts and historical records, yet his mind remained detached, without desire to be tainted by worldly pursuits. When both parents died, his revulsion toward worldly splendor intensified. Deeply realizing impermanence and the ultimate return to emptiness and stillness, he gave away his wife, children, residences, fields, and gardens, providing them as needed to practice deeds of compassion and respect. In solitary detachment, he threw himself into the forests and ravines, donning coarse clothes and straw sandals to finish his remaining retribution. He then ascended steep cliffs to practice dhyāna in solitary stillness, not fleeing tigers or rhinos, constantly contemplating what was difficult to bestow. At times, overcome by sleep and laxity of mind, he moved into a small hut, surrounded it with thorns and briers, and sat naked and erect: whenever he moved, the thorns pierced his flesh; he hung his hair from a beam to dispel dullness. Practicing the contemplation of white bones, his insight turned luminous and keen. His hidden spiritual practice became widely renowned, and he became the object of public expectations. When the position of prime minister fell to him, he was repeatedly summoned but did not accept. The king flew into a great rage and ordered [an emissary] to the mountains to execute him on the spot. Jajang said: 'I would rather uphold the precepts for one day and die than violate the precepts for an entire life and live.' Seeing this, the emissary dared not use the blade and reported the matter to the throne. The king felt ashamed and convinced, letting him leave household life to cultivate the religious practice at will. Thereupon, he withdrew deeper into concealment, severing all contact with the outside. His food and grain strictly exhausted, he considered death his destined lot. Thereupon, extraordinary birds were moved to carry assorted fruits in their beaks and deliver them straight into his hands, eating together with him from his palms. When the time came, it was always so, without any discrepancy in timing. Such actions provoked mysterious signs that were rarely rivaled. Yet, constantly harboring grief and compassionate pity for sentient beings, he wondered what skillful means could release them from birth and death. In his sleep, he saw two men who asked: 'What benefit do you seek in your hidden retreat?' Jajang replied: 'Only to benefit sentient beings.' They then conferred upon Jajang the five precepts, concluding: 'You may take these five precepts to benefit sentient beings.' They further addressed Jajang: 'We have come from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven especially to confer the precepts upon you.' Thereupon, they rose into the air and vanished. With this, he emerged from the mountains; within a month, the men and women throughout the kingdom all received the five precepts. He further contemplated deeply: 'Born in a remote border region, the Buddha-Dharma has not yet flourished here; unless I witness it with my own eyes, I will have no means to inherit and uphold it.' He then petitioned his king to travel west to observe the great transformation. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, he led more than ten disciples, including the monk Sangsil, left the east, and arrived at the capital. Receiving an imperial decree of consolation, he was accommodated in a detached cloister of Shengguang Monastery with generous courtesies and extraordinary provisions. With the press of visitors and accumulated wealth, external bandits came: as the thieves were about to take it, their hearts trembled with self-induced fright, and they returned to expose their faults, whereupon he conferred the precepts upon them. There was one suffering from congenital blindness who came to Jajang to confess, and afterward regained his sight. Due to such auspicious responses, those who came to receive the precepts numbered in the thousands daily. Being fond of serene seclusion by nature, he petitioned for an imperial decree to enter the mountains. Above the hanging crags to the east of Yunji Monastery on Mount Zhongnan, he erected a hut to dwell in. Morning and evening, both humans and spirits gathered to take refuge and receive precepts. Once stricken with a slight illness, he saw a spirit that guarded the precepts rubbing the afflicted area, which immediately healed. Moving back and forth, he stayed on this mountain for three summers. When about to tend to the affairs of the eastern region, he took leave and descended from Yunji. He saw great ghosts and spirits, innumerable in their host, clad in armor and bearing weapons, who said: 'We are bringing this golden carriage to welcome and fetch Jajang.' He also saw a great deity fighting with them, refusing to allow them to take him. Jajang smelled a foul odor filling the valley thickly; he immediately went to his rope bed and made known his farewell. One of his disciples was struck by a ghost and fell dead, but later revived. Jajang then gave away all his robes and property, practicing generous giving to the monastic community. He then smelled a fragrance permeating his body and mind. A deity said to Jajang: 'You will not die now; your years will surpass eighty.' Afterward, he entered the capital, received imperial consolation, and was bestowed two hundred bolts of silk for clothing. In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, his native kingdom requested his return; petitioning by imperial decree, permission was granted. Jajang was led into the palace and bestowed a cassock and five hundred bolts of multicolored silks; the Crown Prince bestowed two hundred bolts. Furthermore, a great vegetarian feast was held for the state at Hongfu Monastery; bhadantas gathered in a Dharma assembly, and eight men were ordained. An imperial decree also directed the Court of Imperial Sacrifices to offer the music of the Nine Sections. Because the scriptures and images in his native dynasty were dilapidated and incomplete, Jajang obtained a copy of the scriptural canon, along with exquisite statues, banners, flowers, and parasols capable of generating merit, and carried them back to his native state. When he reached his homeland, the entire country came out to welcome him; the Buddha-Dharma of an entire era flourished and shone forth from this. Because Jajang admired the great state and propagated and upheld the true teaching, and considering that without administrative order things could not be purified, the king decreed Jajang to be the Great National Overseer, residing at Wangbun Monastery. The monastery was built by the king, who also constructed a separate meditation precinct and additionally ordained ten men to serve as his constant attendants. He was also invited into the palace, where during one summer he expounded the Mahāyānasaṃgraha. Later, at Hwangnyong Monastery, he expounded the Bodhisattva Precepts. For seven days and seven nights, sweet dew fell from the sky, and mist enveloped the lecture hall. The fourfold assembly sighed in admiration, and his renown spread even further. On the day the assembly adjourned, those who came to receive precepts were like gathering clouds. Consequently, nine out of ten households reformed themselves. Encountering this auspicious fortune, Jajang's long-standing resolve became even more ardent. All his clothing and provisions were used for charitable donations; he solely engaged in dhūta austerities and synthesized his endeavors in the āraṇya. Exactly because the Buddha-Dharma of Qingqiu had flowed eastward for only a hundred years, and support, cultivation, and worship were largely deficient, he conferred with prime ministers such as Paek Sang to assess, record, and rectify them. At that time, high and low among the king's ministers held a unanimous consensus: all matters of the Buddha-Dharma must have standards and regulations. All were entrusted to the Monastic Overseer Jajang, who ordered the five assemblies of monks and nuns to increase their adherence to the established practices. He further instituted administrative officers to inspect, supervise, and maintain them; every half month the precepts were recited and transgressions repented according to the Vinaya; in spring and winter comprehensive examinations were held to make known their adherence and violation. He also instituted inspecting emissaries to travel through all the monasteries, admonishing, expounding the Dharma, adorning Buddhist statues, and managing monastic affairs, establishing this as standard. Judging from this, the 'Bodhisattva Protecting the Dharma' is indeed this person. He also built more than ten other monasteries and stupas; with each construction, the whole nation revered him. Jajang made a vow: 'If the works built are endowed with spiritual efficacy, I pray an extraordinary sign may appear.' Thereupon, relics were moved to appear in cloths and alms bowls. The great assembly wept in celebration, piling up donations like mountains. He then conferred precepts upon them, and the practice of good deeds spread widely. Furthermore, regarding the reforms in China concerning customs, dress, and insignia, Jajang contemplated: 'Having submitted to and revered the legitimate imperial calendar, how could there be two minds in righteousness?' He discussed the matter, and the entire nation complied: changing all their barbarian dress, they completely conformed to the Tang rites. Therefore, in each year's court assembly, their seat was ranked above the other foreign vassals; their appointment to offices and diplomatic visits were entirely equal to those of China. Evaluating by the facts, it is difficult to find a precedent throughout antiquity. He authored more than ten volumes of commentaries on various scriptures and vinaya texts, and produced one volume on the Methods of Contemplative Practice, which circulated widely in that country. There was a śramaṇa named Weonseung, a pure and prudent monk originally from the Jinhan clan. In the early years of Zhenguan, he arrived at the capital, thoroughly cultivating himself in the Dharma academies. With a clear mind retaining what he heard, his aspiration was set on concentration and absorption. Harboring the protection of the Dharma in his heart, he stood shoulder to shoulder with Jajang in upholding the walls of the faith. When he returned to their country together with him, he vastly opened the path of practice, expounding and inaugurating the Vinayapiṭaka. From the beginning, whenever students from the eastern vassals came west to study, though they heard scriptural arts, they lacked practice and precept discipline. Now that conditions and foundations had become profound, the Three Learnings were fully equipped. Thus one knows that individuals who master and protect the Dharma exist in every generation; that the border lands remain pure while the central plains are defiled is truly verified here.