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Taking persons as reliance and Dharma as reliance fundamentally defends the Dharma; presenting teachings as fitting the provisional or fitting the absolute truly brings universal salvation and forms a ford. Therefore, the Tripiṭaka establishes rankings to rescue those drowning before \[their ruin occurs\]; the single section on 'Defense of the Dharma' rears the orthodox net where it has already collapsed. Yet the modes of propagation and guidance have somewhat diverse threads: sometimes revealing foresight, suddenly brandishing divine valiance; galloping with extraordinary eloquence before heterodox multitudes to clarify and resolve benighted minds; manifesting the great tenets in their own time and illuminating the profound principle; borrowing the power of authority to aid the Path, with the virtuous alone dominating renown; relying on transmission to silently penetrate, universally proclaiming and constantly executing their duties. Thus there were those who struck the gaṇḍī on the numinous peak, making vocal announcements solely for upholding \[the Dharma\]; or gathered the teachings anew at Shanzhou, their instructions honouring solely the propagation of principle. Entering the Mahāyāna treatises, nine hundred million non-learners maintain the Dharma for ten thousand years; what the sūtras and vinayas expound is that Piṇḍola and Rāhula have not yet entered nirvāṇa. These all aid in propagating the transformation through the Path, opening awakening to what had not yet been heard, pacifying inverted delusions in this very life, and transmitting the true Dharma to future ages. Thus they caused what was repeatedly stained and ruined to revive soon after; how could this be merely worldly scheming? It was indeed through their power! How much more so with the Venerable Kāśyapa concentrating his spirit at the peak of Kukkuṭapāda, and the Bodhisattva Sthiramati standing reverently within the asura's cavern! These both lead beings toward the good and preserve their physical forms for the sake of the world, continuing until Maitreya descends his spirit, successively nurturing and fostering. Some rend and shatter the nets of attachment; some topple the banners of conceit; some resolve and settle deep doubts; some inaugurate and propagate the activities of the Path. Their responsiveness as a task is like clouds and rain meeting; their gravity as achievement equals the vastness of the great earth. Therefore, Śāriputra inscribed his name, distinguished as the great general of the wheel of the Dharma; Upagupta's glorious title was marked as the Buddha without characteristics. Five hundred disciples shared the designation of 'upholders'; their practice and virtue rivalled one another, all praised as foremost. As for seizing the opportune time to govern transformation, opening the Dharma, and founding a school, the pinnacle of vast salvation is none higher than Śāriputra. Truly, this was because he opened the blessed land of the Tree-Prince's park, swept away the towering spearheads of heterodox bandits, laid low Maudgalyāyana's supernatural power, and eclipsed Pūrṇa's eloquence and wisdom. These conditions for defending the Dharma are indeed just this! Since the breeze of the Path fanned eastward, it began with Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna. The former biography valued the founding of schools, so it placed them under the heading of 'Translation of Scriptures'. However, transmission and translation depend upon returning to faith; where faith is not yet established, the texts cannot be propagated. Upholding and defending reside in the orthodox and the heterodox; only when heterodoxy and orthodoxy are distinguished can the root of faith be opened. That the sūtras express it like this—how could it be empty? That it is the source of the Path and the mother of virtue is truly authentic. Therefore, dispelling darkness and opening transformation respond to the mind of the times. Manifesting their virtue and brilliance in the multiple skies astonished the ears and eyes of the great multitude, causing them to bow their heads, receive the Path, and bathe in the stream of Dharma; it was not arranged in vain. Fei Cai was moved and died beside the altar; Chu Xin shaved his crown in the midst of the arena. Emperor Ming of the Han awoke to the principle and knew where to take refuge; the palace attendants renounced the secular and entered the Path. The glorious events of a single period became a boat and rudder for ten thousand generations; the sun of the Buddha thereupon shed its radiance, and the clouds of Dharma thereby did not cease. These virtues may be recorded; these words may be detailed. Yet Min and Yue concealed their noble precedents and merely appended them to the translations; by comparison, their undertakings were vastly disparate, and their far-reaching transformation, as a provisional measure, was difficult to match. In calculating merit for compilation, it should precede translation and transmission; but as it was slightly removed from scriptural tasks, it was placed after the Three Learnings. When the Yao Qin was deluded by the heterodox, Daorong refuted their rights and wrongs; when the Northern Wei favoured heterodoxy, Tanshi subdued their forceful resistance. The former biography made this clear; their lineage can be recorded. Passing to the reigns of the Qi and the Zhou, their administrative policies were of different winds: the Gao family of Qi exclusively fostered the Buddhist fold, whereas Emperor Wu of Zhou partially promoted Laozi's multitude. Yet heterodoxy pressured and concealed the orthodox; when heterodoxy turned deceitful, the orthodox broke through; falsehood disrupted the real; when the real was purified, the false withdrew. Thus the Qi realm was unified, the people harbouring no divided loyalties. Śramaṇas crowded the state; monasteries and pagodas filled the country. Two million sangha members—these are the words of the chief directors; forty thousand monasteries were all arrayed as shrines of the Buddhist fold. In a nutshell, Shanzhou's transformational boundary universally embraced the upholders of the likeness and true \[Dharma\]; the greatness of its ferry and raft cannot be compared. How could this be the Dharma's power alone? It is said to depend on people! As its propagation relies on people, then Lord Xian occupied the foremost position. Concealing splendour and casting dust, everyone disparaged it without consideration; this may be called opening up its Path through provocation. When Fashang donned his robes and went forth to meet adversity, he mingled soberness with drunkenness: sober, he grasped the repeated reprimands from above; drunk, he displayed an empty front to the heterodox foes. Even the secret arts of the Golden Casket and the Jade Sheath could not be spoken in comparison; what need be said of the extraordinary strategies of Sun Wu and Wu Qi? Thus, at the moment he ascended the seat, he stirred the hearts of all. The diverse crowds were like mountains and hills; their clamorous debates were like clouds. Yet no sooner did he brandish his sword of eloquence than the demonic vapors were instantly quashed, fixing the arts before his face and erecting subtle words for that very age. Hence, those who spoke of transcendents cast their bodies from the terraces and railings; those who took emptiness as their doctrine deeply shaved their heads in the royal court. An enlightened edict was thereupon issued that the state should have no dual beliefs. Although Lord Chou was eminent in the path of concentration, and Shang and Xian took the lead in the gates of doctrinal meaning, the celebration of that time certainly cannot be spoken of in the same breath. The land of Qin of the Zhou clan has been known historically as the 'home of warriors'; the proverb regarding jackals and wolves, one imagines, was not falsely applied. Their embrace of culture was scanty, while their practice of valour was exceedingly deep. Drawing upon the prognostications of the apocrypha and weft texts, they accepted the flattering arts of deceit and fraud. Wei Song was originally an offspring of ours, and Zhang Bin was a remnant of theirs. Though from different origins, they were of one mind, mutually assisting as lips and teeth. They vied in submitting sealed memorials, crookedly adducing roaming slander, brazenly blinding the emperor's heart and overturning the sacrifices of benevolence. At that time, before anyone had thought of the calamity's beginning, the calamity sprouted in its gradations, unknown to the hundred officials. By the time the blessings of Wangyi came to an end, it burst forth like a deluge; the dynasty was given no time to alter its former policies, and what was the use of sighs and laments? Sengjie and Dao'an had reputations distinct from Wei's lineage; their style was lofty and free, comparable to the vast sky. Once their two treatises were presented, heterodox views were about to cease; yet treacherous deceit and petty cunning ultimately brought down earlier achievements. The superior worthy Jing'ai met with this decadent era; stirring himself to reject remonstrance, he kept his plainness in remote crags. Lamenting that the true Path was utterly laid waste, it was truly that defending the Dharma lacked power. Thereupon, discarding his body among the pines and stones, he sacrificed his life for the Western Pure Land. At that time, those who followed the same path and abandoned their bodies also numbered more than ten. Were it not for holding great salvation for the degraded world and feeling deepened sorrow at beholding the extinction of the Dharma, how could they have discarded what they held dear in the secluded forest, ending their lives as a refuge and rescue? Truly it was admirable! Truly it was tragic! If one closely examines the several worthies of successive dynasties, the traces of their inheriting and prospering the Dharma can be seen. Their clarifying discernment is looked up to like the sun and moon; their pure models are venerated like the high mountains. All are fully revealed in their root biographies, and their continuous flourishing was vast. The Sui held sway over the world and had deep faith in the Buddhist fold, while also maintaining the halls of Laozi to accommodate ordinary folk. Two generations continued the imperial calendar, following the policies of the previous court: lamenting the fine model of the likeness teaching, they inherited the respect of Duke Huan of Song. At that time, clerics and laity looked upon one another with sorrow. Master Mingshan bent his posture and stepped forward to respond; as he had not previously shown formidable skill, the assembly leaked murmurs. When they saw his stern countenance and uncompromising words defying the severe edict, all thought disaster would crush his body and head, trembling in sympathy, unable to steady their feet; yet Shan beamed with a cheerful countenance, his joyful courage ample and leisurely. The Emperor subsequently proclaimed that the Buddhist fold truly had men of talent. The multitude only then realised that he had emerged like an awl from a sack; how difficult it is to know a man! Men are truly hard to know; one who knows that difficulty comes once in a thousand years, does he not? Truly, this is not empty. When the August Tang initiated its era, in every generation there were such men. Puying wore his mat to the Heavenly Gate; Huiman was loaded with robes amidst the ranks of the court; Zhishi was unyielding and fierce, reproving the influential figures of his time; Falin was impassioned and generous, speaking to the utmost before the enlightened edict. Different generations shared the same manner, never falling short of the ancients. In all cases, their words and actions occurred together, life and death matched to the same day. Thus were their names able to flow for ten thousand generations, inheriting the vast plan of the former sages! Indeed, the enterprises of the Path in the sūtras and treatises take the purification of the mind as their primary task; yet propagating and defending the net of the Dharma truly solidifies far-reaching aspirations. When aspirations are far-reaching, one does not ponder distress and disgrace; when the mind is pure, one does not fear severe execution. One understands that the three characteristics \[of conditioned things\] run like galloping steeds, and recognises that the nine realms of existence are no true home. If one has never acted for the Dharma, one wastes the remainder of one's years in vain; how could it merely affect one's rebirth? It exhausts all future aggregates. Thereupon, embracing merit and wisdom, they confront all Buddhas, regarding their bodies as abandoned dust; brandishing spiritual strategies, they advance straight forward, beating the expansive eloquence of thorough penetration. Only wishing that the Dharma remain, throwing themselves into cauldrons is like returning home; already belonging to the brightness of wisdom, dwelling in the turbid world is like a dream. Thus they were able not to betray the trust bequeathed to them; this biography indeed has its traces! Who, seeing this, would not strive and exert their aspirations toward the high heavens? > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 24.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.24.13) - [Next: 24.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.24.15) - [Up: 24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.24) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.24.14) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.24.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.24.14) · Pramāṇa