續高僧傳 25.119

25.119

釋法行者。不知何人。即論法師之神足也。論本住玉泉。煬帝隆重見於別傳。行性素不倫言多卓異。或居山谷。時入市𮠔。每往清溪。路由覆船頂。見泉流茂木乃顧曰。十年之後。當有大福慧人營搆伽藍。及智者來儀。果成先告。又嘗往當陽城。執竹弓射之。後有山賊圍城。如所前相。然每出異言。云梁休咎。宣帝惡之。令追將戮。隨使至焉。抗不前曰。吾償命於此地。尋有使至。隨致命。盡遂斬之。而無有血。臨終說眾要偈。辭理切附不可具載。皆述業報不可逃避。及戮訖。逡巡間屍靈遂失。僕射蕭瑀。行至四望山。因禪師所為宣帝懺曰。先人殺聖人罪者。禮悔之餘。願為及也。傳曰。以為。後梁纘曆。勢不超挺。孤守一城。傍被禦衛。有何榮荷。隨妄造愆。故斬聖人。望延厚祚。所謂前望失於後途。不久追入流離關壤。無辜之責誠不可欺。

Śramaṇa Faxing: It is not known who he was. He was an accomplished disciple of Dharma Master Lun. Lun originally lived at Yuquan; Emperor Yang held him in high esteem, as seen in his separate biography. Faxing was by nature unusual and his words were often extraordinary. At times he lived in mountain valleys, and at times entered the marketplace. Whenever he went to Qingxi, his route took him over the summit of Fuchuan. Seeing the flowing springs and lush trees, he looked back and said, "Ten years from now, a person of great merit and wisdom will construct a saṅghārāma here." When Zhizhe arrived, the earlier prediction was indeed fulfilled. He also once went to the city of Dangyang and shot at it with a bamboo bow. Later, mountain bandits surrounded the city, just as he had presaged. Furthermore, he often uttered strange words regarding the fortunes and misfortunes of the Liang. Emperor Xuan disliked this and ordered that he be pursued and executed. He followed the envoy and arrived there, but stubbornly refused to advance, saying, "I will pay with my life on this ground." Soon another envoy arrived, carrying out the mandate, and thereupon beheaded him; yet there was no blood. At the point of death, he recited several essential verses, whose words and principles were so earnest and fitting that they cannot be fully recorded, all expounding that karmic retribution cannot be escaped. Once the execution was finished, in an instant his spiritual corpse vanished. Right Administrative Supervisor Xiao Yu reached Mount Siwang and, on behalf of Emperor Xuan, repented before a dhyāna master, saying, "Regarding the crime of our ancestor in killing a sage, in addition to our rites of repentance, may this be dedicated to him." The biographer remarks: In my view, the Latter Liang continued its calendar without exceptional power, clinging alone to a single city, sheltered and defended by its neighbors. What honor or burden did it have? Yet it rashly committed transgressions and thus beheaded a sage, hoping to prolong its rich fortune. This is what is meant by losing the rear path by looking ahead; before long, it was pursued and driven into wandering within the borders of the Passes. The guilt of wronging the innocent truly cannot be cheated.