續高僧傳 4.6.1

4.6.1

城南不遠醯羅城中。 有佛頂骨。 周尺二寸。 其相仰平形如天蓋。 佛髑髏蓋如荷葉盤。 佛眼圓睛狀如柰許澄淨皎然。 有佛大衣其色黃赤。 佛之錫杖以鐵為環紫檀為笴。 此五聖迹同在一城。 固守之務如傳國寶。 北近突厥。 昔經侵奪。 雖至所在還潛本處。 斯則赴緣隱顯。 未在兵威。 奘奉覲靈相悲淚橫流。 手撥末香親看體狀。 倍增欣悅。 即以和香印其頂骨。 覩有嘉瑞。 又增悲慶近有北狄大月支王。 欲知來報。 以香取相。 乃示馬形。 甚非所望。 加諸布施積功懺悔。 又以香取現師子形。 雖位狩王終為畜類。 情倍歸依又加施戒。 乃現人天。 方還本國。 故其俗法。 見五相者相一金錢。 取其相者酬七金錢。 俗利其寶用充福物。 既非僧掌固守彌崇。 無論道俗必先酬價。 奘被王命觀視具周。 旁國諸僧承斯榮望同來禮謁。 又東山行至健馱邏國。 佛寺千餘。 民皆雜信。 城中素有盋廟。 眾事莊嚴。 昔如來盋經於此廟。 乃數百年。 今移波斯王宮供養。 城東有迦膩王大塔基周里半。 佛骨舍利一斛在中。 舉高五百餘尺。 相輪上下二十五重天火三災。 今正營構。 即世中所謂雀離浮圖是也。 元魏靈太后胡氏。 奉信情深。 遣沙門道生等。 齎大幡長七百餘尺。 往彼掛之。 脚纔及地。 即斯塔也。 亦不測雀離名生所由。 左側諸迹其相極多。 近則世親如意造論之地。 遠則捨於千眼睒奉二親。 檀特名山達拏本迹。 仙為女亂。 佛化鬼母。 並在其境。 皆無憂王為建石塔。 高者數百餘尺。 立標記焉。 自北山行達烏長那國。 即世中所謂北天竺烏長國也。 其境周圍五千餘里。 果實充備。 為諸國所重。 傳云。 即昔輪王之苑囿也。 僧有萬餘兼大乘學。 王都四周多諸古迹。 忍仙佛蹠。 半偈避讎。 折骨書經。 割肉代鴿。 蛇藥護命。 血飲夜叉。 如斯等相。 備列其境。 各具瞻奉。 情倍欣欣。 城之東北減三百里。 大山龍泉名阿波邏。 即信度河之本源。 西南而流。 經中所謂辛頭河也。 王都東南越山逆河。 鐵橋棧道路極懸險。 千有餘里至極大川。 即古烏仗之王都也。 中有木慈氏像。 高百餘尺。 即末田地羅漢。 將諸工人三返上天方得成者。 身相端嚴特難陳說。 還返烏仗。 南至呾叉始羅國。 具見伊羅鉢龍所住之池。 月光決目之地。 育王標塔舉高十丈。 北有石門。 殊極高大崇竦重山。 道由中過。 斯又薩埵捨身處也。 自此東南。 山行險阻。 經一小國度數鐵橋。 減二千里。 至迦濕彌羅國。 即此俗常傳罽賓是也。 莫委罽賓由何而生。 觀其圖域同罽賓耳。 本是龍海羅漢取之引眾而住通三藏也。 故其國境四面負山。 周七千餘里。 門徑狹迮。 僧徒五千多學小乘。 國有大德名僧勝匠。 奘就學俱舍順正理因明聲明及大毘婆沙。 王愍遠至。 給書手十人供給寫之。 有佛牙長可寸餘光白如雪。 自濫波至此。 繞山諸國。 形體鄙薄俗習胡蕃。 雖預五方非印度之正境也。 以住居山谷風雜諸邊。 自此南下。 通望無山。 將及千里至磔迦國。 土據平川周萬餘里。 兩河分注卉木繁榮。 于時徒伴二十餘人。 行至大林中。 遇賊劫掠纔獲命全。 入村告乞乃達東境。 大林有婆羅門。 年七百歲。 貌如三十。 明中百論及外道書。 云是龍猛弟子。 乃停一月學之。 又東至那僕底國。 就調伏光法師。 學對法顯宗理門等論。 又東詣那伽羅寺。 就月胄論師。 學眾事分婆沙。 又東至祿勒那國。 就闍那崛多大德。 學經部婆沙。 又就蜜多犀那論師。 學薩婆多部辯真論。 漸次東南路經六國多有遺迹。 育王標塔高二十丈者。 其數不少。 中有末兔羅國。 最饒蹤緒。 城東六里有一山寺。 昔烏波毱多。 唐言近護。 即五師之一也。

Not far to the south of the city, in the city of Hiḍḍa, there is the Buddha's uṣṇīṣa bone, two inches in circumference according to the standard ruler; its appearance is upturned and flat, shaped like a heavenly canopy. The Buddha's cranium is shaped like a lotus leaf plate. The Buddha's eyeball is round, about the size of a Chinese plum, lucid and clear. There is the Buddha's great robe (saṅghāṭī), yellowish-red in colour. There is the Buddha's khakkhara (monk's staff), which has an iron ring and a shaft of red sandalwood. These five sacred traces are located in the same city, and the duty of guarding them is like that of protecting the state's regalia. To the north, it is close to the Turks, and in the past, it suffered their invasions; yet although [the relics] were carried to other places, they secretly returned to their original site. Thus their concealment and appearance correspond to conditions, and have never been overcome by military might. When Xuanzang venerated these spiritual relics, tears streamed from his eyes. Parting the powdered incense with his own hand to view their physical forms directly, his joy doubled. Then, using mixed incense, he pressed an impression on the uṣṇīṣa bone, and seeing an auspicious sign appear, his feelings of awe and celebration increased all the more. Recently, a northern barbarian, the king of the Great Yuezhi, wishing to know his future recompense, used incense to obtain an impression; it showed the form of a horse, which was far from what he had hoped for. He then added more alms, accumulated merit, and repented; when he took an impression with incense again, it displayed the form of a lion. Although it was the lord of the beasts, it was still an animal. With doubled devotion, he further gave alms and kept the precepts; thereupon, the forms of humans and devas appeared, and only then did he return to his native land. For this reason, according to local custom, those who wish to see the five relics pay one gold coin for each, and those who take an impression of them pay seven gold coins. The laymen exploit these treasures to supply funds for merit; since the relics are not under the custody of monks, their safeguarding is even more rigorous, and whether cleric or lay, one must pay the fee first. Receiving the king's order, Xuanzang was able to view all of them completely. The monks of neighbouring countries, relying on this honour, came together to pay homage. Further travelling through the eastern mountains, he reached the kingdom of Gandhāra. There were over a thousand Buddhist monasteries, but the people followed mixed beliefs. In the city, there had originally been a shrine for the alms-bowl, fully adorned in various ways; in the past, the Tathāgata's bowl had remained in this shrine for several hundred years, but it has now been moved to the palace of the king of Persia for worship. To the east of the city, there is the great stūpa of King Kaniṣka, with a base circumference of a li and a half. One hu of relics of the Buddha's bones is housed inside. It rises to a height of over five hundred feet, with twenty-five tiers of finial wheels above and below. Having suffered the three calamities of celestial fire, it was then being rebuilt; this is what is known in the world as the Que-li stūpa. Empress Dowager Ling, née Hu, of the Northern Wei, having deep devotion, sent the śramaṇa Daosheng and others, carrying a great banner over seven hundred feet long, to go there and hang it up; the bottom edge just barely reached the ground. It was this very stūpa. The origin of the name 'Que-li' is unknown. To its left and right, the sacred sites are extremely numerous: nearby are the places where Vasubandhu and Manoratha composed treatises; further off are the places where [the Buddha in past lives] gave up his thousand eyes and served his two parents as Śyāma. The renowned Mount Daṇḍa, the site of Viśvantara's former deeds, where a hermit was disturbed by a woman, and where the Buddha converted the Mother of Demons (Hārītī)—all these are within its borders. King Aśoka built stone stūpas for all of them, the tallest being several hundred feet high, erecting markers for them. Travelling from the northern mountains, he reached the kingdom of Uḍḍiyāna, which is what is commonly known in the world as the kingdom of Uḍḍiyāna in North Tianzhu. Its territory is over five thousand li in circumference; fruits are abundant, and it is held in high esteem by various countries. Tradition relates that it was the pleasure park of a former Cakravartin king. There are more than ten thousand monks, who also study the Mahāyāna. Around the royal capital are many ancient monuments: the sites of Kṣāntirṣi, the Buddha's footprints, giving up one's life over half a verse to avoid an enemy, breaking bones to write scriptures, cutting flesh to ransom a dove, medicine from a serpent saving lives, and giving blood to a yakṣa—all such signs are fully arrayed in this land. He paid respects to each of them, his heart filled with redoubled joy. Less than three hundred li northeast of the city, there is a dragon spring in a great mountain named Apalāla, which is the source of the Indus River, flowing to the southwest; this is what is called the Sindhu River in the sūtras. Going southeast from the royal capital, crossing mountains and ascending the river over iron suspension bridges and wooden plankways, the path was extremely perilous; after more than a thousand li, he reached a very large valley, which was the former royal capital of Uḍḍiyāna. Inside there was a wooden image of Maitreya, over a hundred feet tall; it was made by the arhat Madhyāntika, who took craftsmen up to heaven three times before it was completed. The dignified and noble appearance of its body is exceptionally hard to describe. Turning back from Uḍḍiyāna, he went south to the kingdom of Takṣaśilā, where he saw in detail the pool where the dragon Elāpatra dwelt, the place where Candraprabha sacrificed his eyes, and the stūpa marked by King Aśoka rising ten chang high. To the north there is a stone gate, extraordinarily lofty, towering amidst layered mountains, through the middle of which the road passes; this is also the place where Sattva gave up his body. From here, proceeding southeast along rugged mountain paths, passing through a small kingdom and crossing several iron suspension bridges for less than two thousand li, he reached the kingdom of Kaśmīra, which is commonly called Jibin in local tradition; it is unknown how the name Jibin originated, but looking at its geographical boundaries, it is identical to Jibin. Originally, it was a dragon sea; an arhat took it, settled the assembly there, and propagated the Tripiṭaka. Hence the realm is enclosed on all four sides by mountains, more than seven thousand li in circumference, with narrow passes and approaches. There are five thousand monks, most of whom study the Hīnayāna. The kingdom had an eminent elder, a master of great virtue named Skandhila. Xuanzang studied the Kośa, the Nyāyānusāra, Hetuvidyā, Śabdavidyā, and the Mahāvibhāṣā under him. The king, showing pity for his coming from afar, provided ten scribes to assist him in copying texts. There was a Buddha's tooth about an inch long, bright white like snow. From Lampā to this place, the various kingdoms surrounding the mountains had vulgar physical appearances and followed barbarian customs; though included within the Five Regions, they are not properly within India itself. Because they dwell in mountain valleys, their customs are mixed with those of the borders. Descending southward from here, the view opens up without mountains; after nearly a thousand li, he reached the kingdom of Ṭakka. The territory is situated on a flat plain, more than ten thousand li in circumference, with two rivers flowing separately, and vegetation lush and luxuriant. At that time, accompanied by more than twenty companions, he entered a great forest and was robbed by bandits, barely escaping with his life. Entering a village to beg for alms, they finally reached the eastern border. In the great forest there was a brāhmaṇa, seven hundred years of age, whose appearance was like that of a man of thirty, who thoroughly understood the Madhyamakaśāstra and the Śataśāstra as well as non-Buddhist texts; he said he was a disciple of Nāgārjuna. Xuanzang stayed with him for a month to study. Moving further east, he reached the kingdom of Cinabhukti, where he studied treatises such as the Abhidharma, the Samayapradīpikā, and the Nyāyamukha under Master Vinitaprabha. Moving further east, he went to the Nagaradhana Monastery, where he studied the Prakaraṇapāda-vibhāṣā under the treatise master Candravarmā. Moving further east to the kingdom of Śrughna, he studied the Sautrāntika Vibhāṣā under the bhadanta Jayagupta. He also studied the Satyasiddhi-śāstra of the Sarvāstivāda under the master Mitrasena. Gradually proceeding southeast, he passed through six kingdoms with many relics. The stūpas marked by King Aśoka standing twenty chang high were not few. Among these was the kingdom of Mathurā, which possessed the most abundant traces. Six li east of the city, there is a mountain monastery; long ago Upagupta—translated into the language of the Tang as 'Jinhu' (Near Protector)—who was one of the Five Masters, [dwelt here].