續高僧傳 6.45

6.45

釋僧遷。姓嚴。吳郡吳人。孝敬夙彰。侍中玉錫見而異焉。一面定交。師事鍾山靈曜道則法師。則亦權行外彰深相推重。後遊談講肆縱辯天垂曾難招提慧琰禪品義。精思間出中座嗟揚。招提因改舊致。更新章句。梁高有勅。善言殿義集登即銳辯如流。帝有嘉之。仍降家僧之禮。帝制勝鬘義疏。班壽光殿。諸僧咸懷自恧。遷深窮理窟。特詔敷述。皇儲尚書令何敬容。以並請論擊。道俗欣洽時論題之。中興荊鄴。正位僧端。職任期月道風飈舉。恂恂七眾不齊而成。昔晉氏始置僧司。迄茲四代。求之備業罕有斯焉。自後探索幽求。經誥盤結皆鍼盲起廢。怡然從政。以天監十二年四月十七日。移神大寶精舍。春秋七十有九。二十日葬於江淩之中華北山。初年少孝稟自然。家貧親老珍養或闕。後名德既立。供嚫腴旨進饋益陳。及處艱憂毀幾致滅。年方弱冠便誦法華數溢六千。坐而若寐親見普賢。香光照燭仍降摩頂。書而不傳。大漸惟幾。方陳同志。凡講涅槃大品十八部經。各數十遍。皆製義疏流于後學。等觀即梁明帝之法名也。自云。北面歸依時移三紀。權經問道十有三年。終識苦空功由善導。況乎福田五世師資兩葉。仁既厚矣義寔深焉。遂刊碑墳隴。述德如左。

Shi Sengqian was surnamed Yan and was a native of Wu in Wujun. His filial devotion was revealed early in life. The Palace Attendant Wang Xi saw him, marveled at him, and formed a friendship upon their first meeting. He served as a disciple to the dharmabhāṇaka Daoze of Lingyao on Mount Zhong; Ze also manifested skillful means externally and held him in deep esteem. Later, he conversed in lecture halls, letting loose debates that seemed to descend from heaven. He once challenged the exposition of the Dhyāna Chapter by Huiyan of Zhaoti; with brilliant reflections emerging continuously, the assembly sighed in admiration. Zhaoti consequently altered his previous formulations and renewed his textual divisions. Emperor Gao of the Liang issued an imperial decree [convening] a doctrinal assembly at the Shanyan Hall; Qian immediately spoke with razor-sharp eloquence that flowed like a torrent. The Emperor commended him and accorded him the courtesy due to a domestic monk. When the Emperor composed a commentary on the Śrīmālādevī-sūtra and promulgated it at Shouguang Hall, the various monks all felt inadequate; but Qian deeply plumbed its doctrinal depths and was specially decreed to expound it. The Crown Prince and He Jingrong, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, jointly requested him to debate and challenge interpretations. Monastics and laymen rejoiced in harmony, and contemporary opinions praised him. During the Zhongxing era, at Jingye, he assumed the position of Leader of the Saṅgha; during his term of office, the wind of his teaching rose like a tempest, and the disciplined sevenfold assembly was perfected without coercion. Since the Jin dynasty first established the monastic administration down to these four dynasties, if one seeks a complete fulfillment of duties, rarely has there been one like him. From then on, he explored the profound mysteries; wherever the scriptures and teachings were entangled, he was like a needle restoring sight to the blind and reviving the paralyzed. Joyfully attending to administrative affairs, on the seventeenth day of the fourth month of the twelfth year of the Tianjian reign, his spirit departed at Dabao Hermitage, at the age of seventy-nine. On the twentieth day, he was buried at the Northern Mountain of Zhonghua in Jiangling. In his youth, his filial piety was an innate endowment; when his family was poor and his parents aged, delicacies and nourishment were sometimes lacking. Later, when his renowned virtue was established, offerings and sumptuous delicacies were presented in ever greater abundance. When he was in mourning for his parents, his grief almost caused his death. When he had just reached the age of twenty, he recited the Lotus Sūtra more than six thousand times. Sitting as if in a daze, he saw Samantabhadra in person; fragrant light illuminated him, and [Samantabhadra] bestowed on him the touching of his crown. He wrote this down but did not transmit it; only when his final illness was critical did he reveal it to like-minded companions. In all, he lectured on eighteen scriptures, including the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, each several tens of times, and composed doctrinal commentaries for all of them, which were circulated among later students. Dengguan was the Dharma name of Emperor Ming of the Liang. He stated of himself: 'Turning north to take refuge, a period of three decades has passed; studying the provisional scriptures and inquiring into the Way has lasted thirteen years. That I have ultimately understood suffering and emptiness is thanks to his good guidance. How much more so is he a field of merit for five generations and a master-disciple relationship spanning two generations! His benevolence was indeed profound, and his righteousness truly deep.' Thereupon he carved a stele at the burial mound, recounting his virtue as follows.