續高僧傳 9.17

9.17

釋寶海。姓龔。巴西閬中人。少出家有遠志。承楊都佛法崇盛。便決誓下峽。既至金陵。依雲法師聽習成實。旁經諸席亟發清譽。乃引眾別講徒屬兼多。于時梁高重法自講涅槃。命海論佛性義。便昇論榻。雖往返言晤而執鍮石香爐。帝曰。法師雖斷慳貪。香爐非鍮不執。海應聲曰。陛下位居宸極。帽簪非纛不戴。帝大悅。眾咸驚歎。及後還蜀住謝鎮寺。大弘講肆。武陵王紀作鎮井絡。敬愛無已。每就海宿清談玄理。乃忘晝夜。至旦王將灌手。日影初出。王曰。日暉粉壁狀似城中。風動剎鈴方知寺裏。其晨車蓋迎王。馬復嘶鳴。海曰。遙看蓋動喜遇陳思。忽聽馬鳴慶逢龍樹。相與欣笑而出。王昇車謂御從曰。聽海法師言詞。令我盤桓而不能去。其辯給無方為此例也。周氏跨躡梁益。庸公鎮方。彌加深敬越於恒伍。時年八十。謂門人法明曰。吾死至矣。一無前慮。但悲去後圖塔湮滅耳。當露屍以遺鳥狩。及建武之年果被除屏。令院宇荒蕪。惟餘一堂容像存焉。

Shi Baohai, surnamed Gong, was a native of Langzhong in Baxi. He went forth from home at an early age, having lofty aspirations. Hearing that the Buddha-Dharma was flourishing in the capital Yangdu, he made a resolute vow to travel down through the Gorges. Having arrived at Jinling, he relied on Dharmabhāṇaka Yun to study the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra (Chengshi lun); he also visited various lecture seats, frequently winning a sterling reputation. He then led his own community and lectured separately, attracting numerous followers. At that time, Emperor Gao of Liang revered the Dharma and personally lectured on the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, inviting Baohai to discuss the meaning of Buddha-nature. Baohai ascended the debate couch; while engaging in verbal exchanges, he held a brass incense burner. The Emperor remarked: "Although the Dharmabhāṇaka has severed avarice, if an incense burner is not made of brass, you will not hold it." Baohai immediately replied: "Although Your Majesty occupies the celestial pinnacle, if a cap pin lacks a banner tassel, you will not wear it." The Emperor was delighted, and the assembly gasped in admiration. Later, he returned to Shu and resided at Xiezhen Temple, greatly expanding his lecture hall. Prince of Wuling, Xiao Ji, held military garrison over the Jingluo region and respected and cherished him without limit; he often stayed overnight with Baohai to engage in refined discourse on profound principles, forgetting day and night. At daybreak, as the Prince was about to wash his hands, the morning sun had just appeared. The Prince said: "The sunlight illuminating the whitewashed walls resembles the inside of a city; only when the wind moves the pagoda bells do I realize I am in a temple." That morning, the Prince's carriage was sent to receive him, and the horses whinnied. Baohai remarked: "Gazing from afar at the moving carriage canopy, I rejoice at meeting Prince Chensi; suddenly hearing the horses neigh, I am glad to encounter Nāgārjuna." Laughing together with delight, they went out. The Prince mounted his carriage and said to his attendants: "Listening to Dharmabhāṇaka Hai's words makes me linger so that I cannot bear to leave." His ready wit was inexhaustible, as shown in incidents of this kind. When the Zhou dynasty annexed Liang and Yi, Duke of Yong governed the region and respected him even more deeply, far above ordinary mortals. At the age of eighty, Baohai said to his disciple Faming: "My death is at hand. I have no anxieties about what lies ahead, but I only grieve that after I am gone, the monasteries and stupas will be destroyed. My corpse should be exposed to feed birds and beasts." In the Jianwu era, Buddhism was indeed abolished; the courtyards fell into desolation, leaving only a single hall containing images preserved there.