續高僧傳 2.7

2.7

Narendrayaśas—rendered in the Sui language as Zuncheng (Venerable Renown)—was a man from the kingdom of Uḍḍiyāna in North Tianzhu. The correct phonetic rendering should be Wutu (鄔荼), with the sound of tu being *chiye* (chi-ye fan). Its king was of the same clan as the Buddha, having Śākya as his surname and belonging to the kṣatriya caste, which in the Sui language is rendered as "lord of the soil and fields." Because at the beginning of the kalpa they were the first to serve as lords distributing the land, they were consequently so named; this refers to what are now called rulers of kingdoms. At the age of seventeen, [Narendra]yaśas resolved to enter the monastic life (pravrajyā). Soon he met famous masters and heard the true teaching in full. At the age of twenty-one, he received the full precepts. Hearing various senior elders praising the holy traces of the Buddha—some saying that a certain kingdom possessed his bowl, another kingdom his robe, or that his cranial bone and teeth had performed numerous miraculous transformations—he thereupon conceived the wish to be able to behold and venerate them. Because he had newly received the precepts, he needed to know the aspects of the Vinaya; having completed five summer retreats, he set forth on foot to travel the regions. Thus, the traces of the heavenly ladder and the stone terrace, and the sites of the dragon shrines and precious stūpas, he widely visited across various kingdoms, personally bowing in homage to them all with almost nothing omitted. He once resided at the Veṇuvana Monastery for ten years; walking everywhere throughout the monasteries, he encountered many eminent virtues. There was a venerable elder deeply cognizant of human capacities, who looked at [Narendra]yaśas and said: "If you could cultivate in quietude, you would attain the noble fruit; I fear that by wandering and traveling, you will ultimately accomplish nothing." At the time, though he heard this, his mind did not comprehend it; later on, looking back and reflecting, what use was his regret? [Narendra]yaśas turned his back on the Himalayas in the north, reached Siṃhala (Sri Lanka) in the south, and having surveyed the holy traces throughout, he returned to his old land. There he beheld the ruler of the kingdom of Uḍḍiyāna to be a true great being (mahāsattva); among all he had experienced and seen, few were his equal. Let us attempt to describe it briefly: he governed the people with principle, and the people loved him like kin. In the fifth watch of the late night, he first paid homage to the triratna, offering incense, flowers, instrumental music, and song with complete sincerity. When the sun rose, he ascended the hall and only then attended to the myriad affairs of state. Next, when the hour of chen arrived, he bathed the image [of the Buddha] in fragrant water. In the palace, a meal for one hundred monks was regularly provided every day; the king and his consort served the food with their own hands. After the meal, to digest the food, he practiced various martial arts. When the sun began to decline, he copied ten lines of scripture, discussed the meaning of the Dharma with virtuous monks, and deliberated on governance with his ministers. At dusk, he entered the Buddha hall and offered lamps and candles himself; his prostrations and recitations each had a regular rhythm. Only after completing his routine practices did he retire to rest. For more than thirty years, this devotion never faltered. The king had a hundred sons, all harboring sincere filial piety; the surviving ways of the Śākya clan flowed on in this kingdom. However, because the monastery adjoined the hills, it was burned down by a wild fire. They dispatched one another to make appeals far and wide. With six companions, [Narendra]yaśas went forth to propagate the teaching north of the Himalayas. Reaching the precipitous peaks, they saw two paths—one for humans and one for spirits. The human path was barren and perilous, while the spirit path was smooth and clear. Travelers, their minds confused, mostly followed the spirit path; as they gradually entered its realm, they were killed. In the past, a holy king had erected a stone statue of the heavenly king Vaiśravaṇa at the start of the path, pointing his finger toward the human path. One monk among his companions mistakenly took the spirit path. When [Narendra]yaśas realized this, he recited the divine dhāraṇī of Avalokiteśvara with his mouth and pursued him for a hundred paces, but the monk had already been harmed by the spirits. [Narendra]yaśas himself escaped this disaster through the power of the mantra. Then he proceeded forward again, and encountered mountain bandits. Focusing his mindfulness on the aforementioned mantra, he received divine protection; the bandits rushed forward to attack him, but though facing his eyes, they could not see him. Following the road eastward, he reached the kingdom of the Rouran. Encountering the turmoil of the Turks, the western road was blocked; his wish to return to his homeland was severed, and so he drifted along. To the north, he reached the shore of the Muddy Sea (Ni Hai), and to the south, he was more than seven thousand li away from the Turks. Since that place was also unstable, he fled far away to the territory of the [Northern] Qi. In the seventh year of the Tianbao era, he arrived at the capital, Ye. Emperor Wenxuan granted him extraordinary courtesies, treating him uniquely differently from ordinary people. [Narendra]yaśas was then forty years old; his character was staunch, heroic, and refined, so that public opinion held him in awe. For this reason, Wenxuan treated him with great honor, housing him in the Tianping Monastery and requesting him to translate scriptures. The Indic manuscripts in the Tripiṭaka Hall numbered more than a thousand bundles; by imperial order, they were sent to the monastery. He was lodged in the upper quarters; a sanctuary was established for him, and offerings of supreme rarity and delicacy were provided. A separate kitchen and storehouse were set up to show reverence. The emperor also commanded the Grand Controller of the Office of Buddhist Clergy (Zhaoxuan Datong), the śramaṇa Fashang, and more than twenty others to oversee the translation. The śramaṇa Fazhi and the upāsaka Wan Tianyi transmitted the language. Tianyi was originally a Xianbei surnamed Wansi (Wanqi); having left home in his youth to study under a Brahmin, he was intelligent, resolute, skilled in Indic writing and language, and adept in incantations, charms, and arts; for this reason, he had a prior reputation and took part in the transmission. They initially translated more than fifty fascicles of various scriptures, greatly reviving the true Dharma and bringing expansive joy to the minds of the multitude. Emperor Xuan held the Dharma in extraordinary regard; he personally bowed to the Indic manuscripts and turned to his ministers, saying: "This is the vast foundation of the triratna; therefore, I honor it with special devotion." Such was his faithful reverence and sincerity. Whenever [Narendra]yaśas had leisure from his translation work, he occasionally recited divine dhāraṇīs, providing unseen deliverance and visible aid, and accomplishing much merit. Before long, he was appointed Metropolis Controller of the Office of Buddhist Clergy (Zhaoxuan Du), and soon shifted to Controller (Tong). The offerings and stipends he received were not kept for his personal sustenance; he loved giving rise to compassion and benevolence and took pleasure in promoting works of merit. He set up offerings to feed monks and gave to the poor and destitute; prisoners in jail and tethered livestock were all delivered by him. In busy places such as markets and city gates, he dug many public wells and personally filtered water to provide drink to sentient beings. Furthermore, in the western mountains of Jijun, he founded three monasteries; situated beside springs and bordering valleys, their layout was extremely scenic. He also gathered and cared for men and women suffering from leprosy in separate quarters, providing the four requisites so that their needs were fully met. Furthermore, he went to the guesthouse of the Turks and urged them to observe the six days of purification, releasing sheep that were meant for slaughter and adopting a vegetarian diet. He once fell ill and could not rise for a hundred days; the Son of Heaven and the Empress personally inquired after his health. [Narendra]yaśas sighed and said: "I was originally a guest from abroad, and my virtue is not lofty; now that the imperial carriage has descended, it is purely out of respect for the Dharma." Looking into his heart, he felt shame and apprehension combined. In the final years of the Jiande era, Emperor Wu of the Zhou conquered Qi; Buddhism and the state were extinguished at the same time. On the outside, [Narendra]yaśas donned lay clothing, while on the inside, he wore the three robes. Fleeing from place to place, east and west, he had no leisure to rest. The five assemblies were impoverished and distressed, having nowhere to take refuge; to those who were starving in ditches, he reduced his own rations to give to them; to the aged and sick who had to be supported, he helped them according to circumstances. Although his strength and resources were scarce, he refused dissuasion and persisted in doing this; his spirit and resolve remained vigorous, and he taught and guided without weariness. He bore these difficulties for four full years. When the Sui ruled the realm, they once again exalted the triratna. At the beginning of the Kaihuang era, in distant response to Indic scriptures, an imperial edict was issued requesting him to come and propagate translations. In the seventh month of the second year, his disciple Daomi and others escorted him to the capital, where he resided at Daxingshan Monastery. In the last month of winter of that year, the work of translation was initiated. By imperial order, the Controller of the Office of Buddhist Clergy (Zhaoxuan Tong), the śramaṇa Tanyan, and more than thirty others were instructed to collaborate in the translation. The sovereign's courteous inquiries were frequent, and the offerings were abundant. Although advanced in age, his conduct grew ever more vigorous. He once practiced according to the Śāriputra-dhāraṇī, fully observing its disciplines; in a dream, he attained a realm in which his own body became a Buddha. Such auspicious signs were frequent and numerous. Later, he moved to Guangji Monastery and served as the leader of foreign monks, comforting travelers and winning people's hearts in a wondrous manner. Suddenly, one morning, he said to his disciples: "I am old and my strength is failing; I shall soon depart this world. While I am still clear-minded, I admonish you, my disciples: the Buddhadharma is difficult to encounter, so you should diligently cultivate and study it; a human body is difficult to obtain, so be careful not to waste it in vain." Having spoken, he went to his pillow and peacefully passed away. He had completed a hundred years of age; it was on the twenty-ninth day of the eighth month in the ninth year of the Kaihuang era. Earlier, [Narendra]yaśas had encountered a skilled physiognomist who said: "Your years will certainly reach a hundred, and you are also destined to ascend as an immortal." Having passed away at full age, his words were verified. As for ascending as an immortal, that profound principle remains difficult to fathom. However, his face and physique were majestic and remarkably different from ordinary people; the uṣṇīṣa rose upon his crown, soaring like a cloud-capped peak; his eyes were perfectly centered and equal in upper and lower proportions; his ears were high and long, with complete lobes. Among the glorious features of men, none could compare to this. He was truly an eminent virtue in transmitting the Dharma. Once the Dharma master passed away, both monastics and laity were plunged into grief and shock, and glorious undertakings gradually fell into decline. In total, the scriptures and treatises he translated across his life amounted to fifteen texts in more than eighty fascicles; these were the Bodhisattva-gocaropāya-viṣaya-vikurvaṇa-nirdeśa-sūtra, the Candragarbha Sūtra, the Sūryagarbha Sūtra, the Dharmaśreṣṭhy-abhidharma, and so on. The śramaṇas Sengshen, Mingfen, and the Gentleman-in-Attendance Li Daobao and others transmitted the words and transcribed them brush in hand. The Controller of the Office of Buddhist Clergy, the śramaṇa Tanyan, and the Metropolis Controller, the śramaṇa Lingzang, along with more than twenty other monks, supervised the process from start to finish. By the winter of the fifth year, the collations and examinations were all completed, and the śramaṇa Yancong wrote prefaces for them; they are all documented in the Buddhist catalogues of the Qi, Zhou, and Sui. Looking back, [Narendra]yaśas traveled for more than forty years across more than fifty kingdoms and one hundred and fifty thousand li. Auspicious omens, spiritual traces, fine monasteries, eminent monks, rushing waters, deep forests, mountain spirits, and sea beasts—there was none that he did not respect or that did not submit to him. Because the events were so vast, there is no leisure to relate them all. The śramaṇa Yancong wrote a basic biography for him, which circulates fully in the world. At that time, there was also a śramaṇa from the same kingdom named Vinītaruci—rendered in the Sui language as Miexi (Extinguishing Delight)—who came from not far beyond five hundred yojanas to observe the thriving conversion. In the second year of the Kaihuang era, at Daxingshan, he translated two texts: the Gayāśīrṣa-vihāra Mahāyāna-dhāraṇī Sūtra [and another text]. The Gentleman-in-Attendance Li Daobao transmitted the words, the śramaṇa Fazuan transcribed them brush in hand, and the śramaṇa Yancong wrote the preface.