續高僧傳 28.18

28.18

Shi Fajian was a native of Luo County in Guanghan, with the secular surname Zhu. He had recited a thousand fascicles of sūtras. Still having much leisure, he strolled and associated with common folk without appearing different from them. Suddenly, he would shut his doors and not emerge for consecutive days, taking no food. One heard only the recitation of sūtras; however, he hummed and intoned in a low voice, so that the sound did not carry outside. Someone leaned against the wall to eavesdrop, straining to catch the sound, and heard only a fine and steady murmuring, like waves spewed by a hidden current. Occasionally he would go out, and [then] he followed the King of Wuling, Xiao Ji, eastward. [The King] ordered his younger brother Xiao Gui to guard Yizhou. The Wei dispatched General Yuchi Jiong to invade Shu. When Gui surrendered, the eminent monks of great renown within the city were all detained. At night, there was suddenly a bright light. Jiong sent men to trace the light and found that the other monks were all asleep, and only Fajian sat upright reciting sūtras, with light issuing from his mouth. When Jiong heard of this, he went in person to Jian's place, made prostrations, and sat listening until dawn. Jiong asked, "What sūtra was the Dharma master reciting last night?" He replied, "The lower case of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, ten fascicles." Jiong asked, "Why not recite from the beginning?" He replied, "This poor monk's turn in recitation had simply reached this point." Jiong asked, "How much can the Dharma master recite?" He replied, "This poor monk made a vow to recite the entire canon, but my mind is prone to indolence, and so far I have only memorized a thousand fascicles." Jiong was startled and suspicious, not believing him. Wishing to test him, he said, "I would trouble you to recite the entirety once; it should not cause you great exhaustion, should it?" Jian responded, "Cantillating and reciting the canonical scriptures is a śramaṇa's constant work; how could I shrink from hardship?" Thereupon a high seat was set up, and the monks were all ordered to hold the written texts to follow along and listen. Fajian ascended the seat and recited for them; at times it was like a rapid torrent pouring into a steep gorge, his intake and release of syllables and his breathing at times resembled a pure breeze entering tall pines. Those who were intelligent could barely catch the lingering cadence; those whose minds were distracted and dissipated merely looked in vain at his dust and tracks. For seven days and seven nights, the count already reached a thousand [fascicles], yet he still did not stop. Jiong stood up, apologized, and said: "This disciple's troops cannot linger long; please permit us to take our leave here." The monks were consequently all released. When Jiong departed, he sighed and said: "Since the Tathāgata's extinction, Ānanda has been called the foremost in retaining all; could he have surpassed this? That Shu should possess such a person is indeed why it has always remained peaceful and happy. Extraordinary, truly extraordinary!" Jian died at the age of eighty.