續高僧傳 4.10

4.10

Tripiṭaka Master Nadī, called Fusheng in Tang; following the Sanskrit fully, it is Punyodaya. Because the expression is wordy, here it is only abbreviated colloquially as Nadī. Originally a native of Central India, he left the household life at an early age. Enlightened by famous teachers, his aspirations were heroic and far-reaching, cherishing the dissemination of the Way in his heart. Traveling across various countries, his task lay in opening the minds of beings. He was thoroughly proficient in grammar and well-versed in lexicography. Tokharistan summoned him as a man of letters, corresponding to the drafters of the Orchid Terrace in this land. By nature universally benevolent and fond of novelties, esteeming whatever heard knowledge might lead to realization, he did not shrink from distant foreign lands. He once went to the Kingdom of Siṃhala, and further ascended Mount Laṅkā in the southeast, transforming beings according to affinities throughout the kingdoms of the Southern Seas. Being skilled in understanding written and spoken languages, he expounded the teachings as soon as he arrived, ordaining people and establishing monasteries, spreading his influence everywhere. Hearing that the eastern state of Cīna was flourishing in turning the Mahāyāna wheel of Dharma, with the Buddha's teachings exalted and celebrated as foremost in Jambudvīpa, he gathered more than five hundred bundles of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras, vinaya, and śāstras, totaling over one thousand five hundred works. In the sixth year of Yonghui [655], he first arrived at the capital. An edict ordered that he be accommodated at the Ci'en Monastery and provided for by the relevant bureau. At that time, Dharma Master Xuanzang was in charge of translation; his fame and glory were brilliant, so there was no way [for Nadī] to make his mark. Obscured and neglected, prajñā suffered difficulty. Not receiving introduction, he was instead employed as an errand runner. In the first year of Xianqing [656], an imperial edict sent him to the various Kunlun states to gather unusual medicines. Arriving at the Southern Seas, the various kings took refuge in reverence, establishing separate monasteries for him, ordaining people, and transmitting the Dharma; the breadth of his propagation doubled that of before. Because he had previously been dispatched by imperial command, he was obliged by principle to report back; intending to investigate anew the Indic manuscripts at Ci'en, he returned to the old monastery in the third year of Longshuo [663]. The scriptures he brought had all been taken north by Xuanzang. Though he wished to translate them, he had no support, translating only three texts, including the Eight Maṇḍala Worship Ritual and the Āṭānāṭīya, which are concise and essential, suitable for constant practice and study. In that year, the kingdom of Zhenla in the Southern Seas, having long been converted by Nadī, revered him endlessly and longed to see him; the masters of the entire country requested him from afar under a pretext, saying, "Our country has fine medicines known only to Nadī; we request that he come in person to collect them." An imperial edict permitted him to go, and there has been no means for him to return. When I widely questioned travelers from Tokharistan, they said: "Tripiṭaka Master Nadī is a disciple of Nāgārjuna. His understanding of signlessness differs considerably from Xuanzang's." Western Indian monks said: "After the Great Master passed away, this man was foremost in deeply understanding the true mark and mastering expedient means. Regarding the five vinaya divisions of the Hīnayāna and the four Veda treatises of the non-Buddhists, there was none whose sources he did not thoroughly penetrate and whose words and meanings he did not clearly comprehend. His words flowed like a string of pearls, and his reasoning soared like rising clouds. The Mahāyāna-samuccaya-śāstra composed by him comprised about forty fascicles; just as he was about to translate it, he was dispatched away, and so it was omitted." The lament over cradling the unicorn has appeared from generation to generation; how difficult it is to know a man, rarely encountered in a thousand ages! Nadī brought the Way from afar, but was cast off into the Northern Darkness without being employed; he was poisoned three times, and repeatedly tasked with southern missions, trudging tens of thousands of li, constantly enduring pestilential vapors. Entrusting his life to this—alas, how lamentable!