續高僧傳 4.6.6

4.6.6

Recently a monk came who had spent the summer retreat there, and was only permitted to chant and recite it, not allowed to carry it away. He explained this matter in full, yet the roads were dark and obstructed, hard to trace or investigate. Going south again for more than seven thousand li, crossing five countries along the way that all possessed sacred traces, [Xuanzang] reached the kingdom of Malakūṭa, which is the southernmost coastal border of Jambudvīpa. The mountains produce camphor. Beside them, from the rocky crest, a clear stream winds around about twenty times and flows south into the great sea. Within it is a heavenly palace, the dwelling place where the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara always abides—this is the correct name for Guanshiyin. Bordering the sea there was a city of the ancient Siṃhala kingdom; it has now entered into the sea for about three thousand li, and unless one forms a large party, one cannot reach it, so he did not go. From here, going northwest for more than four thousand li, passing through countries en route that possessed all kinds of divine anomalies, he reached the kingdom of Mahārāṣṭra. Its king was valiant, awe-inspiring, and autonomous, not yet having submitted to Śīlāditya. There were more than a hundred monasteries with five thousand monks, who studied both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. A mountain monastery on the eastern border had been built by an arhat; it had a great vihāra more than a hundred feet high, in which was installed a stone image about eighty feet long. Above it was set a stone canopy of seven tiers, suspended in empty space, each separated by about three feet. Worshippers who saw it all marvelled at this marvel. Continuing from here, he broadly sought holy traces, reaching the kingdom of Parvata. There were several renowned and virtuous masters whose learning was worth following, and he stayed there for another two years, studying the Sammatīya Root Treatise, the Compendium of the True Dharma Treatise, the Tattvasiddhi-śāstra, and so forth. Then he returned southeast to Nālandā. Having paid his respects to Śīlabhadra, he went to Mt. Yaṣṭivana to the dwelling of the master and upāsaka Jayasena. This man was of the kṣatriya caste; his learning encompassed both the internal and external [teachings], the five sciences, and the arts of calculation. Relying on the forest, he maintained disciples and lectured on the meaning of the Buddhist scriptures. Several hundred monastics and laypeople came to take refuge with him each day. Kings of various countries also came to gaze in reverence, wash his feet, make offerings, and confer fiefs of cities and towns upon him. Xuanzang studied under him the *Vijñaptimātratā-viniścaya-śāstra*, the *Artha-śāstra*, the *Abhayasiddhi-śāstra*, and so forth, for two full years from beginning to end. At night he dreamed that the interior of the monastery and the outer forest and settlements were burned to ashes by fire. He saw a golden man who told him: 'Ten years from now, King Śīlāditya will pass away and India will be thrown into chaos; it will be swept away like fire.' Upon awakening, he told this to Jayasena. Xuanzang's resolution was now made; he prepared his gear to return east. And indeed, at the end of the Yonghui era, Śīlāditya died, and there is now famine and devastation, just as was seen in the dream. Earlier, the Nālandā Monastery bhadanta Siṃharaśmi and others had established the school of the *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā* and *Śata-śāstra*, refuting the tenets of the Yogācāra and other teachings. Xuanzang said: 'When holy men compose treatises, they never ultimately contradict each other; it is merely that scholars take different stances.' He thereupon composed the *Treatise Harmonizing the Schools* in three thousand verses and presented it to Śīlabhadra and the other masters, who all praised it. Previously, an initiating master of a South Indian king named Prajñāgupta had mastered the Sammatīya school and composed the *Treatise Refuting the Mahāyāna* in seven hundred verses. At that time King Śīlāditya campaigned as far as the kingdom of Oḍra, where the Hīnayāna masters cherished this treatise and presented it to the king, requesting a debate with the Mahāyāna masters to decide the victor. The king wrote a letter to Nālandā Monastery, asking them to dispatch four monks well-versed in both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna as well as internal and external doctrines to proceed to his travelling palace for a planned debate. Śīlabhadra then appointed Sāgaramati, Jñānaprabha, Siṃharaśmi, and Xuanzang as the four to answer the summons. Just as they were about to go, before departing, a Lokāyata non-Buddhist came seeking debate, writing forty articles of doctrine and hanging them on the monastery gate: 'If anyone can defeat me, I will cut off my head in apology.' He posited the four great elements as the cause of persons and things; the underlying reasoning was subtle and profound, extremely difficult to cross-examine, like yin and yang, whose numbers who could fathom? This sect clung obstinately to its views and insisted on a contest. By the custom of that land, whoever lost a debate was first made to ride a donkey while a jar of excrement was poured over his head; disgraced publicly before the multitude, broken in body and mind, he would then take refuge and serve forever as a menial slave. The monks were all apprehensive, fearing someone might lose, and kept silent without responding. Xuanzang, having stayed there for a long time and thoroughly mastered the methods of debate, addressed the assembly and asked to confront him: 'How can we share in this disgrace?' Each side established supporting evidence. Back and forth they argued several times until the opponent had no way to explain his position; his spirit and logic completely collapsing, he suddenly submitted. All those of the Śākya clan's order leapt for joy at once. Once he had yielded, he asked to abide by the prior agreement, but Xuanzang said: 'Our Dharma is broadly compassionate and does not involve corporal punishment. Receive my Dharma as a servant serves his master.' He then took him to his room to follow the essentials of the True Dharma. He also separately obtained that treatise from Oḍra; investigating its contents, he found fallacies and excesses therein. He said to the defeated non-Buddhist: 'Have you heard the tenets established in Oḍra?' The man replied: 'I have heard those tenets and especially understand their import.' Xuanzang immediately had him explain them, thoroughly mastering their key points. Pointing out the slightest error, he set forth the Mahāyāna teachings to refute them, entitling the work *Treatise Refuting Evil Views* in one thousand six hundred verses. When he presented it to Śīlabhadra and the other masters, they all said: 'This treatise routs the most formidable adversaries under heaven! What opponent could withstand it?'