宋高僧傳 15.10

15.10

釋大義，字元貞，俗姓徐氏，會稽蕭山人也。以天授二年五月五日，特稟神異，生而秀朗。七歲，父訓之以經典，日可誦數千言。年十二，請詣山陰靈隱寺求師，因習內法，開卷必通，人咸歎之。屬中宗正位，恩制度人，都督胡元禮考試經義，格中第一。削染，配昭玄寺。自茲聽習，旁贍玄儒。開元初，從吳郡圓律師受具。復依本州開元寺深律師，學《四分律》指訓。義因遊長安。深公已亡，乃摳衣法華寺玄儼律師，其俊邁出倫。儼云：「於今傳法，非子而誰？」及稱心本寺超律師請為寺任。開元中喪親，誓入天台佛隴轉藏經，答劬勞也。天寶中遂築北塢之室，即支遁沃州之地也。初夢二梵僧曰：「汝居此與二十日。」至寶應初，復夢曰：「本期二十日，今滿矣。魔賊將至，不宜更處。」無何，海賊袁晁竊據剡邑，至于丹丘。義因與大禹寺逈律師同詣左谿朗禪師所，學止觀，而多精達。前後朝貴歸心者，相國杜鴻漸、尚書薛兼訓、中丞獨孤峻。洺州刺史徐嶠、次徐浩，皆宗人也。以大曆己未歲五月終於本院，春秋八十九，僧臘六十三。殯於寺之北塢舊居，因造塔焉。義前後戒壇計二十七登，受戒弟子三萬餘人。終時，室中聞天樂聲，驗乎生誦《法華經》、《大涅槃經》小大乘戒本，以為口業德行，非歸兜率，不往淨土，未可議其生處也。

Shi Dayi, courtesy name Yuanzhen, had the secular surname Xu, and was a native of Xiaoshan in Kuaiji. On the fifth day of the fifth month in the second year of Tianzhou, endowed with an extraordinary nature, he was born intelligent and bright. At seven years of age, his father instructed him in the classics, and he could recite several thousand words each day. At twelve years of age, he requested to go to Lingyin Temple in Shanyin to seek a master; there he studied the internal teachings of Buddhism, thoroughly understanding every scroll he opened, and everyone marveled at him. During the restoration of Emperor Zhongzong, when imperial ordinations were granted, Area Commander Hu Yuanli tested candidates on scripture and doctrine, and Dayi placed first in the examination. Having shaved his head and dyed his robes, he was assigned to Zhaoxuan Temple. From then on, he listened to lectures and studied, broadening his knowledge into both Daoist metaphysics and Confucianism. In the early Kaiyuan era, he received the full precepts under Vinaya Master Yuan of Wujun. He further relied on Vinaya Master Shen of Kaiyuan Temple in his home prefecture, studying the directives and instructions of the *Four-Part Vinaya*. Dayi then traveled to Chang'an. Master Shen had already passed away, so he tucked up his robes and studied under Vinaya Master Xuan'yan of Fahua Temple; his outstanding brilliance was peerless. Xuan'yan said, 'As for transmitting the Dharma today, who is there if not you?' Then Vinaya Master Chao of his home temple, Chengxin Temple, invited him to take up a temple post. During the Kaiyuan era, when he lost his parents, he vowed to enter the Folong cloister on Mount Tiantai to turn the Tripiṭaka scriptures, repaying his debt for their toil. During the Tianbao era, he then built a chamber at Beiwu, which was the former land of Zhi Dun in Wozhou. Early on, he dreamed of two Indian monks saying, 'You shall reside here for twenty days.' At the beginning of the Baoying era, he dreamed again: 'The original period of twenty days is now complete. Demonic rebels are about to arrive; it is not fitting to remain here any longer.' Shortly thereafter, the coastal rebel Yuan Chao illegally occupied Shan County and reached Danqiu. Dayi thereupon went together with Vinaya Master Jiong of Dayu Temple to the place of Dhyāna Master Lang of Zuoxi, studying shamatha and vipashyana (calm-abiding and insight), and attained great mastery of them. Those among the court dignitaries who took refuge in him over time included Chancellor Du Hongjian, Minister Xue Jianxun, and Censor Dugu Jun. Xu Qiao, Prefect of Mingzhou, and later Xu Hao, were both from his clan. In the fifth month of the jiwei year of Dali, he passed away in his own cloister, at the age of eighty-nine, with a saṅgha age of sixty-three. He was encoffined at his former dwelling in Beiwu of the temple, and a stūpa was subsequently erected there. In total, Dayi ascended the ordination platform twenty-seven times, and the disciples who received the precepts from him numbered over thirty thousand. At the time of his death, heavenly music was heard in his room, verifying that his lifelong recitation of the *Lotus Sūtra*, the *Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra*, and the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna prātimokṣas served as verbal karma and virtuous practice, ensuring that if he did not return to Tuṣita, he would go to the Pure Land, so his place of rebirth is beyond question.