宋高僧傳 17.20

17.20

釋利涉者，本西域人也，即大梵婆羅門之種姓。夙齡彊志，機警溢倫，宗黨之中，推其達法。欲遊震旦，結侶東征，至金梭嶺，遇玄奘三藏，行次相逢，禮求奘度。既而群經眾論，鑿竅通幽，特爾遠塵，歸乎正道，非奘難其移轉矣！奘門賢哲輻湊，涉季孟於光、寶之間。其為人也，猶帛高座之放曠。中宗最加欽重，朝廷卿相感義與遊。開元中於安國寺講《華嚴經》，四眾赴堂，遲則無容膝之位矣。檀施繁熾，利動人心。有頴陽人韋玎，垂拱中中第，調選河中府文學，遷大理評事、祕校。見涉講筵幣帛堆積，就乞選糧，所獲未厭。表請釋、道二教定其勝負，言釋、道蠧政可除。玄宗詔三教各選一百人，都集內殿，韋玎先陟高座，挫葉靜能及空門思明，例皆辭屈。涉次登座，解疑釋結，臨敵有餘，與韋往返百數千言，條緒交亂，相次抗之，棼絲自理，正直有歸。涉重問韋曰：「子先登席，可非主耶？未審主人何姓？」玎曰：「姓韋。」涉將「韋」字為韻，揭調長吟。偈詞曰：「我之佛法是無為，何故今朝得有為？無韋始得三數載，不知此復是何韋？」涉之吟作，百官悚然。帝果憶何韋之事，凜然變色曰：「玎是庶人宗族，敢爾輕懱朕玄元祖教及凌𨏦釋門。」玎下殿俯伏待罪，叩頭言：「臣非庶人之屬。」涉貴其鉗利口以解疎狂，奏曰：「玎是關外之人，非玄貞之族類。」勅貶象州百姓。賜涉錢絹，助造明教寺，加號明教焉。二教重熙，涉之力也。因著《立法幢論》一卷。公卿間有言曰：「涉公是韋掾之膏肓也。」涉曰：「此舉也，矢在弦上，不得不發。」自此京城無不改觀，言談講者，以涉為最焉。晚節遭其譴謫漢東，尋屬寬宥，移徙南陽龍興寺。時惠忠國師知重涉名，聊欵關相謁，曰：「納衣小僧向前，某被門徒朝要連坐于此，適觀師當有貴氣，可作高道國德，勿同吾也。」乃開篋提衣物，令忠師曳婁。由此襄、鄧之人皆驚涉如此懸記，忠師道聲又光闡焉，蓋涉望重之故也。上元二年，詔忠師入供養。肅宗時入宮起居太上皇，乃引忠見上皇曰：「此人何如利涉？」則知涉才業優長，帝王器重，復多著述。大曆中西明寺翻經沙門圓照撰《涉傳》，成一十卷，足知言行之多也矣。

Shi Lishe was originally a man from the Western Regions, of the great Brahma Brahmin caste. From an early age he had a strong will, and his alertness surpassed his peers; among his kin, he was commended for his penetration of the Dharma. Desiring to travel to China, he formed a company to journey east; upon reaching Mount Jinsuo, he met Tripiṭaka Master Xuanzang. Meeting in their travels, he bowed and requested ordination from Xuanzang. Subsequently, with all the sūtras and treatises, he pierced the openings and penetrated the obscure, exceptionally distancing himself from defilement and returning to the correct path; without Xuanzang, it would have been difficult to effect such a transformation! Worthies and sages gathered at Xuanzang's gate like spokes at a hub, and Lishe stood among the ranks of Huiguang and Fabao. In character, he was as uninhibited as Bo Gaozuo. Emperor Zhongzong respected him most deeply, and the ministers and nobles of the court, touched by his righteousness, associated with him. During the Kaiyuan era, he lectured on the Huayan Sūtra at Anguo Temple; the fourfold assembly rushed to the hall, and those who were late had no room even to bend a knee. The alms donations were lavish, and material gain stirred people's minds. There was a man from Yingyang named Wei Ding, who passed the examinations during the Chuigong era, was appointed through the selection process as Literature Instructor of Hezhong Superior Prefecture, and was later promoted to Reviewing Officer of the Court of Judicial Review and Collator of the Secretarial Bureau. Seeing the piles of silks and fabrics accumulated at Lishe's lecture seat, he approached him to beg for traveling provisions for his appointment, but was not satisfied with what he obtained. He submitted a memorial requesting that the relative superiority of Buddhism and Daoism be determined, claiming that the Buddhist and Daoist pests on governance could be eliminated. Emperor Xuanzong decreed that the three teachings each select one hundred men to assemble together in the inner palace. Wei Ding ascended the high seat first and bested Ye Jingneng as well as Siming of the Buddhist fold, all of whom were reduced to silence. Lishe then took the seat, unraveling doubts and untying knots, more than equal to confronting the adversary. Exchanging hundreds and thousands of words with Wei, whose arguments were entangled in confusion, Lishe countered them successively, so that the tangled silk naturally straightened itself out and righteousness found its return. Lishe questioned Wei again, saying: 'Sir, you took the seat first; are you not the host? May I ask what the host's surname is?' Ding said: 'My surname is Wei.' Lishe took the word 'Wei' as his rhyme and sang out a long chant. The verse said: / 'My Buddha's Dharma is non-action (wuwei); / Why today has it become purposeful action (youwei)? / Only three or four years have passed without a Wei (wu-Wei), / Yet who knows what Wei this is again?' / At Lishe's recitation, the hundred officials shuddered. The Emperor indeed recalled the incident involving the Wei clan, and with an imposing change of countenance said: 'Ding is a kinsman of the commoner [Empress Wei]; how dare he thus despise our ancestor Xuanyuan's teachings and bully the Buddhist fold!' Ding stepped down from the hall, prostrated himself awaiting punishment, and kowtowed, saying: 'Your subject is not of the commoner's clan.' Lishe, intending to muzzle his sharp tongue while releasing him from his reckless madness, memorialized: 'Ding is a man from beyond the Pass, not of the lineage of Xuanzhen.' An edict banished Ding as a commoner to Xiangzhou. Lishe was awarded money and silk to assist in building Mingjiao Temple, and was granted the title Mingjiao. The renewed flourishing of the two teachings was due to Lishe's effort. He then authored the one-fascicle Treatise on Establishing the Dharma Banner. Among the nobles and ministers it was said: 'Master Lishe was the terminal affliction of Vice-Director Wei.' Lishe said: 'In that move, the arrow was on the string and had to be loosed.' From then on, the entire capital viewed him in a new light, and in discussions and lectures, Lishe was deemed foremost. In his later years, he suffered banishment to Handong, but soon received pardon and was moved to Longxing Temple in Nanyang. At that time, National Master Huizhong knew and esteemed Lishe's name, and came knocking at the gate to visit him, saying: 'Young patch-robed monk, step forward! I have been implicated by my disciples and court dignitaries to be here. Just now, observing you, Master, you possess an aura of noble distinction, and can become an eminent Daoist and national virtue; do not be like me.' He then opened his coffer, took out garments, and bade Master Huizhong wear them. From this, the people of Xiangyang and Dengzhou were all astonished at Lishe's prescient prediction, and Master Huizhong's reputation for the Way shone even more brightly, all because of Lishe's weighty renown. In the second year of Shangyuan, an edict summoned Master Huizhong to enter the palace for offerings. When Emperor Suzong went to the palace to pay respects to the Retired Emperor, he introduced Huizhong to the Retired Emperor, saying: 'How does this man compare to Lishe?' Thus one knows that Lishe's talents and accomplishments were superior, that emperors valued him, and that he wrote many works. During the Dali era, the translation monk Yuanchao of Ximing Temple composed Lishe's biography in ten fascicles, from which one may sufficiently know the abundance of his words and deeds.