宋高僧傳 2.17

2.17

又屬暑天亢旱，帝遣中官高力士疾召畏祈雨。畏曰：「今旱數當然也，若苦召龍致雨，必暴，適足所損，不可為也。」帝強之曰：「人苦暑病矣，雖風雷亦足快意。」辭不獲已，有司為陳請雨具，幡幢螺鈸備焉，畏笑曰：「斯不足以致雨。」急撤之。乃盛一鉢水，以小刀攪之，梵言數百呪之。須臾有物如龍，其大如指，赤色矯首，瞰水面，復潛于鉢底。畏且攪且呪，頃之，有白氣自鉢而興，逕上數尺，稍稍引去。畏謂力士曰：「亟去，雨至矣。」力士馳去，迴顧見白氣疾旋，自講堂而西，若一匹素翻空而上。既而昏霾，大風震電，力士纔及天津橋，風雨隨馬而驟，街中大樹多拔焉。力士入奏，而衣盡霑濕矣。帝稽首迎畏，再三致謝。

Furthermore, during a summer of severe drought, the Emperor dispatched the palace official Gao Lishi to hasten and summon Śubhakarasiṃha to pray for rain. Śubhakarasiṃha said: "The present drought is naturally ordained by fate. If we forcefully summon the dragons to bring rain, it will surely be violent and only cause damage; it must not be done." The Emperor insisted to him: "The people suffer bitterly from the summer heat and sickness; even wind and thunder would be quite pleasant." Unable to decline, the relevant officials laid out the rain-praying implements for him, complete with banners, pennants, conches, and cymbals. Śubhakarasiṃha smiled and said: "These are insufficient to bring rain." He had them promptly cleared away. He then filled a bowl with water, stirred it with a small knife, and incanted over it with several hundred Sanskrit words. Soon there was a creature resembling a dragon, about the size of a finger, red in color, which raised its head to gaze at the surface of the water and then dove back down to the bottom of the bowl. Śubhakarasiṃha stirred and incanted at the same time. After a short while, a white vapor arose from the bowl, went straight up several feet, and slowly drew away. Śubhakarasiṃha said to Gao Lishi: "Go quickly, the rain has arrived." Gao Lishi galloped away, and looking back, he saw the white vapor swirling swiftly, moving westward from the lecture hall, like a bolt of white silk turning and rising into the air. Soon, the sky became dark and overcast with great wind and thunderous lightning. Just as Gao Lishi reached the Tianjin Bridge, the wind and rain swept alongside his horse, and many large trees in the streets were uprooted. When Gao Lishi went in to memorialize, his garments were completely soaked through. The Emperor bowed his head to welcome Śubhakarasiṃha, expressing his thanks again and again.