宋高僧傳 20.37

20.37

系曰：食梵僧之棗而知宿命者，與茹雪山之藥解諸國言音同也。覽鑑而知吉凶者，與窺圖澄塗麻掌同也。食棗臨鑑，豈偶然耶？非常人之遇也。其空公題讖而答，塞柳珵之問，驗在會昌之毀教矣。時武宗勒僧尼反俗，計二十萬七千餘人，坼寺并蘭若共四萬七千有奇，故云「興一沙衰恒河沙，兔在罝，犬仍拏」，言殘害之甚。乙丑毀法，丙寅厭代。佛法喻寶檀之樹，終不絕其華蘤芬馥，故云也。苟非異人，何以藏往考來之若是乎？

The appraisal says: Eating an Indian monk's date and knowing one's past lives is like ingesting the medicine of the Snow Mountains and understanding the languages of all lands. Gazing into a mirror and knowing good and bad fortune is like looking into Fotudeng's sesame-smeared palm. Eating the date and facing the mirror—how could this be coincidental? It was no encounter of ordinary men. Master Kong wrote the prophecy as his answer to cut short Liu Cheng's questioning, and its verification lay in the Huichang suppression of the teaching. At that time, Emperor Wuzong forced monks and nuns to return to secular life, numbering more than 207,000, and demolished more than 47,000 monasteries and araṇyas combined; hence it says, 'One grain of sand flourishes, sands of the Ganges decline; a hare in the snare, a hound still tearing it,' speaking of the severity of the devastation. In the yichou year the Dharma was destroyed; in the bingyin year he passed away. The Buddha-Dharma is likened to a precious sandalwood tree, whose blossoms and fragrance are never ultimately extinguished; hence it was spoken. If he were not an extraordinary man, how could he have stored the past and examined the future in such a manner?