宋高僧傳 21.20

21.20

釋無漏，姓金氏，新羅國王第三子也。本土以其地居嫡長，將立儲副，而漏幼慕延陵之讓，故願為釋迦法王子耳。遂逃附海艦，達于華土——欲遊五竺，禮佛八塔。既度沙漠，涉于闐已西，至葱嶺之墟，入大伽藍，其中比丘皆不測之僧也。問漏攸往之意，未有奇節而詣天竺。僧曰：「舊記無名，未可輒去；此有毒龍池，可往教化。如其有驗，方利涉也。」漏依請登池岸，唯見一胡床，乃據而坐，至夜將艾，霆雷交作，其怪物吐氣蓬勃，種種變現，眩曜無恒。漏瞑目不搖，譬如建木挺拔，豈微風可能傾動邪？持久乃有巨蛇驤首于膝上，漏悲憫之極，為受三歸而去。復作老人形來致謝曰：「蒙師度脫，義無久居。吾三日後捨鱗介苦，依得生勝處。此去南有磐石，是弟子捨形之所，亦望閑預相尋遺骸可矣。」後見長偉而夭矯，僵于石上歟。寺僧咸默許之，又曰：「必須願往天竺者，此有觀音聖像，禱無虛應，可祈告之。得吉祥兆，可去勿疑。」漏乃立于像前，入於禪定，如是度四十九日，身嬰虛腫，略無傾倚。旋有鼠兒猶彈丸許，咋左脛，潰黃色薄膿，可累斗而愈。漏限滿獲應，群僧語之曰：「觀師化緣，合在唐土，心存化物，所利滋多。足倦遊方，空加聞見，不可強化。師所知乎？」漏意其賢聖之言，必無唐發，如是却迴。臨行謂漏曰：「逢『蘭』即住。」所還之路，山名賀蘭，乃馮前記，遂入其中，得白草谷，結茅栖止。無何，安史兵亂，兩京版蕩，玄宗幸蜀，肅宗訓兵靈武。帝屢夢有金色人，念寶勝佛於御前。翌日，以夢中事問左右，或對曰：「有沙門行迹不群，居于北山，兼恒誦此佛號。」肅宗乃宣徵，不起，命朔方副元帥中書令郭子儀親往諭之，漏乃爰來。帝視之曰：「真夢中人也。」迨乎羯虜盪平，翠華旋復，置之內寺供養。諒乎猴輕金鎖，鳥厭雕籠，累上表章，願還舊隱。帝心眷重，答詔遲留，未遂歸山，俄云示滅焉。一日，忽於內門右闔之上化成雙足，形不及地者數尺。閽吏上奏，帝乘步輦親臨其所，得遺表，乞歸葬舊隱山之下。即時依可，葬務官供。乃宣卸門扇，置之設奠，遣中使監護，鹵簿送導。先是漏行化多由懷遠縣，因置廨署，謂之下院。喪至此，神座不可輒舉，眾議移入，構別堂宇安之，則上元三年也。至今真體端然，曾無變壞，所臥中禁戶扇，乃當時之現瑞者，存焉。

Shi Wulou, surnamed Kim, was the third son of the king of Silla. In his homeland, being born the primary heir, he was about to be made the crown prince, but from his youth Lou admired Yanling's yielding [of the throne], and therefore wished to become a Dharma prince of Śākyamuni. He then escaped aboard a sea-going vessel and reached the land of China, intending to travel to the Five Indies and pay homage to the Buddha's eight stūpas. Having crossed the deserts and traversed west of Khotan, he reached the ruins of the Congling (Pamir Mountains) and entered a great monastery, wherein the bhikṣus were all monks of unfathomable stature. They asked Lou about the purpose of his journey, noting that he had yet to demonstrate extraordinary feats before going to India. A monk said: 'Your name is not in the ancient records; you cannot depart rashly. Here there is a pool with a venomous dragon; you may go and transform it. If your practice proves efficacious, only then will it be propitious to proceed.' Lou complied with the request and climbed to the shore of the pool, seeing only a barbarian couch, upon which he sat down. As night drew to an end, thunder and lightning clashed violently, and the monstrous creature spewed dense vapor, displaying various apparitions that dazzled incessantly. Lou closed his eyes and remained motionless, just like the lofty Jianmu tree—how could a gentle breeze overturn it? After a long while, a gigantic snake raised its head onto his knees; Lou, moved by extreme compassion, conferred the three refuges upon it, and it left. It then reappeared in the form of an old man to express thanks, saying: 'Having been delivered by the Master, it is right that I do not remain here long. Three days from now I shall cast off this scaly body of suffering and be reborn in an exalted realm. South of here there is a flat boulder; that is where this disciple will shed his form. I also hope you may look for my remains when at leisure.' Later, a massive, twisting snake was seen dead and stiff upon the rock. The monks of the temple all silently approved, and further said: 'If you must go to India, there is here a sacred image of Avalokiteśvara whose responses to prayers are never in vain; you may pray to it. If you obtain an auspicious omen, you may depart without hesitation.' Lou then stood before the image and entered dhyāna; in this manner forty-nine days passed. His body was afflicted with severe dropsy, yet he did not lean or tilt in the least. Soon there appeared a mouse the size of a pellet, which bit his left shin; thin yellow pus burst forth, amounting to several pecks before he was cured. Lou's time limit was fulfilled and the omen was obtained. The host of monks told him: 'Observing your affinity for converting others, it properly belongs to the Tang land. If your mind is set on transforming beings, what you benefit will be far greater. If your feet merely tire from wandering afar, you will only vainly increase what you hear and see, and you cannot force your transformation upon others. Does the Master understand this?' Lou considered that the words of sages would certainly not be spoken in vain, and thus he turned back. When he was about to depart, they said to Lou: 'When you encounter "Lan," halt.' On the road of his return, there was a mountain named Helan; relying on the earlier prophecy, he entered it, found the Baicao Valley, and built a thatched hut to dwell in. Before long, the An Lushan rebellion broke out, throwing both capitals into turmoil. Emperor Xuanzong took refuge in Shu, and Emperor Suzong trained troops in Lingwu. The emperor repeatedly dreamed of a golden person reciting the name of the Buddha Ratnasambhava before him. The next day, he inquired of his attendants about the dream, and someone replied: 'There is a śramaṇa whose conduct is extraordinary, living in the northern mountains, who constantly recites this Buddha's name.' Emperor Suzong summoned him, but he did not arise. He then ordered Guo Ziyi, Vice Marshal of Shuofang and President of the Department of the Secretariat, to personally go and instruct him, whereupon Lou came. The emperor looked at him and said: 'He is truly the man in my dream.' When the barbarian rebels were quelled and the imperial retinue returned, Lou was placed in an inner temple for offerings. Yet just as a monkey disdains a golden chain and a bird tires of an ornate cage, he submitted memorials repeatedly, wishing to return to his former hermitage. The emperor cherished him deeply and delayed with edicts; before he could return to the mountain, he suddenly manifested his passing. One day, on the right wing of the inner palace gate, two feet miraculously appeared, hovering several feet above the ground. The gatekeeper submitted a memorial, and the emperor personally arrived in a palanquin. He received Lou's testament, which pleaded to be buried back below his former mountain hermitage. It was immediately approved, and the burial expenses were provided by officials. The emperor decreed that the door leaf be removed and placed for funeral offerings, dispatching an imperial envoy to supervise and an imperial cortege to lead the procession. Previously, when Lou travelled to preach, he often passed through Huaiyuan County, where an office had been set up, known as the Lower Cloister. When the funerary cortege arrived there, the bier could not be lifted; the assembly deliberated and moved it inside, constructing a separate hall to enshrine him, which was in the third year of the Shangyuan era. To this day his true body sits upright and has never decayed; the inner palace door leaf on which he rested remains preserved as an auspicious sign from that time.