宋高僧傳 23.21

23.21

釋束草師者，無何而至京兆平康坊內菩提寺。其為人也，形不足而神俊，吟嘯自得，罕接時人，且不言名姓。常負束[葶-丁+呆]，坐臥於兩廊下，不樂住房舍，或云此頭陀行也。經數年，寺內綱任勸其住房。或有誚其狼藉，曰：「爾厭我邪？世不堪戀，何可長也？」其夕遂以束[葶-丁+呆]焚身，至明唯灰燼耳，且無遺骸，略盡污塗之臭，又無延燎驚咤之聲。計其少[葶-丁+呆]，不能焚此全軀。既無孑遺，然其起三昧火而自焚也。眾皆稱歎，民多觀禮焉。京邑信士遂塑其灰為僧形，置于佛殿偏傍，世號束草師，禱祈多應焉。

Śramaṇa Shucao arrived for no known reason at Bodhi Temple within Pingkang Ward of the Jingzhao capital. In his personal demeanor, his bodily form was unimposing while his spirit was exceptional; he whistled and chanted with self-contentment, rarely interacting with people of the day, and never revealed his family name. He constantly carried a bundle of straw on his back, sitting and lying under the covered verandas on either side, disliking staying in monastic quarters; some said this was dhūta practice. After several years, the temple administrators urged him to occupy a room. Someone mocked his disarray, and he said, 'Do you loathe me? The world is not worth cherishing; how could it be preserved for long?' That evening he burned his body with the bundle of straw. By dawn there were only ashes and cinders, and no corpse remained; the foul stench of filth was nearly entirely absent, nor had there been any sounds of the fire spreading or startling clamor. Considering how little straw he had, it could not have consumed an entire body. Since nothing was left behind, he must have ignited the fire of samādhi to burn himself. The multitude all praised and sighed in admiration, and many of the common people came to watch and pay homage. Devout laypeople of the capital then molded his ashes into a monk's figure and placed it by the side of the Buddha hall. In the world he was called Master Shucao ('Bundle of Straw'), and prayers offered to him were often answered.