宋高僧傳 23.52

23.52

釋文輦，永嘉郡平陽人也。邂逅求師，受業于金華，納具足律儀畢，翹勤篤勵，三乘之學，一皆染漸。因往縉雲明昭禪師法會，不事繁云，揚眴之間，決了無滯。末遇天台山德韶禪翁，唱宗一大師之道。輦復諦受無疑，不為異緣牽轉。故三十載隨韶師，聽其進否。甞謂人曰：「悟入之緣，猶蠖屈之於葉也，食黃則身黃，食蒼則身蒼，其屈伸之狀無變。吾初見明昭乃若是，今學玄沙又如是，此所謂殊塗而同歸。今更取佛言為定量之。」乃覽大藏經三周遍，自是已來，逍遙無滯。以太平興國三年，忽自操其斧，言伐其檀，巧結玲瓏，重攢若題湊焉，號曰浮圖。中開戶，入內趺坐。自持火炬，誓之曰：「以此殘喘焚之，供養十方佛諸聖賢。」言訖，發焰亘空，其煙五色，旋轉氤氳，猶聞誦經之聲，須臾始絕。觀者號哭，灰寒，收舍利不知顆數。春秋八十四。初輦甞謂善建寺僧說：「吾死已，無占伽藍可食之地，弗如自焚供養。望諸賢此時聚柴𧂐下念佛，助我往生，只此相煩耳。」今善建寺中累石為小塔焉。

Shi Wennian was a native of Pingyang in Yongjia commandery. By chance he sought a master and received training in Jinhua. Having received the full vinaya precepts, he was diligent and devoted; he became gradually steeped in the learning of the Three Vehicles without exception. Proceeding to the Dharma assembly of Chan Master Mingzhao of Jinyun, he did not dwell on lengthy discourse, but resolved [all questions] without hindrance in the twinkling of an eye. In his later years he encountered the Chan elder Deshao of Mount Tiantai, who proclaimed the teachings of Grand Master Zongyi. Nian accepted them attentively without doubt, and was not swayed by other conditions. For thirty years he followed Master Shao, obeying his instructions on whether to advance or not. He once said to people, "The conditions for entering awakening are like an inchworm upon leaves: if it eats yellow, its body is yellow; if it eats green, its body is green; its manner of bending and stretching does not change. When I first met Mingzhao it was like this, and now studying under Xuansha it is also like this; this is what is called 'taking different paths to the same destination.' Now I shall further take the Buddha's words as the definitive standard." Thereupon he read through the entire Tripiṭaka three times; from then on, he was unhindered and at ease. In the third year of Taiping Xingguo, he suddenly took an axe himself, went to fell sandalwood, and skillfully assembled it into an exquisite and multi-tiered structure resembling a stacked timber tomb, which he called a stūpa. An opening was made in the center, and he went inside and sat cross-legged. Holding a torch himself, he made a vow, saying, "With this remaining breath I burn it, as an offering to the Buddhas and all the sages and worthies of the ten directions." When he finished speaking, flames flared up across the sky; the smoke was five-colored, swirling and thick, and the sound of chanting sūtras could still be heard, ceasing only after a short while. The onlookers wailed. When the ashes cooled, they gathered countless grains of śarīra. His age was eighty-four. Earlier, Nian had once said to the monks of Shanjian Temple: "After I die, do not occupy land of the saṅghārāma that could produce food; it is better to burn myself as an offering. I hope that all you worthies will at that time gather beneath the wood pyre, chanting the Buddha's name to assist my rebirth; this is my only request of you." Now a small stūpa has been built of piled stones in Shanjian Temple.