宋高僧傳 28.37

28.37

有倡言曰：「但務生善，唯期滅罪，何判為非邪？」通曰：「翻譯之後，傳行已來，若天上之恒星，如人形之定相。或別占一座，便曰客星。或新起肉隆，乃為胼贅者耳。君不見《春秋》『夏五』邪？鄭杜諸家豈不能添『月』字乎？蓋畏聖人之言，成不刊之典，不敢加字矣。夫子曰：『吾猶及史之闕文』將知佛教還可加減否？如慧嚴重譯《泥洹經》，加之品目，忽夢神人怒責，聲色頗厲曰：『《涅槃》尊經何敢輒爾輕加斟酌！』是知興福不如避罪，斯言允矣。

Someone may advocate, saying: 'If one only strives to generate the wholesome and solely aspires to extinguish sin, why judge this to be wrong?' I reply: 'Once texts have been translated and transmitted into practice, they are like the fixed stars in the heavens or the set forms of the human body. If a star occupies a separate constellation, it is called a guest star; if flesh rises anew, it is a callus or a wen. Have you not seen the Spring and Autumn Annals' [phrase] "summer, fifth [month]"? Could the various scholars like Zheng and Du not have added the word "month"? It was because they feared the words of the sage and, as an unalterable classic, did not dare add a single word. The Master said: "I can still remember when a historian left a gap in his text." From this we may know: can the Buddhist teachings be added to or subtracted from? When Huiyan retranslated the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and added chapter titles, he suddenly dreamed of a spirit who angrily rebuked him with a stern voice and demeanor, saying: "How dare you casually meddle with the revered Nirvāṇa Sūtra!" From this we know that cultivating blessings does not compare to avoiding sin. This saying is indeed true!'