宋高僧傳 4.15

4.15

釋元康，不詳姓氏。貞觀中遊學京邑，有彭亨之譽。形擁腫而短，然其性情酋勇，聞少解多，群輩推許。先居山野，恒務持誦《觀音》，求加慧解，遂感鹿一首，角分八岐，厥形絕異。康見之，撫而馴伏，遂豢養之，乘而致遠，曾無倦色。以《三論》之文荷之于背，又以小軸繫之於尾，曳入上都，意為戲弄：「說有之徒不達空性，我與輕軸碾之，令悟真理。」又衣大布，曳納播，戴竹笠，笠寬丈有二尺。裝飾詭異，人皆駭觀。既入京城，見一法師盛集講經化導。康造其筵，近其座，便就所講義申問，往返數百言，人咸驚康之辯給如此。復戲法師曰：「甘桃不結實，苦李壓低枝。」講者曰：「輪王千箇子，巷伯勿孫兒。」蓋譏康之無生徒也。康曰：「丹之藏者赤，漆之藏者黑，隨汝之赤者非纁絳焉，入汝之黑者非鉛墨焉。」舉眾皆云：「辭理渙然，可非垂跡之大士也？」帝聞之，喜曰：「何代無其人？」詔入安國寺講此《三論》。遂造疏，解中觀之理。別撰《玄樞》兩卷，總明《中》、《百》、《門》之宗旨焉。後不測其終。

Shi Yuankang's clan and family name are not known. During the Zhenguan era he traveled to study in the capital, gaining a reputation for being unconventional. His physique was swollen and short, yet his temperament was bold and brave; hearing little he understood much, and his contemporaries praised and deferred to him. Formerly he had lived in the mountains and wilds, constantly devoting himself to intoning and reciting the Avalokiteśvara [text], praying for the enhancement of his insightful comprehension. Thereupon he supernaturally summoned a deer whose antlers branched into eight forks, of exceedingly extraordinary appearance. Seeing it, Kang stroked and tamed it, and then reared it; he rode it to travel great distances without ever showing fatigue. He loaded texts of the Three Treatises onto its back and tied a small roller to its tail, dragging it into the imperial capital with playful intent: "Those who speak of existence do not realize emptiness; I shall grind them with this light roller to make them realize the true principle." Furthermore, he wore coarse cloth, trailed a napa, and donned a bamboo hat twelve feet wide. His attire was bizarre, and all who saw it were astonished. After entering the capital, he saw a Dharma master holding a large gathering to lecture on the scriptures and guide people. Kang went up to his mat, approached his seat, and raised questions regarding the principles being lectured on. Over several hundred words of exchange, everyone was amazed at Kang's eloquence. He then teased the Dharma master, saying, "Sweet peaches bear no fruit; bitter plums weigh down the branches." The lecturer replied, "A wheel-turning king has a thousand sons; a eunuch has no grandsons." This was to mock Kang for having no students. Kang said, "That which stores cinnabar turns red; that which stores lacquer turns black. Those who follow your redness do not become light vermilion or crimson; those who enter your blackness do not become lead or ink." The entire assembly said, "His diction and reasoning are clear and free—could he not be a Great Being who has manifested a trace?" Hearing of this, the emperor rejoiced and said, "In what era has there been no such man?" He decreed that Kang enter Anguo Temple to lecture on these Three Treatises. Kang then composed commentaries explaining the principle of Madhyamaka. Separately he authored the two-fascicle Xuanzhu, comprehensively clarifying the fundamental tenets of the Madhyamaka-śāstra, Śata-śāstra, and Dvādaśanikāya-śāstra. Later his end was not known.