宋高僧傳 4.41

4.41

釋僧瑗，字辯空，姓郁氏，高平昌邑人也。姬水疏源，狼亭襲慶——魯相繼昌侯之業，歷載彌光；少傅纂尚書之風，清塵不昧。瑗夙殖奇頴，早擅嘉祥。母趙氏娠孕之日，側侍聖賢浮空遊樂。及年六歲，隨母入舍利塔，見聖僧像，欣然跳躍，狀若舊交，因啟母出家。母以其尚幼，抑而未許。至年十三，方遂其志，依虎丘寺慧嚴法師為弟子。謙揖之操，出自生知；辯慧之能，業稱上首。以龍朔二年奉勅剃翦，冥符所應，還隷此山。暨嚴公長往，乃依慧詡禪師受具足戒，聽常樂寺聰法師三《論》，甚深無相，疑滯豁除，方便解脫，怡然獨悟。因智從心證，遂詣江寧融禪師求學心法。攝念坐禪，眾魔斯伏；勤行精進，猛獸恒馴。是以名稱普聞，聲光八絕，旗亭趨利，削跡無踐。冬夏不易，常披一納。或滴水以充於夕渴，或數粒將濟於朝飢。或風雪凜凜，禮誦無替於六時；或炎暑爞爞，經行不虧於少選。稱揚歎羨，容色湛如；毀辱訶罵，歡喜而受。每蔭以長松，屬思鴻遠。清泉獨坐，映定水以彫文；虛室高栖，藹禪枝而蕩慮。撰《武丘名僧苑》一卷、注《郁子》兩卷、《文集》三卷，蓋道俗之儀表，人物之師範焉。永昌元年十二月二十日見身有疾，謂弟子曰：「吾聞屍所到處，便為穢惡，出就別方，乃稱離罪爾。」門弟子等迎止於通波亭北靜志莊，忽聞異香從空而下。瑗遺訓勤切，正觀叮嚀，滅後可依外國法。言訖合掌而終，春秋五十有一。緇素奔慟，咸悲眼滅。弟子僧義立及雉山縣尉檀信等同遵師旨，如法闍維，收其舍利，於寺建塔，勒銘于所。

Śramaṇa Sengyuan, styled Biankong, was surnamed Yu and was a native of Changyi in Gaoping. His ancestry traced back to the Ji River, and his family inherited good fortune at Langting: the Prime Minister of Lu continued the enterprise of the Marquis of Chang, shining even brighter across the years; the Junior Tutor inherited the style of the Secretariat, his pure reputation untarnished. Yuan had long cultivated extraordinary talent and early possessed auspicious omens. On the day his mother, Lady Zhao, became pregnant, holy and worthy beings were attending at her side, floating and sporting in empty space. When he was six years old, following his mother into a relic stūpa, he saw a statue of a holy monk and leapt up with joy as if greeting an old acquaintance; thereupon he requested his mother to allow him to leave household life. Because he was still young, his mother restrained him and did not grant permission. When he reached thirteen, his wish was finally fulfilled, and he became a disciple under Dharma Master Huiyan of Tiger Hill Temple. His humble and deferential conduct was born of innate knowledge; his capability in eloquence and wisdom was praised as foremost in his pursuit. In the second year of Longshuo, receiving an imperial edict for his tonsure, which secretly tallied with the omens, he was again attached to this mountain. When Master Yan passed away, he received the full precepts from Dhyāna Master Huixu, and listened to Dharma Master Cong of Changle Temple expound the Three Treatises. Their profound signlessness removed all his doubts and blockages; through skillful means and liberation, he attained solitary awakening with joy. Because wisdom is verified from the mind, he then went to Dhyāna Master Rong of Jiangning to seek instruction in the mind Dharma. Gathering his mindfulness in seated meditation, all māras were subdued; practicing diligence with zeal, wild beasts were constantly tamed. For this reason, his fame was heard everywhere and his renown was matchless in the eight directions; yet to the pursuit of profit in market taverns, he severed all traces and never set foot there. Unchanging in winter and summer, he always wore a single patched robe. Sometimes he took a drop of water to quench his evening thirst, or a few grains to relieve his morning hunger. Whether in biting wind and snow, his bowing and chanting never ceased during the six periods of the day; or in sweltering heat, his walking meditation was never neglected for even a brief moment. When praised and admired, his countenance remained serene; when reviled, insulted, and scolded, he received it joyfully. Often shaded by tall pines, his thoughts touched upon the vast and distant. Sitting alone by a clear spring, he composed writings by the reflection of the waters of samādhi; lodging high in an empty room, he swept away worldly worries amid the lush branches of dhyāna. He authored the Huqiu mingseng yuan [Garden of Eminent Monks of Tiger Hill] in one scroll, annotated the Yuzi in two scrolls, and produced a Wenji [Collected Writings] in three scrolls; he was indeed an exemplar for both the monastic and lay, a model for men of talent. On the twentieth day of the twelfth month of the first year of Yongchang, seeing illness in his body, he said to his disciples: 'I have heard that wherever a corpse is present, it brings defilement and foulness; only by going to another place can it be called free of fault.' His disciples welcomed him to stay at Jingzhi Manor north of Tongbo Pavilion, when suddenly a wondrous fragrance was smelled descending from the sky. Yuan gave diligent and earnest final instructions, repeatedly enjoining right view, saying that after his decease they could follow the foreign custom. Having spoken, he joined his palms and expired, at the age of fifty-one. Monastics and laypeople rushed in grief, all mourning the extinction of their eye. His disciple Seng Yili, along with the vice magistrate of Zhishan County, donor-believers, and others, together followed the master's instructions, carrying out the cremation according to the Dharma, gathered his relics, erected a stūpa at the temple, and carved an inscription at the site.