[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [宋高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061) › 5.17 # 宋高僧傳 5.17 宋高僧傳 5.17 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5.17) 釋道氤，俗姓長孫，長安高陵人也。父容，殿中侍御史。母馬氏夢五色雲覆頂，因有娠焉。母常聽講讀大乘經，曉夜不輟，意行太任之胎教也。逮乎誕彌，異香芬馥，成于童稚，神氣俊秀，學問詳明。應進士科，一舉擢第，名喧日下，才調清奇，榮耀親里。後有梵僧扣門分衛，飯訖，願寓宵宿。氤接之談話，言皆詣理，梵僧稱歎。明曉辭訣，方出門，閃然不見。氤由此無調選之心矣，乞願出家。將知良珠度寸，雖有百仞之水，不能掩其雲也，何君親而能阻入道之猛利心焉？乃禮京招福寺慎言律師為師，請益無替。及登戒法，旋學律科，又隷經論，如是內外偕通矣。時有興善寺復禮法師善屬文，謂氤曰：「籍汝少俊，可為余造《西方讚》一本。」遂襞紙援毫，略不停綴。斯須已就，其辭典麗，清淨佛國，境物莊嚴，臨文若現前矣。禮師讀訖，顧左右諸德曰：「奇才秀句，吾輩莫能測也。」自後服膺窓案，晝夜精勵，辯給難詶，善於立破。禮師仰其風規，甞於稠人廣眾中宣言曰：「氤之論端，勢若泉涌。」從此聞天，供奉朝廷。玄宗幸雒，勅與良秀、法修隨駕。御史李竫同請氤於天宮寺講《淨業障經》，其疏亦氤之著述也。時一行禪師國之師匠，過慮將來佛法誰堪扞禦？誰可闡揚？奏召天下英髦學兼內外者，集于洛京福先寺，大建論場。氤為眾推許，乃首登座，於《瑜伽》、《唯識》、《因明》、《百法》等論，竪立大義六科，敵論諸師茫然屈伏。一行驚異曰：「大法梁棟，伊人應焉。余心有憑，死亦足矣。」及乎大駕西還，勅令扈從。乃有小疾，上表，帝降中使賜藥并方，詔曰：「法師將息，朕此藥并方甚好，服食必差。所患痊愈，早來西京。」其顧遇也若此。仍屬此際一行遷神，勅令東宮已下京官九品已上並送至銅人原。藍田設齋，推氤表白。法事方畢，宰相張燕公說執氤手曰：「釋門俊彥，宇內罕匹。幸附口錄向所導文一本，置于篋笥。」由是其文流行天下也。開元十八年，於花萼樓對御定二教優劣，氤雄論奮發，河傾海注。道士尹謙對答失次，理屈辭殫，論宗乖舛。帝再三歎羨，詔賜絹伍伯匹，用充法施。別集《對御論衡》一本，盛傳于代。後撰《大乘法寶五門名教》并《信法儀》各一卷、《唯識疏》六卷、《法華經疏》六卷、《御注金剛經疏》六卷。初，玄宗注經，至「若有人先世罪業應墮惡道，乃至罪業則為消滅」，雖提兔翰，頗見狐疑，慮貽謬解之愆，或作餘師之義。遂詔氤決擇經之功力，剖判是非。奏曰：「佛力經力，十聖三賢，亦不可測。陛下曩於般若會中，聞熏不一，更沈注想，自發現行。」帝於是豁然若憶疇昔，下筆不休，終無滯礙也。續宣氤造疏矣。四海嚮風，學徒鱗萃，於青龍寺執新疏，聽者數盈千計，至于西明、崇福二寺。講堂悉用香泥，築自水際至于土面，莊嚴之盛，京中甲焉。開元二十八年，有疾將終，遣門弟子齎遺表云：「某末品輕生，虛均雨露，得陪緇伍，許自精修。雖常袒右肩，無施舉袂之役。而執錫舒步，得蠲負載之勞。屬以時暢玄功，德揚真化；不謂勤劬慕學，造次養生。今月十六日苦腸忽加，湯藥無救。泉門自掩，安沐堯風；夜臺一歸，寧逢舜日。有定瘞於蒼隴，無再謁於丹墀」云。時帝覽惻怛，遣中使內給事賈文瓌將絹五十匹，就院弔贈，宣口勅奉問氤弟子等：「適聞法師遷神寂滅，痛惜良深，未審擬於何處安厝？賜到絹帛等。」聖恩追悼，生榮死哀，光于僧伍。俗壽七十三，僧臘五十三。以其年秋八月十二日葬于終南山陰逍遙園側，白塔存焉。 > Shi Daoyin's secular surname was Zhangsun, and he was a native of Gaoling in Chang'an. His father, Rong, served as an investigating censor within the palace. His mother, of the Ma clan, dreamed of five-colored clouds covering the crown of her head, and consequently became pregnant with him. His mother constantly listened to lectures and read Mahāyāna sūtras without ceasing day or night, intending to practice the prenatal education of Tai Ren. When he was born, an unusual fragrance was rich and pervasive; as he grew through childhood, his spirit was handsome and refined, and his scholarship precise and clear. He sat for the jinshi examination and passed on his first attempt, his renown resounding beneath the sun; his talent was pure and extraordinary, bringing glory to his relatives and neighborhood. Later, an Indian monk knocked at his door to beg for alms; having finished eating, he wished to lodge for the night. Yin engaged him in conversation, and his words all reached profound principles, so that the Indian monk praised him in admiration. At dawn, taking his leave, the monk had barely stepped out the door when he vanished in a flash. Because of this, Yin lost all desire for official selection and begged to become a monk. One knows that when a fine pearl measures an inch, even eighty fathoms of water cannot conceal its radiant clouds—how could ruler or parents obstruct a keen mind bent upon the Way? He thereupon took Vinaya Master Shenyan of Zhaofu Temple in the capital as his master, seeking instruction without lapse. Once he received the precepts, he immediately studied the vinaya, and then devoted himself to sūtras and treatises, thus mastering both inner and outer learning. At that time, Dharma Master Fuli of Xingshan Temple was skilled in composition and said to Yin: 'Relying on your youthful brilliance, could you compose a Western Land Hymn for me?' Thereupon, folding the paper and wielding the brush, \[Yin\] did not pause in his composition for a moment. In an instant it was completed, its diction elegant and polished; the purity of the Buddha land and the adornments of its scenery seemed to appear right before one's eyes as one read the text. Master Li, having read it, turned to the eminent monks around him and said: 'Such extraordinary talent and graceful phrases are beyond what our sort could fathom.' Thenceforth, he applied himself diligently at his desk, striving earnestly day and night; his eloquence was hard to match, and he was skilled in establishing and refuting propositions. Master Li admired his bearing and once proclaimed before a great gathering: 'The starting points of Yin's debates surge forth like a bubbling spring.' From then on, his fame reached the imperial ears, and he served at the imperial court. When Xuanzong visited Luoyang, he decreed that \[Yin\], together with Liangxiu and Faxiu, should accompany the imperial cortege. Censor Li Jing and others invited Yin to lecture on the Jing yezhang jing (Sūtra on Purifying Karmic Obstacles) at Tiangong Temple; the commentary was also written by Yin. At that time, Chan Master Yixing was a national master; overanxious about who in the future could defend the Buddhadharma and who could propagate it, he memorialized the throne to summon the realm's finest talents who combined inner and outer learning to gather at Fuxian Temple in the eastern capital of Luoyang to establish a grand arena for debate. Yin was recommended by the assembly and was the first to ascend the seat; on treatises such as the Yogācārabhūmi, Vijñaptimātratā, Hetuvidyā, and the Śatadharma, he established six categories of cardinal tenets, and all the contending masters were left bewildered and conceded defeat. Yixing said in amazement: 'The beam and pillar of the great Dharma—this man corresponds to it! My mind has something to rely upon; even in death I would be satisfied.' When the imperial cortege returned west, an edict ordered him to escort it. Falling slightly ill, he submitted a memorial; the Emperor dispatched a palace courier to bestow medicine and a prescription, with the imperial decree saying: 'May the Dharma Master take care; this medicine and prescription of Our own are excellent and will surely cure you if taken. Once your illness is healed, come early to the Western Capital.' Such was the high favor he received. It was also around this time that Yixing passed away; an imperial edict commanded officials from the Heir Apparent's court down to the ninth rank of the capital to escort \[the remains\] to Tongren Plain. A vegetarian feast was provided at Lantian, and Yin was chosen to serve as the cantor. Just as the Dharma service concluded, Prime Minister Zhang Shuo, Duke of Yan, grasped Yin's hand and said: 'An outstanding talent of the Buddhist fold, rarely matched within the realm! Please provide a transcribed copy of the text you just declaimed so that I may keep it in my book chest.' Because of this, his writings circulated throughout the realm. In the eighteenth year of Kaiyuan, before the Emperor at the Hua'e Pavilion, the superiority of the two teachings \[Buddhism and Daoism\] was debated; Yin's heroic arguments burst forth like a river discharging into the sea. The Daoist Yin Qian fell into disorder in his replies; his reasoning failed, his words were exhausted, and his fundamental doctrines were contradictory. The Emperor sighed in admiration repeatedly and issued an edict awarding five hundred bolts of silk to serve as Dharma offerings. A separate collection, Duishi lunheng (Critical Discussions Before the Emperor), in one fascicle, was widely circulated in the world. Later, he composed the Dacheng fabao wumen mingjiao (Mahāyāna Dharma-Treasure Nominal Teachings in Five Gates) and the Xin fa yi (Rites of Faith in the Dharma), each in one fascicle, a Commentary on the Vijñaptimātratā in six fascicles, a Commentary on the Lotus Sūtra in six fascicles, and a Commentary on the Imperially Annotated Diamond Sūtra in six fascicles. Earlier, when Xuanzong was annotating the sūtra and reached the passage: 'If there is someone whose karmic misdeeds from previous lives should cause them to fall into the evil destinies, \[...\] those karmic misdeeds will be eradicated,' although he held the rabbit-hair brush, he felt considerable hesitation, fearing he might leave an erroneous explanation or adopt the interpretations of other masters. He thereupon summoned Yin to determine the efficacy of the sūtra and discriminate right from wrong. \[Yin\] memorialized: 'The power of the Buddha and the power of the sūtra cannot be fathomed even by the ten holy ones and three wise ranks. In the past, Your Majesty sat in assemblies on prajñā, receiving diverse perfumings; if you immerse your thoughts again, the active manifestations will emerge of themselves.' Thereupon, the Emperor experienced a sudden clarity as if recalling the past; he wrote without pause, with no obstruction whatsoever. Following this, he decreed that Yin should compose a commentary. People from across the four seas turned toward his influence, and students gathered like fish scales; at Qinglong Temple, holding the new commentary, the listeners numbered over a thousand, and this was also the case at Ximing and Chongfu Temples. The lecture halls were entirely coated with fragrant plaster, built from the water's edge up to the ground level; their splendid adornment was the foremost in the capital. In the twenty-eighth year of Kaiyuan, being ill and nearing his end, he sent a disciple to deliver his final memorial, which read: 'I, of humble rank and slight life, have vainly shared in your heavenly favor; I was permitted to join the black-robed ranks and allowed to cultivate myself diligently. Although I constantly bared my right shoulder, I never undertook the labor of raising my sleeves; carrying a monk's staff and pacing leisurely, I was spared the toil of carrying burdens. I happened upon a time when the profound merit was flourishing and the true transformation was gloriously displayed; little did I anticipate that, while striving in love of learning, I would fail in the hasty preservation of life. On the sixteenth day of this month, a severe intestinal affliction suddenly worsened, beyond the help of medicines. The gates of the underworld close upon me, so how can I further bathe in Yao's breeze? Once I return to the nocturnal terraces, how can I meet Shun's sun? It is destined that I be buried in the verdant mounds, never again to pay court at the vermilion steps.' At that time, reading it, the Emperor was deeply saddened and dispatched the inner attendant courier Jia Wengui with fifty bolts of silk to his quarters to offer condolences and gifts, delivering an imperial oral message to inquire of Yin's disciples: 'Having just heard that the Dharma Master has passed away into extinction, We feel profound grief and sorrow; We do not know where he is planned to be interred. The silk and cloth are hereby bestowed.' The imperial favor and condolences, honored in life and mourned in death, brought glory to the saṅgha. His secular age was seventy-three, and his saṅgha age fifty-three. On the twelfth day of the eighth month in the autumn of that year, he was buried on the northern slope of the Zhongnan Mountains beside Xiaoyao Garden, where a white stūpa still stands. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5.16) - [Next: 5.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5.18) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061~en-mt.5.17) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.5.17) · Pramāṇa