[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) › 6.33 # 宋高僧傳 6.33 宋高僧傳 6.33 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [6.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6.33) 釋僧徹，不知何許人也。敏利天資，高邁逸類，稚歲聰頴，而慕悟達國師，若顏回之肖仲尼也。既而時親函丈，頗見幽微，隨侍翼從，未嘗少厭。窺其門牆，其殆庶幾乎。悟達凡有新義別章，咸囑付徹暢衍之。為《如來藏經疏》著《法鑑》四卷，《大無量壽經疏》著《法燈》二卷，《勝鬘師子吼經疏》著《法苑》十卷。觀乎悟達為疏，若左丘明之傳也。徹述三法鈔，猶杜、服之集解歟？初居法乾內寺，師資角立，聲彩風行，凡百官寮無不奉仰，率由徹內外兼學，辭筆特高，唱予和汝，同氣相求。尋充左右街應制，每屬誕辰，升麟德殿法座講談，勅賜紫袈裟。懿宗皇帝留心釋氏，頗異前朝。遇八齋日，必內中飯僧數盈萬計。帝因法集，躬為讚唄，徹則升臺朗詠。寵錫繁博，勅造栴檀木講座以賜之。又勅兩街四寺行方等懺法，戒壇度僧各三七日。別宣僧尼大德二十人入咸泰殿置壇度內。福壽寺尼繕寫《大藏經》，每藏計五千四百六十一卷，雕造真檀像一千軀，皆委徹檢校焉。以十一月十四日延慶節，麟德殿召京城僧道赴內講論，爾日徹述皇猷，辭辯瀏亮，帝深稱許。而又恢張佛理，旁懾黃冠，可謂折衝異論者，當時號為「法將」。帝悅，勅賜號曰淨光大師，咸通十一年也。續錄兩街僧事。初徹經江論海，勇於揭厲，於青龍寺講貫，既循悟達國師義意，寄呈所見，蒙迴八十四字云：「觀君《法苑》思沖虛，解我真乘刃有餘。若使龍光時可待，應憐僧肇論成初。五車外典知難敵，九趣多才恐不如。蕭寺講軒橫淡蕩，帝鄉雲樹正扶疎。幾生曾得闍踰意，今日堪將貝葉書。一振微言冠千古，何人執卷問吾廬？」覽茲獎飾，悲喜盈襟。以廣明中，巢寇犯闕，僖宗幸蜀。其夕徹內宿，明日倉黃與杜光庭先生扈從入於岷、峨。再見悟達，痛序艱難。徹極多著述，碑頌歌詩。不知所終。內翰侍郎樂朋龜為真讚，鳳翔、嘉州皆寫其真相。弟子秦、蜀之間愈多傳法者。 > Śramaṇa Sengche was a man whose native place is unknown. Endowed by nature with agility and acuity, he was outstanding and rose far above his peers. Precociously intelligent from childhood, he admired National Preceptor Wuda, much like Yan Hui resembling Zhongni. Subsequently, he regularly drew near to the master's private quarters and showed deep discernment of the subtle and profound. Accompanying and attending upon him, he never showed the slightest weariness. Prying into the master’s gates and walls, he almost attained his inner chamber. Whenever Wuda had new interpretations or distinct treatises, he invariably entrusted Che to expand and explain them. For the Commentary on the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, he authored the Fajian in four scrolls; for the Commentary on the Larger Amitāyus Sūtra, he authored the Fadeng in two scrolls; and for the Commentary on the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra, he authored the Fayuan in ten scrolls. Viewing Wuda’s composition of the commentaries, it was like Zuo Qiuming’s tradition; Che’s compilation of the three subcommentaries was perhaps like Du Yu's and Fu Qian's collected commentaries? Initially residing in the inner monastery of Fagan, master and disciple stood side by side, and their renown and brilliance spread like the wind; of the hundred officials and ministers, none failed to revere them. This was entirely because Che combined the study of both internal and external texts, possessing exceptional skill in writing and composition; singing out and answering one another, those of like spirit sought each other out. Soon he was appointed as one who responded to imperial command for the Left and Right Streets. Whenever the imperial birthday came, he ascended the Dharma throne in the Linde Hall to deliver lectures, and was imperially bestowed a purple kāṣāya. Emperor Yizong paid close attention to the Buddhist teachings, showing a marked difference from previous reigns. Whenever the eight-fast days arrived, he would invariably feed monks within the palace numbering more than ten thousand. On occasions of Dharma assemblies, the Emperor would personally sing chants and hymns, while Che would ascend the dais to intone them aloud. Imperial favors and grants were profuse: an imperial decree ordered the construction of a sandalwood lecture seat to be presented to him. He was further ordered to conduct the Vaipulya confession rituals in four temples across both streets, conferring the precepts to monks on the ordination platforms for three periods of seven days each. A special decree summoned twenty monks and nuns of great virtue to enter the Xiantai Hall, where an ordination platform was erected to confer ordinations within the palace. When the nuns of Fushou Temple copied the Tripiṭaka—each set amounting to 5,461 scrolls—and carved one thousand genuine sandalwood statues, all were entrusted to Che for inspection and supervision. On the Yanqing Festival, the fourteenth day of the eleventh month, the Linde Hall summoned the monks and Daoists of the capital to enter the palace for debate. On that day, Che expounded the imperial rule with clear and lucid eloquence, and the Emperor praised him deeply. Furthermore, he broadly unfolded Buddhist principles and sideways cowed the yellow-crowned Daoists; he could truly be called one who held rival doctrines at bay, being acclaimed by contemporaries as a 'Dharma General'. Pleased, the Emperor imperially bestowed upon him the title Grand Master Jingguang; this was in the eleventh year of Xiantong. He subsequently recorded the saṅgha affairs of both streets. Earlier, as Che waded through the rivers of sūtras and the ocean of treatises, he was bold in his wading and crossing. While lecturing and studying at Qinglong Temple, having followed the meanings and intentions of National Preceptor Wuda, he sent his views in a letter and received in return eighty-four characters: 'Viewing your Fayuan, its thought is free and deep; / interpreting our True Vehicle, your blade moves with room to spare. / If Longguang’s era could be awaited, / one should feel pity for Sengzhao when his treatise was first completed. / Knowing the five cartloads of non-Buddhist scriptures are hard to rival, / I fear the talented of the nine destinies could not compare. / In the temple’s lecture pavilion, ease and expansiveness spread across; / in the imperial city, cloud-like trees flourish luxuriously. / In how many lives did you attain the intent of the son of Śuddhodana, / that today you are worthy of holding the palm-leaf texts? / Resonating with subtle words, you stand foremost across a thousand ages; / who will grasp these scrolls and inquire at my cottage?' Reading this praise and honor, grief and joy filled his breast. During the Guangming era, the rebel Huang Chao attacked the palace, and Emperor Xizong fled to Shu. That evening Che had stayed overnight in the palace, and the next day, in haste, he accompanied Master Du Guangting in the imperial retinue into the Min and E mountains. Meeting Wuda again, he spoke with sorrow of the hardships. Che produced an extraordinary number of writings, including stelae, panegyrics, songs, and poems. It is not known where he ended his life. The Hanlin Academician and Vice Minister Le Penggui composed an encomium for his portrait, and portraits of his true likeness were painted in both Fengxiang and Jiazhou. Among his disciples, those who transmitted the Dharma were increasingly numerous between the regions of Qin and Shu. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 6.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6.32) - [Next: 6.34](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6.34) - [Up: 6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061~en-mt.6.33) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2061.6.33) · Pramāṇa