神僧傳 1.17

1.17

耆域者。天竺人也。周流華戎靡有常所。而倜儻神奇。任性忽俗迹行不恒。時人莫之能測。自發天竺至于扶南。經諸海濱爰涉交廣。並有靈異。既達襄陽。欲寄載過江。船人見梵沙門衣服弊陋。輕而不載。船達北岸域亦已度前行。見兩虎。虎弭耳掉尾。域以手摩其頭。虎下道而去。兩岸見者隨從成群。晉惠之末至于洛陽。諸人悉為作禮。域胡跽晏然不動容色。時或告人以前身所更。謂支法淵從羊中來。竺法與從人中來。又譏諸眾僧謂衣服華麗不應素法。見洛陽宮城云。彷彿似忉利天宮。但自然之與人事不同耳。域謂沙門耆闍蜜曰。匠此宮者從忉利天來。成便還天上矣。屋脊瓦下應有千五百作器。時咸云昔聞此匠實以作器著瓦下。時衡陽太守南陽滕永文。在洛寄住滿水寺。兩脚攣屈不能起行。域往視之曰。君欲得病差。何不取淨水一杯楊柳一枝來。域即以楊枝拂水舉手向永文而呪。如此者三。因以手搦永文膝令起。即時而起行步如故。此寺中有思惟樹數十株枯死。域問永文。樹死幾時。永文曰。積年矣。域即向樹呪如呪永文法。樹尋荑發扶疎榮茂。尚方暑中有一人病癥將死。域以應器著病者腹上。白布通覆之。呪願數千言。即有臭氣燻徹一室。病者曰。我活矣。域令人舉布。應器中有若淤泥者數升。臭不可近。病者遂瘥。洛陽兵亂辭還天竺。洛中沙門數百人。各請域中食。域皆許往。明旦五百舍皆有一域。始謂獨過。末相讎問方知分身降焉。既發。諸道人送至河南城。域徐行追者不及。域乃以杖畫地曰。於斯別矣。其日有從長安來者。見域在彼寺中。後有賈客胡濕登謂。於是日將暮。逢域於流沙。計已九千餘里。既還西域。不知所終。

Jīvaka was a native of Tianzhu. Wandering throughout both Chinese and frontier lands, he had no fixed dwelling. Untrammeled, extraordinary, and following his whims, he disregarded worldly conventions, and his traces and conduct were never constant; people of the time could not fathom him. From his departure from Tianzhu up to Funan, passing along the various sea coasts, he traversed Jiaozhou and Guangzhou, working wonders at every step. Having reached Xiangyang, he wished to take passage across the river. The boatman, seeing the Indian śramaṇa's robes were ragged and lowly, despised him and would not take him aboard. When the boat reached the north bank, Jīvaka had already crossed and was walking ahead. He saw two tigers; the tigers dropped their ears and wagged their tails, and Jīvaka patted their heads with his hand, whereupon the tigers stepped off the road and left. Those on both banks who saw this followed him in crowds. At the end of the reign of Emperor Hui of the Jin, he arrived at Luoyang. Everyone bowed in homage to him, yet Jīvaka knelt in barbarian fashion, impassive and unmoving in countenance. From time to time he would tell people about their previous lives, saying that Zhi Fayuan had come from among sheep, and that Zhu Faju had come from among humans. He also ridiculed the assembly of monks, saying that their fine, resplendent robes were not in keeping with the plain rule. Seeing the palaces and city walls of Luoyang, he said, 'It vaguely resembles the palace of Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; only that between what is natural and what is made by human effort, there is a difference.' Jīvaka said to the śramaṇa Qijiemi, 'The artisan who built this palace came down from Trāyastriṃśa Heaven; once it was completed, he returned to heaven. Beneath the tiles of the roof ridges there ought to be one thousand five hundred construction tools.' At that time, everyone said that long ago they had heard that this artisan indeed placed his tools under the tiles. At that time Teng Yongwen of Nanyang, governor of Hengyang, was staying in Luoyang at Manshui Monastery. Both of his legs were crippled and bent, so that he could not get up and walk. Jīvaka went to see him and said, 'If you wish to be cured of your illness, why not fetch a cup of pure water and a willow branch?' Jīvaka then sprinkled the water with the willow branch, raised his hand toward Yongwen, and chanted incantations. He did this three times, and then grasped Yongwen's knees with his hands to make him stand up. Immediately he stood up and walked as of old. In this monastery there were several dozen withered and dead trees of contemplation. Jīvaka asked Yongwen, 'How long have the trees been dead?' Yongwen said, 'For many years.' Jīvaka then chanted incantations toward the trees just as he had done for Yongwen. The trees soon sprouted shoots, spreading their branches in lush abundance. In the Directorate of Imperial Manufactures, there was a man suffering from an abdominal mass who was on the verge of death. Jīvaka placed a begging bowl upon the patient's belly and covered him completely with a white cloth. He chanted incantations of wishing for several thousand words, whereupon a foul stench permeated the entire room. The sick man said, 'I shall live!' Jīvaka had someone lift the cloth, and inside the begging bowl were several pints of what looked like foul sludge, reeking so badly that one could not approach it. The sick man was thereupon healed. When warfare erupted in Luoyang, he took his leave to return to Tianzhu. Several hundred śramaṇas in Luoyang each invited Jīvaka to a midday meal. Jīvaka agreed to go to all of them. The next morning, there was a Jīvaka at every one of the five hundred houses. At first each thought he had visited them alone, but later, when they compared notes, they realized he had multiplied his body to descend among them. When he departed, the monks escorted him as far as the walls of Henan. Jīvaka walked slowly, yet his pursuers could not catch up. Jīvaka then drew a line on the ground with his staff, saying, 'Here we part.' On that very day, someone arriving from Chang'an saw Jīvaka in a monastery there. Later, a Sogdian merchant named Hushedeng said that toward dusk on that day, he met Jīvaka in the Flowing Sands, a distance estimated at over nine thousand li. After returning to the Western Regions, his end was not known.