神僧傳 1.21.3

1.21.3

今王為王豈非福也。 疆場軍寇國之常耳。 何為怨謗三寶。 夜興毒念乎。 虎乃信悟跪而謝焉。 虎常問澄。 佛法不殺。 朕為天下之主。 非刑殺無以肅清海內。 既違戒殺生。 雖復事佛詎獲福耶。 澄曰。 帝王事佛當在體恭心順顯揚三寶不為暴虐不害無辜。 至於兇暴無賴非化所遷。 有罪不得不殺。 有惡不得不刑。 但當殺可殺。 當刑可刑耳。 若暴虐恣意殺害非罪。 雖復傾財事法無解殃禍。 願陛下省欲興慈廣及一切。 則佛教永隆福祚方遠。 虎雖不能盡從。 而為益不少。 虎尚書張離張良等家富事佛各起大塔。 澄謂曰。 事佛在於清淨無欲慈矜為心檀越雖儀奉大法。 而貪悋未已。 遊獵無度。 積聚不窮。 方受現世之罪。 何福報之可希耶。 離等後並被戮滅。 時又久旱。 自正月至六月。 虎遣太子詣臨漳西滏口祈雨。 久而不降。 虎令澄自行。 即有白龍二頭降於祠所。 其日大雨。 方數千里。 其年大收。 戎貊之徒先不識法。 聞澄神驗皆遙向禮拜。 並不言而化焉。 澄常遣弟子向西域市香。 既行。 澄告餘弟子。 掌中見買香弟子在某處被劫垂死。 因燒香呪願遙救護之。 弟子後還云。 某月某日某處為賊所劫垂當見殺忽聞香氣。 賊無故自驚曰。 救兵已至。 棄之而走。 虎於臨漳修治舊塔少承露盤。 澄曰。 臨淄城內有古阿育王塔。 地中有承露盤及佛像。 其上林木茂盛。 可掘取之。 即畫圖與使。 依言掘取。 果得盤像。 虎每欲伐燕。 澄諫曰。 燕國運未終卒難可剋。 虎屢行敗績方信澄戒。 黃河中舊不生黿。 忽得一以獻虎。 澄見而歎曰。 桓溫其入河不久。 溫字元子。 後果如言也。 時魏縣有流民。 莫識氏族。 恒著麻襦布裳在魏縣市中乞丐。 時人謂之麻襦。 言語卓越狀如狂病。 乞得米穀不食輒散。 置大路云。 飼天馬。 趙興太守藉拔收送詣虎。 先是澄謂虎曰。 國東二百里某月某日。 當送一非常人。 勿殺之也。 如期果至。 虎與共語了無異言。 唯道陛下當終一柱殿下。 虎不解此語。 令送以詣澄。 麻襦謂澄曰。 昔在元和中會。 奄至今日酉戌受玄命。 絕曆終有期。 金離銷于壤。 邊荒不能尊。 驅除靈期迹。 莫已已之懿。 裔苗葉繁其來方積。 休期於何期永以歎之。 澄曰。 天迴運極否將不支九木。 水為難無可以術寧。 玄哲雖存世莫能。 基必頹久遊閻浮。 利擾擾多此患。 行登凌雲宇會於虛遊間。 澄與麻襦講論終日。 人莫能解。 有竊聽者。 唯得此數言。 推計似如論數百年事。 虎遣驛馬送還本縣。 既出城外辭能步行。 云我當有所過未便得發。 至合口橋可留見待。 使如言馳去。 未至合口。 而麻襦已在橋上。 考其行步有若飛也。 虎嘗晝寢。 夢見群羊負魚從東北來。 寤已訪澄。 澄曰。 不祥也。 鮮卑其有中原乎。 慕容氏後果都之。 澄嘗與虎共升中堂。 澄忽驚曰。 幽州當火災。 仍取酒灑之。 久而笑曰。 救已得矣。 虎遣驗幽州云。 爾日火從四門起。 西南有黑雲來驟雨滅之。 雨亦頗有酒氣。 至虎建武十四年七月。 石宣石韜將圖相殺。 宣時到寺與澄同坐浮圖。 一鈴獨鳴。 澄謂宣曰。 解鈴音乎。 鈴云。 胡子洛度。 宣變色曰。 是何言歟。 澄謬曰。 老胡為道不能山居。 無言重茵美服。 豈非洛度乎。 石韜後至。 澄熟視良久韜懼而問澄。 澄曰。 怪公血臭。 故相視耳。 至八月澄使弟子十人齋于別室。 澄時暫入東閤。 虎與后杜氏問訊。 澄曰。 脇下有賊。 不出十日。 自佛圖以西此殿以東當有流血。 慎勿東行也。 杜氏曰。 和尚耄耶何處有賊。 澄即易語云。 六情所受皆悉是賊。 老自應耄。 但使少者不惛。 遂便寓言不復章的。 後二日宣果遣人害韜於佛寺中。 欲因虎臨喪仍行大逆。

"Is it not through merit that your Majesty is king today? Border skirmishes and bandit forces are commonplace for a state. Why resent and slander the Three Jewels and give rise to poisonous thoughts in the night?" [Shi] Hu then was convinced, awakened, and knelt down to apologise. Hu often asked [Fotudeng], "The Buddhist Dharma forbids killing. I am the ruler of all under Heaven; without executions and killings, there is no way to pacify [the realm within] the seas. Having violated the precept against taking life, even if I serve the Buddha, how can I obtain merit?" Fotudeng replied, "When emperors and kings serve the Buddha, it consists in being reverent in body and compliant in mind, glorifying the Three Jewels, not being tyrannical, and not harming the innocent. As for the ferocious, brutal, and villainous who cannot be transformed by moral influence—if they are guilty, they must be executed; if they are evil, they must be punished. One should only kill those who should be killed, and punish those who should be punished. If one acts tyrannically and willfully kills the innocent, even if one spends one's entire fortune serving the Dharma, disaster cannot be averted. May Your Majesty lessen your desires and give rise to compassion, extending it widely to all beings; then the Buddhist teachings will flourish forever and your blessings will endure far into the future." Although Hu could not follow all of it, it brought no small benefit. Hu's Secretarial Directors Zhang Li, Zhang Liang, and others, whose families were wealthy, served the Buddha and each erected a great stupa. Fotudeng said to them, "Serving the Buddha lies in purity, having no desires, and keeping a mind of compassion and pity. Although you donors outwardly adhere to the great Dharma, your greed and stinginess have not ceased. You hunt without restraint and accumulate [wealth] ceaselessly. You are about to incur retribution in this present life; what karmic blessing can you hope for?" Li and the others were later all executed and destroyed. At that time, there was another prolonged drought from the first month to the sixth month. Hu sent the Crown Prince to the mouth of the Fu River west of Linzhang to pray for rain, but after a long time none fell. Hu ordered Fotudeng to go in person; immediately, two white dragons descended at the shrine. On that day, heavy rain fell over thousands of square li. That year saw a great harvest. The Rong and Mo tribes, who previously did not know the Dharma, heard of Fotudeng's divine signs and all bowed in reverence from afar, being transformed without a word spoken. Fotudeng once sent a disciple to the Western Regions to buy incense. After he departed, Fotudeng told his other disciples, "In my palm, I see the disciple buying incense being robbed at a certain place and on the brink of death." Thereupon, he burned incense, made a prayer, and saved him from afar. The disciple later returned and said, "On a certain month and day at a certain place, I was robbed by bandits and was on the verge of being killed when suddenly a fragrance was smelled. For no reason, the bandits became terrified on their own and said, 'Relief troops have arrived!' They abandoned me and fled." When Hu was repairing an old stupa in Linzhang, he lacked a dew-receiving basin. Fotudeng said, "Inside the city of Linzi, there is an ancient stupa of King Aśoka. In the ground, there is a dew-receiving basin and a Buddha statue. Above it, trees and woods are flourishing. You may dig them up." He immediately drew a diagram and gave it to the envoy. Digging according to his instructions, they indeed obtained the basin and the statue. Whenever Hu wished to attack Yan, Fotudeng admonished him, saying, "The destiny of the state of Yan has not yet ended; it will ultimately be difficult to overcome." Hu suffered defeat several times before finally believing Fotudeng's warning. Large softshell turtles were not previously native to the Yellow River, but one was suddenly caught and presented to Hu. Seeing it, Fotudeng sighed and said, "Huan Wen will enter the River before long." Wen's courtesy name was Yuanzi. Later, it indeed turned out as he had said. At that time, in Wei County there was a displaced person whose clan name no one knew. He constantly wore a hemp jacket and cloth skirt, begging in the marketplace of Wei County. The people of the time called him Hemp Jacket (Maru). His speech was extraordinary, and his appearance was like someone mad. When he begged and received rice and grain, he did not eat it but immediately scattered it, placing it on the main road and saying, "To feed the heavenly horses." The Grand Administrator of Zhaoxing, Jie Ba, arrested him and sent him to Hu. Prior to this, Fotudeng had told Hu, "On a certain month and day, two hundred li east of the state, an extraordinary man will be delivered. Do not kill him." As predicted, he indeed arrived. Hu spoke with him, but his words were completely ordinary, saying only, "Your Majesty will end under a single-pillared hall." Hu did not understand these words and ordered him sent to Fotudeng. Hemp Jacket said to Fotudeng, "In the past, we met during the Yuanhe era. Suddenly we have arrived at today: in the year of you and xu we received the mysterious mandate. The broken calendar at last has its term. Gold separates and melts into the soil; the distant wilderness cannot show honor. The traces of the divine destiny have been swept away. There is no end to its goodness; the descendant sprouts and leaves flourish, and what is to come will accumulate. When will the auspicious period arrive? Long do I sigh over it." Fotudeng said, "The revolution of heaven has reached its limit; adversity will not sustain the nine trees. Water causes difficulties, and there are no arts by which it can be pacified. Though the mysterious and wise exist, no one in the world can [remedy it]. The foundation must collapse; having long roamed Jambudvīpa, where profit stirs up confusion, there are many such perils. Let us ascend the cloud-soaring dwellings and meet in the space of empty wandering." Fotudeng and Hemp Jacket discussed all day, and no one could understand them. Someone eavesdropping only caught these few phrases; by deduction, they seemed to be discussing matters spanning hundreds of years. Hu sent relay horses to escort him back to his home county. Once outside the city walls, he declined, saying he could walk on foot, and said, "I have a place to visit and cannot depart immediately. You may wait for me at Hekou Bridge." The envoy galloped off as instructed. Before reaching Hekou, Hemp Jacket was already on the bridge. Observing his walking pace, it was as if he were flying. Hu once took a daytime nap and dreamt of a flock of sheep carrying fish coming from the northeast. Upon waking, he consulted Fotudeng. Fotudeng said, "It is inauspicious. Will the Xianbei take possession of the Central Plains?" The Murong clan indeed later made it their capital. Fotudeng was once ascending the central hall together with Hu. Fotudeng suddenly said in alarm, "Youzhou will suffer a fire disaster!" He then took wine and sprinkled it. After a long while, he laughed and said, "Rescue has succeeded." Hu sent someone to inspect Youzhou, who reported, "On that day, fire broke out from the four gates. From the southwest, dark clouds came, and a sudden downpour extinguished it. The rain also smelled considerably of wine." In the fourteenth year of Hu's Jianwu era, in the seventh month, Shi Xuan and Shi Tao were plotting to kill one another. Xuan came to the monastery at that time and sat with Fotudeng in the stupa. A bell rang alone. Fotudeng said to Xuan, "Do you understand the bell's sound? The bell says: 'Hu child, luodu.'" Xuan changed color and said, "What words are these?" Fotudeng feigned ignorance and said, "This old barbarian practices the Way yet cannot dwell in the mountains, not to mention double cushions and fine clothes—is that not luodu?" Later, Shi Tao arrived. Fotudeng stared intently at him for a long while. Tao was frightened and questioned Fotudeng. Fotudeng said, "I was amazed by the smell of blood on you, my lord; that is why I looked at you." In the eighth month, Fotudeng ordered ten disciples to observe a fast in a separate room. Fotudeng himself briefly entered the Eastern Chamber. Hu and Empress Du came to pay their respects. Fotudeng said, "There is a bandit at your flanks. Within ten days, between west of the stupa and east of this hall, there will be bloodshed. Be careful not to travel east." Empress Du said, "Is the Acārya senile? Where could there be a bandit?" Fotudeng immediately changed his words, saying, "All that is received through the six senses are bandits. The old should naturally be senile; just ensure the young are not confused." He then spoke in allegories, no longer speaking explicitly. Two days later, Xuan indeed sent men to murder Tao inside a Buddhist monastery, intending to use the occasion of Hu attending the funeral to commit high treason.