神僧傳 1.5

1.5

釋摩騰。本中天竺人也。美風儀解大小乘經。常以遊化為任。往天竺附庸小國講金光明經。會敵國侵境。騰惟曰。經云。能說此法為地神所護。使所居安樂。今鋒鏑方始。曾是為益乎。乃誓以忘身。躬往和勸。遂致二國交歡。由是顯譽。逮漢永平中明帝夜夢金人飛空而至。乃大集群臣以占所夢。通人傅毅奏曰。臣聞西域有神。其名曰佛。陛下所夢將必是乎。帝以為然。即遣郎中蔡愔博士弟子秦景等。往天竺尋訪佛法。愔等於彼遇見摩騰。要還漢地。騰誓志弘通不憚疲苦。冒涉流沙至於雒邑。明帝甚加賞接。於城西門外立精舍以處之。漢地有沙門。自騰始也。但大法初傳未有歸信。故蘊其深解無所宣述。後卒於雒陽。有記云。騰譯四十二章經一卷。初緘在蘭臺石室第十四間中。騰所住處。今雒陽城西雍門外白馬寺是也。相傳云。外國有王嘗毀破諸寺。唯招提寺未及毀壞。夜有一白馬繞塔悲鳴。即以啟王。王即停壞諸寺。因改招提以為白馬。故諸寺立名。多取則焉。

Shi Mātanga was originally a native of Central Tianzhu. He was fine in bearing and deportment, and understood both the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna scriptures. He always took traveling and converting others as his mission. He went to a small vassal state of Tianzhu to lecture on the Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra, and it happened that a hostile state invaded its borders. Mātanga reflected: 'The scripture says that whoever can explain this Dharma will be protected by the earth spirits, who will cause their dwelling place to be peaceful and joyful. Now, when the arrowheads and spearheads have just begun to fly, can this indeed be of benefit?' Thereupon, vowing to forget his own life, he went in person to harmonize and persuade them, and so brought the two countries to mutual harmony and joy. On account of this, his fame became illustrious. Coming down to the Yongping era of the Han dynasty, Emperor Ming dreamt at night of a golden person flying through the air and arriving. He then assembled his courtiers in great numbers to divine what he had dreamt. The erudite scholar Fu Yi submitted a memorial, saying: 'Your servant has heard that in the Western Regions there is a divine being whose name is Buddha. Could what Your Majesty dreamt be him?' The emperor took this to be true, and immediately dispatched the Court Gentleman Cai Yin, the Erudite Disciple Qin Jing, and others to Tianzhu to seek out the Buddha's Dharma. Cai Yin and the others encountered Mātanga there and invited him to return to the land of Han. Mātanga, having vowed his resolve to broadly propagate [the Dharma], did not shrink from weariness and hardship; braving the crossing of the flowing sands, he arrived at Luoyi. Emperor Ming received and treated him with great esteem, erecting a vihāra outside the western gate of the city to lodge him. That the land of Han had śramaṇas began with Mātanga. However, as the Great Dharma was newly transmitted and had not yet gained devotion and faith, he held within himself his deep understanding, having nowhere to proclaim or expound it. Later, he died in Luoyang. There is a record stating that Mātanga translated the Sūtra of Forty-two Sections in one fascicle, which was originally stored in the fourteenth room of the Stone Chamber of the Orchid Pavilion. The place where Mātanga resided is the present White Horse Monastery outside the Yong Gate, west of the city of Luoyang. A tradition says: A king of a foreign land once destroyed various monasteries, but only the cāturdiśa monastery had not yet been destroyed. At night, a white horse circled its stūpa, whinnying mournfully. When this was reported to the king, he immediately halted the destruction of the monasteries. He accordingly changed the cāturdiśa [monastery's name] to White Horse. Therefore, when various monasteries are named, many take this as their model.