神僧傳 2.28

2.28

釋曇無竭。此云法勇。姓李氏。幽州黃龍人。幼為沙彌便修苦行持戒誦經。為師僧所重。嘗聞法顯等躬踐佛國。乃慨然有忘身之誓。遂以宋永初元年招集同志沙門僧猛等。共齎旛蓋供養之具。遠適西方。初至河南國。仍出海西郡。入流沙到高昌。郡經歷龜茲沙勒。諸國登葱嶺度雪山。進至罽賓國禮拜佛鉢。停歲餘學梵書梵語求得觀世音受記經梵文一部。復西行至辛頭那提河。緣河西入月氏國。禮拜佛肉髻骨及覩自沸水船。後至檀特山南石留寺。住僧三百餘人。雜三乘學。無竭停此寺受大戒。復行向中天竺界。路既空曠唯齎石蜜為糧雖屢經危棘。而繫念所齎觀世音經。未嘗暫廢。將至舍衛國。中野逢山象一群。無竭稱名歸命。即有師子從林中出。象驚惶奔走。後度恒河。復值野牛一群。鳴吼而來。將欲害人。無竭歸命如初。尋有大鷲飛來。野牛驚散。遂得免之。後於南天竺隨舶汎海達廣州。其所譯出觀世音受記經。今傳于京師。後不知所終。

Shi Dharmodgata (Tanwujie)—translated here as Fayong (Dharma-Courage)—was surnamed Li, a native of Huanglong in Youzhou. As a novice from his youth, he cultivated ascetic practices, upheld the precepts, and recited sūtras, being respected by his teacher and the monks. Having heard that Faxian and others had personally trodden the lands of the Buddha, he made an impassioned resolve disregarding his own life. Consequently, in the first year of the Yongchu era of the Song dynasty, he gathered like-minded śramaṇas such as Sengmeng and others, and together they carried banners, canopies, and implements of offering, setting out for distant Western regions. At first they reached the state of Henan, then exited the commandery of Haixi, entered the shifting sands, and arrived at Gaochang Commandery. Passing through various kingdoms such as Kucha and Kashgar, they scaled the Congling Mountains and crossed the snowy mountains, advancing to the kingdom of Kapiśa, where they paid homage to the Buddha's alms-bowl. Staying for over a year, he studied Indic script and the Sanskrit language, seeking and obtaining an Indic manuscript of the Avalokiteśvara-vyākaraṇa-sūtra. Traveling west again to the Sindhu River, he followed the river westward into the Yuezhi kingdom, paying homage to the Buddha's uṣṇīṣa bone and witnessing the vessel on the naturally boiling water. Later, they reached the Shiliu Monastery south of Mount Dantai, where over three hundred monks resided, studying the Three Vehicles together. Tanwujie stayed in this monastery and received full ordination. He then journeyed toward the borders of Central Tianzhu. Because the road was desolate, he carried only rock sugar for provisions; though repeatedly encountering danger and hardships, his mindful concentration on the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra he carried was never suspended for a moment. As he was about to reach the kingdom of Śrāvastī, he encountered a herd of wild elephants in the wilderness. Tanwujie called upon the name and took refuge, whereupon a lion emerged from the forest, and the elephants fled in terror. Later, when crossing the Ganges, he again met a herd of wild buffaloes bellowing and charging, about to harm them. Tanwujie took refuge as before, and soon a great vulture flew down, scattering the wild buffaloes in fear, so that they escaped danger. Later, in South Tianzhu, he boarded a merchant ship and sailed the sea, arriving in Guangzhou. The Avalokiteśvara-vyākaraṇa-sūtra that he translated is now transmitted in the capital. Later, his whereabouts remained unknown.