[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) › [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064) › 3.8 # 神僧傳 3.8 神僧傳 3.8 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.8) 求那跋摩。此云功德鎧。本剎利種。累世為王治在罽賓國。年十四便機見俊達深度。仁愛汎博崇德務善。其母嘗須野肉令跋摩辦之。跋摩曰。有命之類莫不貪生。夭彼之命非仁人矣。年二十出家受戒。洞明九部博曉四舍。誦經百餘萬言。深達律品妙入禪要。時人號曰三藏法師。至年三十罽賓國王薨。絕無紹嗣。眾咸議曰。跋摩帝室之胤。又才明德重。可請令還俗以紹國位。群臣數百再三固請。跋摩不納。乃辭師違眾林栖谷飲。孤行山野遁迹人世。後至闍婆國。初未至一日闍婆王母夜夢見一道士飛舶入國。明旦果是跋摩來至。王母敬以聖禮從受五戒。母因勸王曰。宿世因緣得為母子。我已受戒而汝不信。恐後生之因永絕今果。王迫以母勅。即奉命受戒。漸染既久專精稍篤。頃之隣兵犯境。王謂跋摩曰。外賊恃力欲見侵侮。若與鬪戰傷殺必多。如其不拒危亡將至。今唯歸命師尊不知何計。跋摩曰。暴寇相攻宜須禦捍。但當起慈悲心勿興害念耳。王自領兵擬之。旗鼓始交賊便退散。王遇流矢傷脚。跋摩為呪水洗之。信宿平復。後為跋摩立精舍。躬自琢材傷王脚指。跋摩又為呪治之。有頃平復。時京師名德沙門慧觀慧聰等遠挹風猷思欲參稟。以元嘉元年九月。啟文帝求迎請跋摩。帝即勅交州刺史令泛舶延致。觀等又遣沙門法長道冲道雋等往彼祈請。文帝知跋摩已至南海。於是復勅州郡令資發下京。路由始興經停歲許。始興有虎市山。儀形聳峙峯嶺高絕。跋摩謂其髣髴耆闍。乃改名靈鷲。於山寺之外別立禪室。去寺數里磬音不聞。每至鳴椎。跋摩已至。或冐雨不沾。或履泥不污。時眾道俗莫不肅然增敬。寺有寶月殿。跋摩於殿北壁手自畫作羅云像。及定光儒童布髮之形。像成之後每夕放光。久之乃歇。始興太守蔡茂之深加敬仰。後茂之將死。跋摩躬自往視說法安慰。後家人夢見茂之在寺中與眾僧講法。此山本多虎災。自跋摩居之。晝行夜往。或時值虎以杖按頭抒之而去。跋摩嘗於別室坐禪。累日不出。寺僧遣沙彌往候之。見一白師子緣柱而立。亘室彌漫生青蓮花。沙彌驚恐大呼。往視師子豁無所見。未終之前預造遺文偈頌三十六行。自說因緣云。已證二果。手自封緘付弟子阿沙羅云。我終後可以此文還示天竺僧。亦可示此境僧也。既終之後即趺坐繩床。顏貌不異似若入定。道俗赴者千有餘人。並聞香氣芬烈。咸見一物狀若龍蛇。可長一匹許。起於屍側直上衝天。莫能詔者。即於南林戒壇前。依外國法闍毘之。春秋六十有五。 > Guṇavarman is translated here as "Armor of Merit" (Gongde'ai). He was originally of the kṣatriya caste. For successive generations, his family had been kings ruling in the kingdom of Kapiśa. At the age of fourteen, his keen perception was sharp and penetrating, and his depth of insight was profound. His benevolence was broad and all-embracing; he exalted virtue and applied himself to good. His mother once required wild meat and ordered Guṇavarman to obtain it. Guṇavarman said, "Among all creatures endowed with life, none does not covet life. Snuffing out the life of another is not the way of a humane person." At the age of twenty, he renounced household life and received the precepts. He thoroughly understood the nine genres of scriptures, was widely versed in the four collections, and could chant over one million words of sūtras. He profoundly mastered the Vinaya sections and subtly entered the essentials of dhyāna. People of the time called him Tripiṭaka Dharma Master. When he reached thirty years of age, the king of Kapiśa died without leaving any heir. All discussed, saying, "Guṇavarman is an offspring of the royal house, and is both talented, wise, and eminent in virtue. We may request him to return to lay life and succeed to the kingdom's throne." Several hundred ministers repeatedly and firmly besought him, but Guṇavarman would not accept. He then took leave of his master, parted from the assembly, dwelled in the forest, drank from the valleys, walked alone through the mountains and wilds, and hid his traces from the human world. Later he reached the kingdom of Javadvīpa. One day before he arrived, the mother of the king of Javadvīpa dreamt at night of a religious master flying in a ship into the country. The next morning, it was indeed Guṇavarman who arrived. The queen mother venerated him with holy rites and received the five precepts from him. The mother then admonished the king, saying, "By past karmic affinity we were able to become mother and son. I have already received the precepts, yet you do not believe. I fear the cause of future lives will be forever severed from the fruit of the present." Pressured by his mother's command, the king obeyed the order and received the precepts. After long immersion, his dedication gradually deepened. Soon after, neighbouring troops invaded the borders. The king said to Guṇavarman, "The foreign bandits rely on their might and wish to invade and insult us. If we fight them, there will surely be much injury and death; if we do not resist, danger and ruin are at hand. Now I take refuge solely in your Venerable Reverence, not knowing what course to take." Guṇavarman said, "When violent bandits attack, it is indeed necessary to defend. But you should only give rise to a mind of loving-kindness and compassion, and not arouse intentions to do harm." The king led the troops in person to face them. As soon as the banners and drums clashed, the bandits dispersed in retreat. The king was struck by a stray arrow and wounded in the foot. Guṇavarman washed it with incanted water, and in two nights he recovered. Later, when building a vihāra for Guṇavarman, the king personally carved timber and injured his toe; Guṇavarman treated it again with incantations, and after a short while he recovered. At that time, eminent śramaṇas of renown and virtue in the capital, such as Huiguan and Huicong, admired his lofty style from afar and longed to visit and receive instructions. In the ninth month of the first year of the Yuanjia era, they petitioned Emperor Wen requesting him to welcome and invite Guṇavarman. The Emperor issued an edict to the inspector of Jiaozhou, ordering him to dispatch a ship to invite and bring him. Guan and the others also dispatched the śramaṇas Fachang, Daochong, Daojun, and others thither to beseech him. Emperor Wen learned that Guṇavarman had already reached the South Sea, whereupon he again ordered the provinces and commanderies to supply provisions and dispatch him down to the capital. Along the way, he passed through Shixing and remained there for about a year. In Shixing was Mount Hushi, whose form towered aloft with peaks high and extraordinary. Guṇavarman considered it reminiscent of Gṛdhrakūṭa, and so renamed it Vulture Peak (Lingjiu). Outside the mountain monastery, he established a separate meditation chamber, several li away from the monastery, where the sound of the stone chime could not be heard. Yet whenever the wooden mallet was struck, Guṇavarman had already arrived. Sometimes he braved the rain without getting wet; sometimes he walked through mud without being soiled. At that time, none among the monastic and lay assembly failed to revere him with heightened respect. The monastery had the Baoyue Hall. On the north wall of the hall, Guṇavarman personally painted an image of Rāhula, as well as the depiction of the youth Megha (Dīpaṃkara's former life) spreading his hair on the ground. After the painting was completed, it emitted light every evening, which only ceased after a long time. Cai Maozhi, the grand administrator of Shixing, held him in deep veneration. Later, when Maozhi was near death, Guṇavarman went in person to see him, expounding the Dharma to comfort him. Afterwards, his family dreamt that Maozhi was in the monastery lecturing on the Dharma with the monastic assembly. This mountain originally had many calamities caused by tigers. Since Guṇavarman came to dwell there, he traveled by day and night; whenever he encountered a tiger, he would press its head with his staff, push it aside, and proceed. Guṇavarman once practiced dhyāna in a separate room and did not emerge for days on end. The monastery's monks dispatched a śrāmaṇera to inquire after him. The śrāmaṇera saw a white lion standing against a pillar, and throughout the room blue lotus blossoms were blooming in abundance. The śrāmaṇera cried out in terror; when he looked again, the lion had completely vanished. Before his passing, he composed beforehand thirty-six lines of testament in verse, recounting his karmic affinities and stating that he had already attained the second fruit (sakṛdāgāmin). He personally sealed it and handed it to his disciple Aśoka (Ashaluo), saying, "After my passing, you may take this text and show it to the monks of Tianzhu, and you may also show it to the monks of this realm." After his passing, he remained seated cross-legged on a corded couch, his facial appearance unchanged, appearing as if he had entered samādhi. More than a thousand monastics and laypeople gathered, all smelling a rich and fragrant scent. Everyone saw an object resembling a dragon or snake, about one bolt in length, rise from beside the corpse and ascend straight into the sky, though none could give it a name. Thereupon, in front of the precept altar of the Nanlin Monastery, they cremated him according to the foreign custom. His years were sixty-five. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.7) - [Next: 3.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.9) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064~en-mt.3.8) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (2) - [貞元新定釋教目錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.7.28.4) — 圓照, Classical Chinese - [開元釋教錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.5.5.4) — 智昇, Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.8) · Pramāṇa