[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) › 5.32 # 神僧傳 5.32 神僧傳 5.32 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [5.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5.32) 釋惠祥。姓周氏。十五出家。頭陀乞食。默自禪誦不與眾同。年十九染患三月救療無徵。夜中宴坐歎曰。大丈夫本欲以身從道於末法中摧伏非法。如何此志未從為病所困。將曉有一人長丈餘謂曰。但誦涅槃無愁不差。至旦即誦三日便瘳。大業末夏中因食口中得舍利。不辨棄地。輒還在口。如是數四。疑是真身砧槌不碎。遂聲鍾告眾。白黑咸集。祥涕泣焚香願降威力。須臾放五色光異香遍郭。眾覩希有。體貌肥白可長八尺有餘。行路不識莫不怪仰。刺史李昇明至寺怪異。謂群官曰。此道人膚容若此。日可應噉一羊。語訖覺手足不隨乘馬失御。諸官以實告之。便悔謝還。復大使權茂行至鄧州。又怪昇明曰。此大德非凡具說往緣。茂不信。請將七日試以麁食。而膚色更悅。茂愧伏悔先不信之罪。將終手執經胡跪謂弟子曰。吾今逝矣。汝好住持無令絕滅。又感異香盈郭。以大業末年八月卒。春秋七十。氣命雖絕而胡跪執經如初。遠近奔赴見其卓然無不歎訝。 > Shi Huixiang had the lay surname Zhou. He renounced household life at fifteen, practicing dhūta and begging for food. In silence, he engaged in meditation and chanting, not mingling with the multitude. When he was nineteen, he contracted an illness; after three months of medical treatment, there was no sign of recovery. Sitting in meditation at night, he sighed and said, "A great man originally intended to devote his body to the Way, subduing the unrighteous within the Latter Dharma. How can this aspiration remain unfulfilled, while I am trapped by illness?" Near dawn, a man over ten feet tall spoke to him, saying, "Just chant the Nirvāṇa \[Sūtra\], and have no worry of not recovering." When dawn came, he immediately chanted it, and was cured in three days. In the summer of the late Daye era, while eating, he obtained a śarīra in his mouth; unable to recognize it, he threw it on the ground, but it reappeared in his mouth. This happened several times. Suspecting it to be a genuine relic, he struck it with an anvil and hammer, but it could not be broken. He then struck the bell to announce it to the assembly; monastics and laypeople all gathered. Xiang wept and burned incense, praying for it to manifest its mighty power. In an instant, it emitted five-colored light, and a wondrous fragrance filled the city. The assembly regarded it as unprecedented. His physique was stout and fair, over eight feet tall; passersby who did not know him all marveled at and admired him. Li Shengming, the Prefect, came to the temple and found his appearance strange. He said to the officials, "If this man of the Way has such a complexion and build, he must consume a whole sheep daily." Having finished speaking, he felt his hands and feet lose mobility, and while riding his horse, he lost control of the reins. When the officials told him the truth, he repented, apologized, and returned. Furthermore, Grand Commissioner Quan Mao went to Dengzhou and also expressed wonder to Shengming, saying, "This Venerable One is extraordinary," and recounted the former circumstances in detail. Mao did not believe it, and requested to take him for seven days to test him with coarse food; however, his complexion became even more radiant. Mao felt humbled and repented for his previous sin of disbelief. When Xiang was about to pass away, holding a sūtra in his hands and kneeling in the barbarian style, he said to his disciples, "I am departing now. You must maintain this well and not allow it to be extinguished." A wondrous fragrance was also felt filling the city. In the eighth month of the final year of the Daye era, he died at the age of seventy. Although his breath and life were extinguished, he remained kneeling in the barbarian style holding the sūtra as before. People from far and near rushed to the scene; seeing him standing upright, all sighed in astonishment. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 5.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5.31) - [Next: 5.33](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5.33) - [Up: 5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064~en-mt.5.32) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.5.32) · Pramāṇa