神僧傳 6.4

6.4

釋志寬。姓姚氏。蒲州河東人也。歷覽諸經以涅槃地論為心要所居。住房每夜必有振動介冑之響。竊而觀者。咸見非常神人繞房而行。時川邑虎暴行人斷路。或數百為群。經歷村郭傷損人畜。中有王獸其頭最大。五色純備威伏諸獸。遂州都督張遜。遠聞慈德遣人往迎。寬乃令州縣立齋行道各受八戒。當夕虎災銷散莫知所往。時人感之奉為神聖。貞觀初還蒲晉。時州郡遇旱諸祈不遂。官民乃往請焉。寬為置壇場以身自誓。不降雨者不處堂房。曝形兩日。密雲垂布三日已後。合境滂流民賴有年。未終之前右脅而臥。枕於右臂告門徒曰。生死長遠有待者皆爾。汝等但自觀身如幻。便無愛結自纏。吾命亦斷。當取椽兩根籧篨一領裹縛輿送。無得隨俗紛紜為不益事也言訖而卒。

Śramaṇa Zhikuan, surname Yao, was a man of Hedong in Puzhou. He read through various sūtras, taking the Nirvāṇa and the Daśabhūmikā Treatise as his essential core. In the room where he dwelt, every night there would inevitably be the clatter of shaking armor. Those who secretly peeked all saw an extraordinary divine person circumambulating the room. At that time, tigers were violent in the rivers and valleys, cutting off the passage of travelers, gathering in packs of several hundreds, passing through villages and towns, and harming people and livestock. Among them was a king of beasts whose head was the largest, possessing all five colors, inspiring awe and subduing all beasts. Zhang Xun, Area Commander of Suizhou, hearing from afar of his compassionate virtue, sent someone to welcome him. Kuan then ordered the prefectures and counties to establish fasts, practice circumambulation, and each receive the eight precepts. That very night, the disaster of the tigers vanished, and no one knew where they had gone. The people of the time were moved and revered him as a divine sage. At the beginning of the Zhenguan era, he returned to Pu and Jin. At that time, the commandery suffered a drought, and various prayers were unsuccessful. The officials and people thereupon went to invite him. Kuan established a maṇḍala altar for them and took an oath upon his own body, saying that if rain did not fall, he would not dwell inside a hall or room. He exposed his body for two days. Dense clouds hung down, and after three days, torrential rain poured over the entire region, and the people relied upon it for a bountiful harvest. Before his end, he lay on his right side, pillowed on his right arm, and said to his disciples: 'Samsāra is long and vast; all who have conditioned existence are like this. You need only contemplate your own bodies as illusory, and you will not be self-entangled by the fetters of attachment. My life is now ending. You should take two rafters and a reed mat to wrap and bind me, and carry me off. Do not follow worldly customs in creating confusion and doing unbeneficial things.' Having spoken, he died.