神僧傳 7.19

7.19

釋無畏三藏。本天竺人。讓國出家。道德名稱為天竺之冠。所至講法必有異相。初自天竺至。所司引謁於玄宗。玄宗見而敬信焉。因謂三藏曰。師不遠而來故倦矣。欲於何方休息耶。三藏進曰。臣在天竺時。甞聞大唐西明寺宣律師持律第一。願往依止焉。玄宗可之。宣律禁戒堅苦焚修精潔。三藏飲酒食肉言行麁易。往往乘醉喧競穢污茵席。宣律頗不能甘之。忽中夜宣律捫虱將投于地。三藏半醉連聲呼曰。律師律師撲死佛子耶。宣律方知其為異人也。整衣作禮而師事焉。在洛時有巨蛇高丈餘長且百尺。其狀甚異。蟠繞出於山下。洛民咸見之。畏語曰。此蛇欲決水瀦洛城。即說佛書義。其蛇至夕則駕風露來。若傾聽狀。畏責之曰。爾蛇也。當居深山中用安其所。何為將欲肆毒於世耶。速去無患生人。其蛇聞之若有慚色。遂俯于地頃而死焉。其後安祿山據洛陽盡毀宗廟。果符其言。開元十年七月旱。帝遣使詔無畏請雨。畏持滿鉢水以小刀攪之。誦呪數番。即有物如蚪龍從鉢中矯首水面。畏呪遣之。白氣自鉢騰涌。語詔使曰。速歸雨即至矣。詔使馳出。頃刻風雷震電。詔使趨入奏。御衣巾已透濕。霖雨彌日而息。又甞淫雨逾時。詔畏止之。畏揑泥媼五軀向之作梵語叱罵者。即刻而霽。甞過龍河以一槖駝負經沒水。畏懼失經遽隨之入水。於是龍王邀之入宮講法。為留三宿而出。所載梵夾不濕一字。其神異多類此。

Śramaṇa Tripiṭaka Master Śubhakarasiṃha was originally a native of Tianzhu. He renounced his kingdom to renounce household life; his moral virtue and reputation were the foremost in Tianzhu. Wherever he went to explain the Dharma, extraordinary signs inevitably appeared. When he first arrived from Tianzhu, the officials ushered him into an audience with Xuanzong. Xuanzong saw him and treated him with reverence and faith, and accordingly said to the Tripiṭaka Master, 'The master has come from afar and is weary; in what quarter would you like to rest?' The Tripiṭaka Master stepped forward and said, 'When I was in Tianzhu, I once heard that Vinaya Master Xuan of Ximing Monastery in the Great Tang is foremost in upholding the Vinaya; I wish to go and rely upon him.' Xuanzong granted this. Vinaya Master Xuan practiced strict and arduous prohibitions and precepts, and his burning of incense and cultivation were refined and pure. The Tripiṭaka Master drank wine, ate meat, and his speech and actions were coarse and careless; he would often take advantage of drunkenness to raise an uproar and foul the mats and cushions. Vinaya Master Xuan could hardly bear it. Suddenly in the middle of the night, Vinaya Master Xuan caught a louse and was about to throw it on the ground. The Tripiṭaka Master, half-drunk, cried out repeatedly, 'Vinaya Master, Vinaya Master, are you throwing a son of the Buddha to death?' Only then did Vinaya Master Xuan recognise him as an extraordinary person, straightened his robes, paid homage, and served him as his master. While he was in Luoyang, there was a giant serpent over a zhang high and nearly a hundred feet long, of most extraordinary appearance, coiled and emerging from beneath the mountains; the people of Luoyang all saw it. Śubhakarasiṃha said, 'This serpent wishes to burst the waters and flood the city of Luoyang.' He immediately expounded the meaning of the Buddhist scriptures. When evening came, the serpent came riding the wind and dew, as if listening attentively. Śubhakarasiṃha reproached it, saying, 'You are a serpent; you should dwell deep in the mountains to remain peacefully in your place. Why would you unleash your venom upon the world? Depart quickly and do not harm the living!' Hearing this, the serpent seemed to show a shameful countenance, bowed down to the ground, and in a short while died. Later, An Lushan occupied Luoyang and destroyed all the ancestral temples, exactly matching his words. In the seventh month of the tenth year of Kaiyuan, there was a drought. The Emperor sent an envoy with an imperial decree ordering Śubhakarasiṃha to pray for rain. Śubhakarasiṃha held a bowl full of water, stirred it with a small knife, and recited mantras several times. Thereupon a creature like a hornless dragon emerged from the bowl, raising its head above the water's surface. Śubhakarasiṃha recited mantras to dispatch it; white vapor billowed up from the bowl. He said to the imperial envoy, 'Return quickly, the rain is about to fall!' The imperial envoy galloped off, and in an instant, wind, thunder, and lightning shook. When the envoy hurried into the palace to report, the imperial robes and headdress were already soaked through; heavy rains ceased only after a full day. Also, when excessive rain continued beyond its time, an imperial decree ordered Śubhakarasiṃha to stop it. Śubhakarasiṃha pinched five old women out of mud and scolded them in Sanskrit; the sky cleared immediately. Once, while crossing the Dragon River, a camel carrying scriptures sank into the water. Fearing the loss of the scriptures, Śubhakarasiṃha hastened into the water after it. Thereupon the Dragon King invited him into his palace to preach the Dharma, detaining him for three nights before he emerged; the Sanskrit palm leaves he carried did not have a single character wet. His divine marvels were mostly of this kind.