神僧傳 2.10

2.10

Shi Faxian's secular surname was Gong. He was a native of Wuyang in Pingyang. He had three elder brothers, all of whom died in childhood. Fearing that misfortune would reach Faxian as well, his father had him ordained as a novice at the age of three. He lived at home for several years, but fell gravely ill and was near death. He was therefore sent back to the monastery, and after staying for two nights, he recovered and was unwilling to return home again. When he was ten, he suffered the loss of his father. His uncle, considering that Faxian's widowed mother was helpless and destitute, pressed him to return to secular life. Faxian said, 'I did not renounce household life on account of having a father. It was solely because I wished to leave dust behind and depart from the worldly that I entered the Way.' His uncle commended his words and ceased pressing him. Soon after, his mother died; his innate devotion surpassed that of ordinary people, and as soon as the burial was completed, he immediately returned to the monastery. Once, he was harvesting rice in the fields with several tens of his fellow students. At that time, hungry bandits came, intending to seize their grain. All the novices ran away, and only Faxian remained alone. He spoke to the bandits, saying, 'If you need grain, take as much as you wish. However, it was because in the past you did not practice dāna that you have incurred hunger and poverty; now, if you rob people again, I fear that in future lives it will be even worse. This poor monk is only worried on your behalf in advance.' Having finished speaking, he returned, and the bandits abandoned the grain and departed. None among the monastic assembly failed to sigh in admiration. When he received the full precepts, his aspiration and conduct were clear and keen, and his deportment was orderly and strict. Constantly lamenting the errors and lacunae in the sūtras and Vinaya, he took a vow to go in search of them. In the third year of Long'an of the Jin dynasty, together with his fellow student Huijing and others, he departed from Chang'an and crossed the drifting sands to the west. Along the way there were frequent scorching winds and evil ghosts; anyone who encountered them invariably died. Entrusting himself to conditions and resigning his life to fate, Faxian passed directly through the perils and arrived at the Congling Mountains. Snow accumulated there winter and summer alike, and there were venomous dragons that spewed poisonous wind, rain, sand, and gravel. The mountain roads were treacherous and steep, with cliff faces rising sheer for thousands of fathoms; altogether they crossed more than seven hundred such places. Next, arriving at the Little Snow Mountains, they encountered a violent outbreak of cold wind. Huijing trembled and shivered, unable to proceed. He said to Faxian, 'I shall surely die; you should go forward, and let us not perish together.' With his words ended, he passed away. Faxian stroked him and wept, saying, 'Our original plan has not come to fruition—it is fate, what can be done?' Straining with his own strength, he proceeded alone and eventually crossed the mountain perils, passing through more than thirty countries in total. When he was about to reach Tianzhu, more than thirty li from Rājagṛha, there was a monastery, and he passed by it as dusk approached. Faxian wished to visit Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain. The monks of the monastery remonstrated with him, saying, 'The road is exceedingly treacherous and blocked, and furthermore there are many black lions that have repeatedly devoured people. How could you possibly reach it?' Faxian said, 'Having traveled tens of thousands of li from afar, I vowed to reach Vulture Peak. Life and body cannot be counted upon, and an out-breath is not guaranteed; how could I allow the sincerity accumulated over years to be abandoned just as I have arrived? Though there be dangers and hardships, I am not afraid.' The assembly could not stop him and sent two monks to escort him. When Faxian reached the mountain, the sun was about to set, and he intended to stay the night. The two monks were terrified; abandoning him, they returned. Faxian remained alone on the mountain, burning incense and paying homage, his earnest devotion stirred by the ancient traces as though beholding the holy countenance. When night fell, three black lions came, crouched in front of Faxian, licked their lips, and wagged their tails. Faxian recited the sūtras without ceasing, single-mindedly recollecting the Buddha. The lions then lowered their heads, drooped their tails, and prostrated themselves before Faxian's feet. Faxian stroked them with his hand and recited an incantation, saying, 'If you wish to harm me, wait until I have finished my recitation; if you have come to test me, you may now withdraw.' After a long while, the lions departed. The next morning he started on his return journey; the road was utterly secluded and blocked, with only a single path running through. Before he had gone more than a li, he suddenly met a man of the Way who was about ninety years of age, whose appearance and clothing were coarse and plain, yet his spiritual bearing was exceptional and profound. Faxian, although sensing that his demeanor was lofty, did not realize he was a divine being. Later he met a young monk and Faxian asked, 'Who was the elder just now?' The monk replied, 'He was the great disciple of Mahākāśyapa the Dhūta.' Only then did Faxian feel great regret and sorrow. Arriving in Central Tianzhu, at the Temple of the Heavenly King to the south of King Aśoka's stupa in the city of Pāṭaliputra in Magadha, he obtained the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya. He also obtained a manuscript of the Sarvāstivāda-vinaya, the Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya, the Sūtra of the Thread, and the Vaipulya Nirvāṇa-sūtra, among others. Remaining for two years, he further obtained the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya, the Dīrgha-āgama and Saṃyukta-āgama, and the Kṣudraka-piṭaka, all of which were not present in the land of Han. Subsequently, he boarded a merchant's large ship and returned by sea. On the ship were about two hundred people. Encountering a violent storm, everyone was terrified and immediately took sundry goods and threw them overboard. Faxian, fearing they would throw away his sūtras and images, single-mindedly recollected Avalokiteśvara and took refuge in the monastic assembly of the land of Han. The ship drifted with the wind and avoided damage or destruction. Faxian then traveled south to the capital. At DaChang Monastery, together with the foreign dhyāna master Buddhabhadra, he translated the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya, the Vaipulya Nirvāṇa-sūtra, and the Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra, amounting to nearly one million words. Faxian, having produced the Great Nirvāṇa-sūtra, disseminated it to convert others, causing all to see and hear it. There was a family whose name is lost, residing near the Zhuque Gate, who for generations had revered the correct teaching; they copied a fascicle themselves to read, recite, and make offerings to, without a separate sūtra room, keeping it in a room with miscellaneous books. Later, wind and fire suddenly arose and spread to their house; their wealth and goods were completely destroyed, yet the Nirvāṇa-sūtra remained intact and complete, untouched by the ashes and cinders, with the color of the scrolls unaltered. In the capital it was widely told, and all marvelled at the divine wonder. The remaining sūtras and Vinaya were not translated. Later, he went to Jingzhou and died at Xin Monastery at the age of eighty-six.