神僧傳 2.16

2.16

Kumārajīva, translated here as "Youth of Long Life" (Tongshou), was a native of Tianzhu. He was skilled in the Sūtras, Vinaya, and Abhidharma, and his teaching flourished in the Western Regions. When he traveled east to Kucha, the King of Kucha made a golden lion throne for him to dwell upon. At that time, Fu Jian had usurped the imperial title in Guanzhong. The king of the Former Division of the Western Regions and the younger brother of the King of Kucha both came to court to pay homage to Fu Jian. Fu Jian granted them an audience. The two kings persuaded Fu Jian, saying, "The Western Regions produce many rarities and treasures; we ask that you dispatch troops to pacify them so that they may submit and pledge allegiance." In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Jianyuan era, the Grand Astrologer submitted a memorial stating, "A star has appeared in the astrological station of the foreign kingdoms; a person of great virtue and wisdom is destined to enter and assist the Middle Kingdom." Fu Jian said, "We have heard that there is a Kumārajīva in the Western Regions; could it be him?" He then dispatched an envoy to seek him. In the ninth month of the eighteenth year, Fu Jian dispatched the valiant general Lü Guang at the head of seventy thousand troops to attack Kucha in the west. As Lü Guang was about to depart, Fu Jian held a farewell banquet for him at the Jianzhang Palace and addressed him, saying, "Monarchs govern in accord with Heaven and take loving the common people as their children as fundamental. How could it be that I attack them out of greed for their territory? It is precisely for the sake of one who embraces the Way. We have heard that in the Western Regions there is a Kumārajīva who deeply understands the characteristics of dharmas and is well versed in yin and yang, being a master revered by later scholars. We long for him greatly. A worthy sage is a realm's supreme treasure; as soon as you overcome Kucha, dispatch him by post-horse immediately." Before Lü Guang's army arrived, Kumārajīva said to the King of Kucha, Bo Chun, "The fortunes of the state are declining; a formidable foe will arrive from the east. You should respectfully receive them and not resist their spearhead." Bo Chun would not comply and gave battle. Lü Guang then crushed Kucha, killed Bo Chun, and enthroned Chun's younger brother, Zhen, as ruler. After obtaining Kumārajīva, Lü Guang took him along in his carriages on the return journey. Mid-way, he bivouacked his army beneath a mountain, and the officers and soldiers had already gone to rest. Kumārajīva said, "This will not do. Remaining here, you will surely face disaster. You should move the army up onto the ridge." Lü Guang did not heed him. That night, a great downpour indeed fell; flash floods rose abruptly to several fathoms in depth, and several thousand men perished. Only then did Lü Guang secretly marvel at him. Kumārajīva said to Lü Guang, "This is a place of ruin and death; it is not fitting to linger here. Calculating through astrology and divination, you should quickly return home. Mid-way there will surely be an auspicious land fit to dwell in." Lü Guang complied. Upon reaching Liangzhou, they heard that Fu Jian had already been murdered by Yao Chang. Lü Guang and his three armies donned plain white mourning dress and performed a great lamentation south of the city. Thereupon he usurped the title outside the Pass, styling his reign era Da'an. In the first month of the second year of Da'an, a great gale blew in Guzang. Kumārajīva said, "An inauspicious wind; there shall be treachery and rebellion, but without any toil it will settle itself." Soon afterward, Liang Qian and Peng Huang rebelled in succession, and shortly they were also exterminated. In the second year of Lü Guang's Longfei era, the Lushui Hu Juqu Nancheng and his younger brother Mengxun of Linsong in Zhangye rebelled and supported Duan Ye, the Grand Administrator of Jiankang, as their leader. Lü Guang dispatched his secondary son, Lü Zuan, the Inspector of Qinzhou and Duke of Taiyuan, to lead a force of fifty thousand to suppress them. Contemporary opinion held that Duan Ye and his faction were a mere rabble, whereas Lü Zuan possessed an awe-inspiring reputation and would inevitably score a complete victory. Lü Guang consulted Kumārajīva on the matter. Kumārajīva said, "Observing this expedition, I see no advantage in it." Soon afterward, Lü Zuan suffered a crushing defeat at Heli. Shortly thereafter, Guo Mo also raised a revolt; Lü Zuan abandoned the main army and returned lightly accompanied, only to be defeated by Guo Mo, barely escaping with his life. Lü Guang's Palace Cadre Director Zhang Zi was gentle and elegant in literary composition, and Lü Guang held him in very high regard. When Zhang Zi fell ill, Lü Guang sought widely for a remedy. A foreign master of the Way named Luosha claimed he could cure Zhang Zi's illness. Lü Guang was delighted and bestowed upon him very generous gifts. Kumārajīva knew that Luosha was deceitful and fraudulent, and told Zhang Zi, "Luosha can do nothing; he will only waste your resources in vain. Although the workings of hidden fate are obscure, they can be tested by means of an event." He then took threads of five colors to make a cord, tied it in a knot, burned it to ash, and threw it into water: "If the ashes emerge from the water and return to the form of the cord, the illness cannot be cured." In a short while, the ashes gathered, floated to the surface, and resumed the cord's original form. Soon Luosha's treatment proved ineffective, and a few days later Zhang Zi died. Shortly thereafter, Lü Guang also passed away, and his son Lü Shao succeeded to the position. Several days later, Lü Guang's secondary son, Lü Zuan, murdered Lü Shao and set himself up as ruler, styling his reign era Xianning. In the second year of Xianning, a sow gave birth to a piglet with one body and three heads. A dragon emerged from a well in the eastern wing and coiled itself before the palace hall; at daybreak it had vanished. Lü Zuan took this to be a propitious omen and named the main hall the Dragon Soaring Hall. Soon after, a black dragon ascended at the Jiugong Gate in the south, and he named it the Dragon Rising Gate. Kumārajīva memorialized, "Recently, a hidden dragon came out to wander, and a monstrous pig has displayed an anomaly. Dragons belong to the category of yin; their appearances and disappearances have their proper times. Yet now they appear repeatedly, which indicates that disasters will arise. There will surely be an uprising of subordinates plotting against superiors. You should subdue yourself and cultivate virtue to respond to Heaven's warning." Lü Zuan did not heed him. He was playing a board game with Kumārajīva, and upon capturing a piece he said, "I hack off the barbarian slave's head!" Kumārajīva said, "You cannot hack off the barbarian slave's head; the barbarian slave is going to hack off someone's head!" There was a hidden meaning in these words, yet Lü Zuan never realized it. Lü Guang's younger brother Bao had a son named Chao, whose childhood name was Hunu ("Barbarian Slave"). Later, Chao indeed murdered Lü Zuan, cut off his head, and enthroned his elder brother Lü Long as ruler. Only then did the people of that time confirm Kumārajīva's words. Kumārajīva remained in Liangzhou for many years. Since Lü Guang and his son did not promote the teaching of the Way, Kumārajīva concealed his deep understanding and had no opportunity to proclaim the teaching. Fu Jian had already died, so they never met after all. When Yao Chang usurped rule over Guanzhong, he too admired Kumārajīva's high renown and humbly invited him. The Lüs, considering that Kumārajīva had much wisdom and understanding and fearing he might devise strategies for the Yaos, did not permit him to travel east. When Yao Chang died and his son Yao Xing succeeded to the throne, Yao Xing again dispatched envoys with earnest invitations. In the third month of the third year of the Hongshi era, trees with intertwined branches grew in the ancestral temple courtyard, and scallions in the Xiaoyao Garden turned into sweet flag; these were regarded as propitious omens, portending that a wise man was about to enter. In the fifth month, Yao Xing dispatched Shuode, the Duke of Longxi, to wage a western campaign against Lü Long. Lü Long's army was utterly routed. In the ninth month, Lü Long submitted a memorial offering surrender; only then was it possible to welcome Kumārajīva through the Pass. On the twentieth day of the twelfth month of that year, he arrived in Chang'an. Yao Xing treated him with the courtesy due to a State Preceptor and showed him exceptional favor and honor. Earlier, when the monk Beidu was in Pengcheng, hearing that Kumārajīva was in Chang'an, he sighed and said, "It has been more than three hundred years since I playfully parted with this fellow; distant and uncertain, I look forward only to meeting him in a future life." A few days before Kumārajīva's demise, he felt that his four elements were unwell, so he recited three divine spells from his mouth and ordered his foreign disciples to recite them to rescue himself. Before their efforts could take effect, he felt his condition turning increasingly critical. Thereupon, exerting himself through illness, he took leave of the assembly of monks, saying, "Having met through the Dharma, I have not yet fully expressed my heart. Facing yet another rebirth, what grief can words express? In my own dim ignorance I have improperly occupied the role of translator. In all, I have translated over three hundred fascicles of sūtras and treatises; only the single work of the Daśabhāṇavāra-vinaya has not yet had its redundancies abridged. Its original purport has been preserved without error. I pray that all that I have proclaimed and translated will circulate in future generations and be universally propagated. Now, before the great assembly, I make a truthful vow: If my translations are free from error, then after my body is cremated, may my tongue not be scorched or rot away!" On the twentieth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of Hongshi, he passed away in Chang'an; this was the fifth year of the Yixi era of the Jin. Thereupon, in the Xiaoyao Garden, his corpse was cremated according to foreign custom. When the firewood was consumed and his form shattered, only his tongue had not turned to ash.