神僧傳 2.28

2.28

Shi Dharmodgata (Tanwujie)—translated here as Fayong (Dharma-Courage)—was surnamed Li, a native of Huanglong in Youzhou. As a novice from his youth, he cultivated ascetic practices, upheld the precepts, and recited sūtras, being respected by his teacher and the monks. Having heard that Faxian and others had personally trodden the lands of the Buddha, he made an impassioned resolve disregarding his own life. Consequently, in the first year of the Yongchu era of the Song dynasty, he gathered like-minded śramaṇas such as Sengmeng and others, and together they carried banners, canopies, and implements of offering, setting out for distant Western regions. At first they reached the state of Henan, then exited the commandery of Haixi, entered the shifting sands, and arrived at Gaochang Commandery. Passing through various kingdoms such as Kucha and Kashgar, they scaled the Congling Mountains and crossed the snowy mountains, advancing to the kingdom of Kapiśa, where they paid homage to the Buddha's alms-bowl. Staying for over a year, he studied Indic script and the Sanskrit language, seeking and obtaining an Indic manuscript of the Avalokiteśvara-vyākaraṇa-sūtra. Traveling west again to the Sindhu River, he followed the river westward into the Yuezhi kingdom, paying homage to the Buddha's uṣṇīṣa bone and witnessing the vessel on the naturally boiling water. Later, they reached the Shiliu Monastery south of Mount Dantai, where over three hundred monks resided, studying the Three Vehicles together. Tanwujie stayed in this monastery and received full ordination. He then journeyed toward the borders of Central Tianzhu. Because the road was desolate, he carried only rock sugar for provisions; though repeatedly encountering danger and hardships, his mindful concentration on the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra he carried was never suspended for a moment. As he was about to reach the kingdom of Śrāvastī, he encountered a herd of wild elephants in the wilderness. Tanwujie called upon the name and took refuge, whereupon a lion emerged from the forest, and the elephants fled in terror. Later, when crossing the Ganges, he again met a herd of wild buffaloes bellowing and charging, about to harm them. Tanwujie took refuge as before, and soon a great vulture flew down, scattering the wild buffaloes in fear, so that they escaped danger. Later, in South Tianzhu, he boarded a merchant ship and sailed the sea, arriving in Guangzhou. The Avalokiteśvara-vyākaraṇa-sūtra that he translated is now transmitted in the capital. Later, his whereabouts remained unknown.