神僧傳 6.32

6.32

Śramaṇa Daoxuan had the secular surname Qian and was a native of Dantu. Initially, when his mother was pregnant, she dreamed that the moon penetrated her bosom; she further dreamed of an Indian monk who said to her: "The child you carry is Vinaya Master Sengyou of the Liang dynasty; You was Sengfu of Yinyue Monastery in Shanxi during the Southern Qi. He ought to renounce household life." When he came of age, he vigorously upheld the precepts with focused mind and concentrated thought, moving relics to appear in a jeweled casket. He then concealed his traces in the Zhanggu Valley of Zhongnan. A divine person pointed out the water where he resided; after digging the earth for a little more than a foot, a spring burst forth, which was then called Baiquan Monastery. Fierce beasts were tamed and submissive, constantly relying on him; renowned flowers were fragrant, and rare grasses spread out. At the end of the Sui, he moved to Fengde Monastery. Once, while sitting alone, a Dharma-protecting spirit told him: "The former Jingye Monastery in that Qingguan Village possesses a precious topography where the Way can be practiced and achieved." Hearing this, he divined it. Burning meritorious incense, he practiced the samādhi of the boat of prajñā. At that time, a group of dragons came to pay homage; whether male or female, they transformed into human shapes. A śrāmaṇera, with a distracted mind, glanced about and looked sideways; the dragons flared in rage and were about to seize him. Soon, regretting it, they spat poison into the well, explained the matter fully, and left. Xuan then had it sealed; when someone secretly opened it, smoke would often rise. Examining their divine transformations, they sometimes presented a case of extraordinary flowers, shaped like date blossoms and large as elm seeds, their fragrance dense and billowing, lasting fresh for several years. They also offered rare fruits—plums, apricots, pears, and crabapples—yet their taste was sweet and their color pure, not to be encountered among mortals. When his disciples wished to bring up secret matters, they were already secretly understood beforehand; by means of samādhi he observed their faculties and administered medicine according to their sicknesses, all being of this kind. Xuan once built an altar. Presently, a long-eyebrowed monk appeared and spoke of the Way; furthermore, an Indian monk of the third fruit paid homage to the altar and praised him, saying: "Since the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, while the Semblance Dharma abides in the world, you alone, Master, have brought about this revitalization." In the spring of the second year of Qianfeng, he secretly moved a heavenly being to come and discuss the aspects of the Vinaya, saying that errors in the distinctions between grave and light matters in the commentaries and manuals were all the faults of translators and not the Master's guilt, requesting that the Master correct them; therefore, most of the writings circulating today are the revised editions. There was also a heavenly being who said that [Daoxuan] had formerly composed the Illustrated Scripture of Jetavana, amounting to around a hundred rolls of human paper and silk. During the Zhenguan era, he had retired into seclusion on Mount Yunshi in Qinbu; people saw heavenly boys serving him at his side. While walking in the night at Ximing Monastery, his foot slipped on the front steps; something supported him so that he trod upon empty space unharmed. Looking closely at it, it was a youth. Xuan hurriedly asked who was there in the middle of the night. The youth said: "I am no ordinary person; I am Nata, the son of the Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa. For the sake of protecting the Dharma, I have long guarded the Venerable." Xuan said: "This poor monk's practice has no reason to trouble the Prince. The Prince's majestic divine power is unobstructed; if there is any Buddhist work in the Western Regions that can be done, I pray you bring it about." The prince said: "I have a Buddha's tooth, which has long been treasured, yet I would renounce even head and eyes; how would I dare not offer it?" Presently he gave it to Xuan, who kept it safely and made offerings to it. Next, a heavenly being came to the courtyard to pay homage and said to Xuan: "The Vinaya Master is to be born in the Tuṣita Heaven palace." Holding a packet of things, he said it was the incense of the thorn grove. Ten decades thereafter, he sat peacefully and transformed, on the third day of the tenth month in the second year of Qianfeng. His worldly age was seventy-two, and his monastic age was fifty-two.