神僧傳 6.4

6.4

Śramaṇa Zhikuan, surname Yao, was a man of Hedong in Puzhou. He read through various sūtras, taking the Nirvāṇa and the Daśabhūmikā Treatise as his essential core. In the room where he dwelt, every night there would inevitably be the clatter of shaking armor. Those who secretly peeked all saw an extraordinary divine person circumambulating the room. At that time, tigers were violent in the rivers and valleys, cutting off the passage of travelers, gathering in packs of several hundreds, passing through villages and towns, and harming people and livestock. Among them was a king of beasts whose head was the largest, possessing all five colors, inspiring awe and subduing all beasts. Zhang Xun, Area Commander of Suizhou, hearing from afar of his compassionate virtue, sent someone to welcome him. Kuan then ordered the prefectures and counties to establish fasts, practice circumambulation, and each receive the eight precepts. That very night, the disaster of the tigers vanished, and no one knew where they had gone. The people of the time were moved and revered him as a divine sage. At the beginning of the Zhenguan era, he returned to Pu and Jin. At that time, the commandery suffered a drought, and various prayers were unsuccessful. The officials and people thereupon went to invite him. Kuan established a maṇḍala altar for them and took an oath upon his own body, saying that if rain did not fall, he would not dwell inside a hall or room. He exposed his body for two days. Dense clouds hung down, and after three days, torrential rain poured over the entire region, and the people relied upon it for a bountiful harvest. Before his end, he lay on his right side, pillowed on his right arm, and said to his disciples: 'Samsāra is long and vast; all who have conditioned existence are like this. You need only contemplate your own bodies as illusory, and you will not be self-entangled by the fetters of attachment. My life is now ending. You should take two rafters and a reed mat to wrap and bind me, and carry me off. Do not follow worldly customs in creating confusion and doing unbeneficial things.' Having spoken, he died.