神僧傳 7.19

7.19

Śramaṇa Tripiṭaka Master Śubhakarasiṃha was originally a native of Tianzhu. He renounced his kingdom to renounce household life; his moral virtue and reputation were the foremost in Tianzhu. Wherever he went to explain the Dharma, extraordinary signs inevitably appeared. When he first arrived from Tianzhu, the officials ushered him into an audience with Xuanzong. Xuanzong saw him and treated him with reverence and faith, and accordingly said to the Tripiṭaka Master, 'The master has come from afar and is weary; in what quarter would you like to rest?' The Tripiṭaka Master stepped forward and said, 'When I was in Tianzhu, I once heard that Vinaya Master Xuan of Ximing Monastery in the Great Tang is foremost in upholding the Vinaya; I wish to go and rely upon him.' Xuanzong granted this. Vinaya Master Xuan practiced strict and arduous prohibitions and precepts, and his burning of incense and cultivation were refined and pure. The Tripiṭaka Master drank wine, ate meat, and his speech and actions were coarse and careless; he would often take advantage of drunkenness to raise an uproar and foul the mats and cushions. Vinaya Master Xuan could hardly bear it. Suddenly in the middle of the night, Vinaya Master Xuan caught a louse and was about to throw it on the ground. The Tripiṭaka Master, half-drunk, cried out repeatedly, 'Vinaya Master, Vinaya Master, are you throwing a son of the Buddha to death?' Only then did Vinaya Master Xuan recognise him as an extraordinary person, straightened his robes, paid homage, and served him as his master. While he was in Luoyang, there was a giant serpent over a zhang high and nearly a hundred feet long, of most extraordinary appearance, coiled and emerging from beneath the mountains; the people of Luoyang all saw it. Śubhakarasiṃha said, 'This serpent wishes to burst the waters and flood the city of Luoyang.' He immediately expounded the meaning of the Buddhist scriptures. When evening came, the serpent came riding the wind and dew, as if listening attentively. Śubhakarasiṃha reproached it, saying, 'You are a serpent; you should dwell deep in the mountains to remain peacefully in your place. Why would you unleash your venom upon the world? Depart quickly and do not harm the living!' Hearing this, the serpent seemed to show a shameful countenance, bowed down to the ground, and in a short while died. Later, An Lushan occupied Luoyang and destroyed all the ancestral temples, exactly matching his words. In the seventh month of the tenth year of Kaiyuan, there was a drought. The Emperor sent an envoy with an imperial decree ordering Śubhakarasiṃha to pray for rain. Śubhakarasiṃha held a bowl full of water, stirred it with a small knife, and recited mantras several times. Thereupon a creature like a hornless dragon emerged from the bowl, raising its head above the water's surface. Śubhakarasiṃha recited mantras to dispatch it; white vapor billowed up from the bowl. He said to the imperial envoy, 'Return quickly, the rain is about to fall!' The imperial envoy galloped off, and in an instant, wind, thunder, and lightning shook. When the envoy hurried into the palace to report, the imperial robes and headdress were already soaked through; heavy rains ceased only after a full day. Also, when excessive rain continued beyond its time, an imperial decree ordered Śubhakarasiṃha to stop it. Śubhakarasiṃha pinched five old women out of mud and scolded them in Sanskrit; the sky cleared immediately. Once, while crossing the Dragon River, a camel carrying scriptures sank into the water. Fearing the loss of the scriptures, Śubhakarasiṃha hastened into the water after it. Thereupon the Dragon King invited him into his palace to preach the Dharma, detaining him for three nights before he emerged; the Sanskrit palm leaves he carried did not have a single character wet. His divine marvels were mostly of this kind.