弘贊法華傳 3.5

3.5

釋吉藏。俗姓安本。安本安息人也。祖世避仇。移居南海。因遂家于交廣之間。後遷金陵。而生藏焉。年在孩童。父引之。見於真諦。仍乞詺之。因名吉藏。其父將藏聽皇寺道朗法師講。隨聞領解。悟若天真。年至七歲。投朗出家。採涉玄猷。日新幽致。凡所諮稟。妙達指歸。論難所標。獨高倫次。詞吐贍逸。弘裕多奇。至年十九。處眾覆述。精辯鋒遊。酬接時彥。綽有餘美。進譽楊邑。有光學眾。具戒之後。聲聞轉高。開皇末歲。煬帝晉蕃置四道場。國司供給。以藏名解著功。召入慧日。禮事豐厚。優賞異倫。王又於京師。置日嚴寺。別教延藏往彼居之。然。京師欣尚。妙重法華。乃因其利即而開剖。晚以大業初歲。寫二千部法華。隋曆告終。造二十五尊像。捨房安置。自處卑室。昏曉相仍。竭誠禮懺。又別置普賢菩薩像。帳設如前。躬對坐禪。觀實相理。鎮累年紀。不替於終。藏年氣漸衰。屢增疾苦。勅賜良藥。中使相尋。遺表慇懃。累以大法。至于清旦。索湯沐浴。著新淨衣。侍者燒香。令稱佛號。藏加坐儼思。如有喜色。齋時將及。奄然而化。春秋七十有五。即武德六年五月也。遺命露骸。而色逾鮮白。有勅慰賻。令於南山。覓石龕安置。凡講法花。三百餘遍。亦著玄疏。盛流於世。及將終日。製死不怖論。落筆而卒。

Shi Jizang's secular surname was An, originally. An was a person of Parthia (Anxi). His ancestors fled a blood feud and relocated to the South Sea, subsequently settling between Jiaozhou and Guangzhou. Later they moved to Jinling, where Zang was born. When he was a child, his father brought him to see Paramārtha and requested a name for him, whereupon he was named Jizang. His father took Zang to hear Dharma Master Daolang of Huang Temple lecture; as he heard it, he comprehended it, with an innate understanding as if from nature. At the age of seven, he went to Lang to go forth from the household life. Exploring profound paths, his hidden understanding renewed daily. Whatever he inquired about and received, he wondrously mastered its ultimate purport. In debate and refutation, what he marked out uniquely surpassed his peers. His elocution was abundant and facile, grand, expansive, and full of marvels. By the age of nineteen, he stood before the assembly to review and expound the teachings, the sharpness of his eloquence wandering free; in responding to the eminent talents of the age, he was more than equal to the task. His reputation rose in the city of Yang, bringing glory to the assembly of scholars. After receiving the full precepts, his fame grew even higher. In the closing years of the Kaihuang reign, Emperor Yang, while prince of the Jin fief, established four bodhimaṇḍas, which were supplied by state officials. Because Zang's reputation for understanding was distinguished by achievement, he was summoned to enter Huiri, where the ritual offerings were abundant and lavish, with exceptional honors surpassing his peers. The prince also established Riyan Temple in the capital and issued a special order inviting Zang to dwell there. However, the capital delighted in and esteemed the profound importance of the Lotus Sūtra; he thus took advantage of this inclination to unfold and analyze it. Later, in the opening years of the Daye reign, he copied two thousand copies of the Lotus Sūtra. As the Sui era drew to a close, he made twenty-five statues [of the Buddha], vacated his room to enshrine them, and resided in a humble chamber himself. Morning and evening continuously, he exhausted his sincerity in paying homage and repenting. He also separately installed an image of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva with hangings arranged as before, facing it in person to sit in meditation and contemplate the principle of true reality, maintaining this for successive years without slacking to the end. As Zang's vitality gradually declined, illnesses multiplied. The Emperor bestowed fine medicines, and palace envoys followed one after another. His posthumous memorial was earnest, entrusting the Great Dharma [to the Emperor]. When dawn arrived, he called for hot water to bathe, put on new, clean robes, and had his attendant burn incense and chant the Buddha's name. Zang sat cross-legged in solemn contemplation, appearing joyful. As the noon meal approached, he suddenly transformed. His age was seventy-five, in the fifth month of the sixth year of the Wude reign. His dying instructions were to expose his corpse to the elements, yet his complexion grew even more fresh and fair. An imperial decree offered condolences and funeral gifts, ordering that a stone niche be found in the Southern Mountains to inter him. In all, he lectured on the Lotus Sūtra more than three hundred times, and he also composed profound commentaries that circulated widely in the world. When his final day approached, he wrote the Treatise on Not Fearing Death (Si bu bu lun); having dropped his brush, he passed away.