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Translation of 弘贊法華傳

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English
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266 passages, 67,717 words
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complete digital text
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pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.2067 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

Contents

Text

1.1

Compiled by the śramaṇa Huixiang of Langu.

1.2

1. Images and Icons, Fascicle One
2. Translations, Fascicle Two
3. Expositions, Fascicle Three
4. Cultivation of Contemplation, Fascicle Four
5. Relinquishing the Body, Fascicle Five
6. Chanting and Upholding, Fascicle Six (Fascicle Six, Fascicle Seven, Fascicle Eight)
7. Recitation, Fascicle Nine
8. Copying, Fascicle Ten

1.3

1. Images and Icons

1.4

The image of the preaching of this sūtra inside the jeweled pearl and jeweled stūpa of the Jetavana Monastery in the Western Regions;
The golden image modeling the former preaching of the Dharma in the Western Regions;
The image of the preaching of this sūtra on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain in the Western Regions;
The representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain made by the monk Huihao of the Song;
The representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain made by Emperor Taizu of the Later Wei;
The Lotus Platform made by Lady Yin of the Jin;
The Lotus Monastery made by Lady of Handsome Fairness Xie of the Song;
The Lotus Hall made by Zheng Qiong, Chamberlain for Ceremonials of the Later Wei;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by the monk Huili of the Jin;
The Prabhūtaratna Monastery and Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Liu Fo'ai of the Song;
The stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Secretariat Drafter Xu Yan of the Qi;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa, Lotus Stūpa, and Lotus Platform made by the monk Facheng of Wuzhen Monastery under the Tang;
The Prabhūtaratna Stūpa made by Xiao Jing, Chancellor of the Directorate of Education under the Tang;
The image of Samantabhadra made by Empress Dowager Luzhao of the Song;
The Samantabhadra Retreat held by the monk Daojiong of the Song;
The Samantabhadra Retreat held by the monk Sengbao of the Song.

1.5

According to the Illustrated Guide to Jetavana: In the upper storey of the eastern tower in front of the Buddha Hall, there is a silver image. Inside the image, there is a pavilion of seven treasures. Inside the pavilion, there is a jeweled pond with jeweled flowers. Above the flowers, there is a white jade image. Within a lotus blossom in the pond, there is a silver stūpa. In the heart of the stūpa, there is a pearl stūpa. Inside that stūpa, there are two images, of Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna, depicting the seventh assembly where the Lotus Sūtra was preached. It also says: The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra is similar to the Avataṃsaka and Prajñāpāramitā in that it was preached over many assemblies. What is translated nowadays corresponds to the third assembly. It also says: In the four terraces and five tiers of the tiered hall, on the upper storey, there is a vaiḍūrya mani pearl. Within this pearl, past Buddhas once preached the Lotus, thrice transforming the defiled land into a pure land. Whatever is contained in the sūtra is fully manifested within it.

1.6

According to the records of the Western Regions: South of the Gaṅgā River in the country of Magadha in Central India, there is an ancient city more than seventy li in circumference. It has been deserted for many years, yet its foundations still remain. In ancient times, when the human lifespan was immeasurable, it was called Kusumapura, which in Tang speech means the City of the Fragrant Flower Palace. When the human lifespan dwindled to several thousand years, its name was changed to Pāṭaliputra, which is also Balianfu. More than four hundred li southwest from this city, crossing the Nairañjanā River, one reaches the city of Gayā. More than twenty li southwest of the city, one reaches the bodhi tree, the vajrāsana, and other sites. East of the bodhi tree, crossing a great river and entering a vast forest and wilderness, walking over a hundred li, one reaches Kukkuṭapāda Mountain. Over a hundred li northeast of Kukkuṭapāda Mountain, one arrives at a great mountain; entering the mountain and walking eastward for more than sixty li, one reaches Kuśāgrapura. This city is situated right in the center of the country of Magadha. It was the former capital of earlier rulers and produced much fragrant kuśa grass; hence, it was named after it. Lofty mountains surround it on four sides, serving as outer walls. A narrow path connects to it in the west, and a mountain gate opens in the north, being over one hundred and fifty li in circumference. Its trees flourish in spring, all turning golden. Originally, King Bimbisāra made this his capital. The registered commoners in the city frequently suffered from conflagrations; the multitude lamented and grieved, finding no peace in their dwellings. The king therefore decreed throughout the country: 'Whoever is negligent shall be banished to the Cold Forest.' The Cold Forest was the place where corpses were abandoned, regarded by custom as an inauspicious land. Soon after, a fire broke out spontaneously in the royal palace itself. The king said to his ministers: 'Let the decree of banishment be fulfilled!' Thereupon he ordered the crown prince to oversee the realm, and he personally went four or five li northwest of Kuśāgrapura to lodge. At that time, the King of Vaiśālī heard that King Bimbisāra was living out in the wilds of the Cold Forest, so he mustered his troops intending to launch an unexpected attack. The border sentinels reported this. Thus, a city was built there, and because the king had first lodged there, it was called Rājagṛha ('City of the King's Abode'). The officials and commoners all moved their families there. Some say that it was established by King Ajātaśatru. By the time of King Aśoka, the capital was moved to Pāṭaliputra, and Rājagṛha was bestowed upon the Brahmins. Nowadays in this city, there are no longer common folk, but only fewer than a thousand Brahmin households.

1.7

Fourteen or fifteen li northeast of Kuśāgrapura, one arrives at Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, which in Tang speech means Vulture Head, also called Vulture Peak. Adjoining the southern slope to the north, it rises uniquely and toweringly. Not only do vultures roost there, but it also resembles a high terrace. Azure sky and green hills reflect each other, their deep and faint colors distinctly defined. When the Tathāgata governed the world for nearly fifty years, he mostly resided on this mountain and broadly expounded the wonderful Dharma; this is precisely the place where he preached this sūtra. Hence the sūtra says: 'Always dwelling on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain and in other various abodes.' When the Buddha was in the world, King Bimbisāra, for the sake of hearing the Dharma, mobilized laborers to pave stones into a stairway more than ten paces wide and five or six li long, spanning valleys and surmounting crags, from the foot of the mountain up to its peak. Along the path there were two small stūpas: one was called 'Dismounting,' where the king proceeded on foot; the other was called 'Dismissing Commoners,' where ordinary people were screened out and forbidden from proceeding further together. The summit of the mountain is long from east to west and narrow from north to south. Overlooking the cliff along its western descent, there currently stands a brick chamber, of lofty, spacious, and extraordinary construction, with its door opening to the east. The Tathāgata formerly dwelt within it and preached the Dharma; now an image of him preaching the Dharma has been made there, equal in measure to the Buddha's body. The Tang śramaṇa Xuanzang, whose lay surname was Chen, was a native of Luoyang. He left household life at an early age and was endowed from youth with insightful comprehension. Having studied widely under renowned masters, he thoroughly penetrated the genuine principles. Considering that those who cling to branches see only the minute, while those who draw from downstream understand only the shallow, he risked his life in distant regions, gallantly striving toward the utmost depths. In the early years of the Zhenguan era, he set out and traveled westward, going back and forth for seventeen years. The sūtras and treatises he acquired are fully recorded in a separate account. In that country of Central India, he obtained through request a golden image modeling the preaching of the Lotus Sūtra on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain in Magadha. Its height, including the halo and pedestal, is three feet; its countenance is exceptionally sublime, utterly surpassing human craftsmanship. Looking up to it with reverent hands on the head, one's devotion is indeed multiplied ten-thousandfold. After his return, boundless copies and replicas were made of it.

1.8

In the first year of the Jingping era of the Song, the śramaṇa Bo Huigao of Waguan Monastery built Lingjiu Monastery. There was a śramaṇa, Shi Huihao, whose wisdom and discernment were comprehensive and sharp, and whose ingenuity was unsurpassed. Within it, he fashioned a depiction of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, marvelously varied beyond measure and so vivid that one seemed to be gazing upon the real scene. The forms of its mountains, forests, birds, and beasts, and the appearances of the eight classes of devas and nāgas, had never existed in past dynasties and originated from this point on. After the niche was completed, the whole state came to view it. In later generations, those who carved niches all took Huihao's as their model. The niche was thirty-eight zhang deep from east to west, and forty-four zhang four chi from north to south.

1.9

In the first year of the Tianxing era, Emperor Daowu (Taizu) of the Later Wei, Tuoba Gui, made a representation of Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain, adding painted decorations such that nothing was not solemnly prepared.

1.10

In the seventh year of the Yixi era of the Jin, Lady Yin, wife of the Regional Inspector of Jingzhou, Wang, founded Dongqingyuan Monastery.

1.11

Inside the monastery, she built a Lotus Platform.

1.12

In the fifteenth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, Lady of Handsome Fairness Xie built Fahua Monastery in Moling County.

1.13

Zheng Qiong, Chamberlain for Ceremonials and Marquis Gong of the Later Wei, established Jingyu Monastery and built a Lotus Hall.

1.14

In the second year of the Xingning era of the Jin, the śramaṇa Huili built a stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa at Waguan Monastery.

1.15

In the fifth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song, Liu Fo'ai, a native of Pengcheng, built Duobao Monastery in Jiankang, and also built a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa.

1.16

In the first year of the Jianyuan era of the Qi, Hu Xiezhi, Regional Inspector of Yuzhou, built Fayin Monastery on Mount Zhong. The Secretariat Drafter Xu Yan assisted by building a stone Prabhūtaratna Stūpa.

1.17

The śramaṇa Facheng of Wuzhen Monastery on Mount Yu in Lantian under the Tang left household life when young, lived secluded in the mountains cut off from secular life, and recited this sūtra more than ten thousand times. In accordance with the sūtra, he built a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa, a Lotus Hall, and a Lotus Platform. Upon the platform, he placed the sūtra, circumambulating it and performing repentance rituals. He also built a meditation room wherein he practiced concentration. There were very many miraculous occurrences, which are fully recounted in his later biography.

1.18

Xiao Jing, Chancellor of the Directorate of Education under the Tang, was a native of Lanling, a great-great-grandson of Emperor Wu of the Liang, and the fifth son of Xiao Kui, King of Liang. After the Liang fell and he entered the Sui, his elder sister became the empress of Emperor Yang. Though born and raised amidst nobility and prosperity, his family deeply revered the Buddha's Dharma. During the Daye era, he chanted the Lotus Sūtra himself and, in accordance with the text of the sūtra, made a Prabhūtaratna Stūpa using sandalwood. The stūpa was about three feet high, and he also made a wooden image of Prabhūtaratna, which remained unfinished after several years. One morning, when his nephew Xiao Quan rose in the residence, he suddenly saw in the grass of the front courtyard a sandalwood stūpa canopy, beneath which was a brass Buddha image of extraordinary craftsmanship and solemn, dignified Indian countenance. Its eyeballs were made of silver, with the pupils clear, bright, and lustrous, as if natural. Quan marveled at it and ran to tell Jing. Jing looked at it with startled joy, took the canopy back, and tried placing it atop the Prabhūtaratna Stūpa; it fitted perfectly, as though made for it of old. Although the color of the wood differed slightly, the shape of the stūpa became even more wondrous. When he placed the Buddha image inside the stūpa, it also matched as if originally crafted for it. Jing rejoiced and sighed in admiration, considering it an effect evoked by his sincere devotion. Inside the garments of the Buddha image, there were more than a hundred relics (śarīra). Jing's daughter, who was a nun, and others who were young secretly doubted that relics could not be broken by a hammer, so they took thirty of them to test and struck them on a stone with an axe. The relics scattered, leaving no trace behind. The daughter searched and picked them up from the ground, finding only three or four, while the rest could not be seen anywhere. Filled with dread, she reported this to Jing. Jing went to look inside the stūpa, and all the relics were there just as before. From that time on, Jing chanted the Lotus Sūtra once a day until the end of his life. In the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era, his illness grew severe. Empress Xiao, along with his younger brothers and nephews, came to visit him. Jing met with them, had each of them light incense, and then bid them farewell together. He kept only his younger brother Xiao Yu, Duke of Song, and his daughter who was a nun, instructing them to light incense and chant the sūtra. After a short while, he said to the nun: 'I am about to depart. Samantabhadra Bodhisattva has come to welcome me and is in the eastern courtyard; master, you may go welcome him.' The nun went to welcome him as instructed, but before she returned, Jing said: 'That courtyard is impure, so he is unwilling to enter; I must go to him myself. Live well, all of you.' Thereupon he bid farewell to Yu and the others, rose, knelt upright with palms joined, facing directly toward the west, and shortly thereafter passed away. His testamentary instructions ordered: 'Bear me alone upon a single cart; enshroud me in the clothes upon my body; women shall not attend the funeral procession; do not sacrifice with meat; dig the pit just deep enough to submerge the coffin.' Court and countryside alike sighed in admiration at his broad-mindedness, and his family reverently carried it out. In ancient times, the Mahāsattva Samantabhadra possessed boundless spiritual power, manifesting astride the elephant king to verify the Lotus. This may be the expedient response of a former Buddha, or the gracious transformation wrought by one in the position of succession; it cannot be fathomed by the Seventh Ground, nor conceived by the Two Vehicles. Indeed, since the supreme and wondrous physical form illuminates the Way, subtle and exquisite icons surely move the mundane world. Following the form, one awakens to the spirit; by virtue of the traces, one contemplates the origin. The visage delightful to behold is truly a vital passage for guiding and uplifting.

1.19

Empress Dowager Luzhao, Chongxian, of the Song, had planted causal roots over vast kalpas and was paired with the summit of the imperial house. Yet she viewed noble status as an illusory dream and precious treasures as dust and grime. Longing to exalt the correct teaching, she sought to depict the Dharma-body. In the fourth year of the Daming era, she commanded the bhikṣu Tanbiao of Baima Monastery to make an image of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva riding a white elephant, its six tusks slender and pointed, its seven limbs well-rounded and complete. Its design was grand and magnificent; the casting was refined and austere. The cast metal was equal to refined copper, overlaid with lustrous gilding. The Bodhisattva shone with the marks of purple-gold, while the elephant king gleamed with the form of white silver. Brilliant, splendid, and radiant, it seemed as though taking flight—truly a wondrous achievement of Buddhist work and a genuine model for stūpas and shrines. Her vast vows being inexhaustible and her cultivation of merit untiring, in the eighth year of the Daming era she further constructed Puxian Monastery, whose breathtaking splendor was destined to adorn and embellish.

1.20

Śramaṇa Daojiong was a native of Haotao in Fufeng. His original surname was Ma. His scholarship was pure and refined, and he was already renowned in his youth. When he first went forth from the household life, he became a disciple of Daoyi. Jiong had long recited the Lotus Sūtra, placing his reliance and sincerity solely in this practice. In the ninth month of the second year of the Yuanjia reign, while in Luoyang, he conducted a Samantabhadra retreat for someone. Thereupon, he swept and washed the courtyard clean, purifying it inside and out. He adorned an image of Samantabhadra and cultivated a reverent state of mind as if in the presence [of the deity]. There were some forty monastics and laypeople. Seven days had already passed, and they were just partaking of the midday meal, when suddenly a man wearing riding trousers and riding a horse came right up to the front of the hall. He dismounted and bowed to the Buddha. Jiong considered him an ordinary person and did not treat him with any special courtesy. The man mounted his horse, brandished his whip, and suddenly vanished from sight. Immediately, a bright red light was seen filling the sky, which faded only after a long time. Three years later, in the twelfth month, he again conducted a Samantabhadra retreat in a layman's household. On the evening of its conclusion, two śramaṇas whose appearance and gaze seemed ordinary came directly in to bow to the Buddha. The assembly thought them mediocre monks and did not regard them with great veneration. Someone casually asked where they lived, and they replied, "We live in the village ahead." Among the laypeople present at the time, there was one Zhang Dao, who sensed something unusual about them and bowed with utmost devotion. When the śramaṇas exited the gate and had walked some tens of paces, they suddenly took flight into the empty air, soaring straight up into the heavens. Those who followed them with their eyes could no longer tell where they had gone. Later, [Daojiong] traveled south with four fellow students to the capital of Yangdu to observe its customs. At night, they crossed a river on ice; midway across, the ice broke, and three of them sank and drowned. Jiong again placed his sincere reliance in Avalokiteśvara, whereupon he felt as if something under his feet were supporting him on its own. He also saw a red light ahead, and following the light, he reached the shore. When the capital was established [at Jiankang], he stayed at Nanjian Temple and consistently took the pratyutpanna-[samādhi] as his practice. Once, while entering meditation in the middle of the night, he suddenly saw four men driving a carriage up to his room, calling for him to board. In a flash, without realizing it, Jiong saw himself between the Commandery Mound and the Shen Bridge. He saw a man seated on a folding chair on the road, attended by several hundred people. Seeing Jiong, the man arose in surprise and said, "He is merely a meditator!" That man then said to his attendants, "I only intended to let him know the place; why have you abruptly troubled and dragged the Dharma master here?" Thereupon, bowing and bidding farewell, he ordered someone to escort Jiong back to the temple. They knocked on the gate, and only after a long while was it opened. When he entered the temple, he found his room still locked, and everyone was mystified as to how it had happened. In the twentieth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song, Liu Yiqing, King Kang of Linchuan, took him along to Guangling, where he finally passed away.

1.21

Śramaṇa Sengbao was a native of Jingzhao. In his youth, while in Guanzhong, he received instruction under Master Kumārajīva. During the Yongchu reign of the Song, he traveled north, slowly entering the Huangshan Vihāra. There, he established a twenty-one-day Samantabhadra retreat. When the repentance reached the seventeenth day, a white crane flew in and settled before the seat of Samantabhadra; it departed only when the circumambulation and incense offering were concluded at midday. On the twenty-first day, four men clad in yellow robes also circumambulated the stūpa several times and suddenly disappeared.

1.22

Accounts in Praise of the Lotus Sūtra, Fascicle 1

2.1

Compiled by Śramaṇa Huixiang of Langu

2.2

Section 2: Translations

2.3

Fourteen persons in total for authentic and spurious translations of sūtras (ten authentic, four spurious); two persons for translations of treatises.

2.4

[Cao] Wei: Śramaṇa Zhengwuwei from a foreign kingdom (Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 6 fascicles; one edition adds the character "Zheng" [Correct]).
Jin: Śramaṇa Zhu Fahu from Dunhuang (True Lotus Sūtra, 10 fascicles; also separately issued the Universal Gateway Chapter and the Guanshiyin Sūtra).
Eastern Jin: Śramaṇa Hezhi from the Western Regions (Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra).
Eastern Jin: Śramaṇa Zhi Daogen (Vaipulya Lotus Sūtra, 5 fascicles).
Illegitimate Qin: Śramaṇa Tongshou [Kumārajīva] from India (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 text, 7 fascicles).
Song: Śramaṇa Zhiyan of Yingzhou (Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 1 fascicle).
Song: Jingsheng, younger brother of the King of Hexi of Northern Liang (Avalokiteśvara Sūtra).
Qi: Śramaṇa Faxian of Shanglin Temple (Devadatta Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra).
Sui: Śramaṇa Dezhi from the Western Regions (reiterative verses of the Universal Gateway Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra).
Tang: Śramaṇa Fami from the Western Regions (five pages added to the Medicinal Herbs Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, along with different mantras).

2.5

Qi: Xiao Ziliang, King of Jingling (Excerpts from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, Excerpts from the Lotus Bhaiṣajyarāja Sūtra).
Liang: Daughter of Erudite of the National University Jiang Mi (Lotus Sūtra, 1 fascicle).

2.6

The above two items are not authentic sūtras.

2.7

Lost-translator sūtra in the two old catalogues (Sūtra on the Auspicious Light of the Lotus and the Bodhisattva Manifesting His Lifespan).
Spurious sūtras noted by Fei Changfang of the Sui (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on the Measure of Heaven and Earth, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra on Anomalies of Heaven and Earth).

2.8

The above two items are suspected or spurious.

2.9

Later Wei: Śramaṇa Daoxi from the Western Regions (Commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 2 fascicles).
Later Wei: Śramaṇa Baoyi from Central India (Commentary on the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 fascicle).

2.10

Lotus Samādhi Sūtra, 6 fascicles (one edition adds the character "Zheng" [Correct]).

2.11

Concerning the above: Translated in the seventh month of the first year of the Ganlu reign during the era of the Duke of Gaoguixiang of the Wei in Jiaozhou by the foreign śramaṇa Zhi Jiangliangjie, rendered in the language of Wei as Zhengwuwei ("Correct Fearlessness"). Śramaṇa Daoxin took it down in writing. There is no other extensive biography; the sūtra catalogues state as much.

2.12

True Lotus Sūtra, 10 fascicles

2.13

Concerning the above: By Śramaṇa Zhu Tanmolaicha (Zhu Dharmarakṣa), rendered here as Fahu. His ancestors were Yuezhi people, originally surnamed Zhi, who resided for generations in Dunhuang Commandery. At the age of eight, he left home to become a monk, serving the foreign śramaṇa Zhu Gaozuo as his master. He recited ten thousand words of sūtras daily, mastering them as soon as his eyes passed over them. By natural disposition he was pure and admirable, his conduct refined and austere. With earnest resolve and a love of learning, he traveled ten thousand li in search of masters. Thus, he was broadly versed in the Six Classics and immersed his mind in the seven categories of books. Although the affairs, praise, and blame of the mundane world surrounded him, they never weighed upon his heart. At that time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin, although monasteries and images were revered in the capital, the profound store of Vaipulya texts remained beyond the Congling Mountains. Hu then sighed with indignation and stirred his resolve, determined to broadly propagate the Great Way. He subsequently accompanied his master to the Western Regions, traveling through various kingdoms. The foreign languages were of thirty-six kinds, and their scripts were just as varied; Hu studied them all thoroughly, comprehensively mastering their glosses, pronunciations, meanings, and orthography, being deficient in none. Thereupon, he brought back a great number of Sanskrit texts and returned to the central lands of China. From Dunhuang to Chang'an, he transmitted and translated along the way, writing them in the Jin language. The works he translated, including the Bhadrakalpika-sūtra and the True Lotus Sūtra, numbered one hundred and sixty-five texts. In diligent pursuit of his task, he took the propagation of the Way as his sole calling, translating and copying throughout his entire life without ever complaining of weariness. That the sūtras and teachings were widely circulated in China was due to Hu's efforts. On the tenth day of the eighth month in the seventh year of the Taikang reign of the Western Jin, Hu held the Sanskrit manuscript in his hands and orally produced the twenty-seven chapters of the aforementioned sūtra. The upāsakas Nie Chengyuan, Zhang Shiming, and Zhang Zhonggai jointly took it down in writing, finishing on the second day of the ninth month. The Indian śramaṇa Zhu Li and the layman Bo Yuanxin from Kucha jointly proofread it. On the sixth day of the second month in the first year of the Yuanjia reign, it was reviewed again. Furthermore, in the first year of the Yuankang reign, Sun Bohu, Yu Shiya, and others of Chang'an finished copying it onto white silk on the fifteenth day of the fourth month. Hu later established a monastery outside the Qingmen Gate of Chang'an, practicing the Way with diligent energy. Thereupon, his virtuous transformation spread far and wide, and his renown covered the four directions. Several thousand monks took him as their honored master. At the age of seventy-eight, he evacuated with his disciples and went east down to Mianchi, where he contracted an illness and died.

2.14

Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra; Guanshiyin Sūtra

2.15

The above two sūtras were also separately extracted by Śramaṇa Fahu.

2.16

Universal Gateway Chapter Sūtra

2.17

Concerning the above: Translated by Śramaṇa Qiduomi from the Western Regions during the Eastern Jin, rendered as Hezhi in Jin. It is largely the same as the translation by Fahu, with minor differences.

2.18

Vaipulya Lotus Sūtra, 5 fascicles

2.19

Concerning the above: Translated by Śramaṇa Zhi Daogen in the first year of the Xiankang reign of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin.

2.20

Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, 1 text, 7 fascicles

2.21

The above [work was translated by] the śramaṇa Kumārajīva, who was called Tongshou ('Youth-Lifespan') [in Chinese]. He was a man of India. His family had served for generations as prime ministers of their realm. Jīva's grandfather, Datta, was held in high esteem throughout the realm. His father, Kumārāyana, possessed noble virtues; relinquishing the ministerial position, he left the householder life and crossed east of the Congling Mountains. The king of Kucha, hearing that he had renounced worldly glory, revered and admired him greatly, went out into the suburbs in person to welcome him, and requested him to be the State Preceptor. The king's younger sister was just twenty years of age, endowed with sharp wit and clear understanding; furthermore, her body had red moles [signifying] that she was destined to give birth to a wise child. Proposals of marriage came from various realms, but she refused them all. Once she saw Āyana, however, her heart was set upon him, and she compelled him to take her as his wife. Soon after, she became pregnant with Jīva. While Jīva was in the womb, his mother's comprehension of wisdom doubled beyond the ordinary. Hearing that there were many eminent and virtuous masters as well as monks who had attained the Way at the great monastery of Tsio-li, she, together with noble ladies of the royal clan and nuns of virtuous conduct, provided offerings day after day, requesting assemblies to listen to the Dharma. Jīva's mother suddenly became spontaneously proficient in the Indian tongue; her phrasing in raising difficult queries invariably plumbed the most profound depths, and all the assembly marveled at her. An arhat named Dharmaghoṣa said, 'She must be carrying a wise child,' citing for them the evidence of Śāriputra in the womb. After Jīva was born, she forgot the speech she had spoken before. Not long after, Jīva's mother wished to leave the household life; applying herself with unflagging diligence, she attained the first fruit [of stream-entry]. When Jīva was seven years old, he also left the household life together with her. Receiving sūtras from his master, he recited a thousand verses each day; each verse consisting of thirty-two syllables, making thirty-two thousand words in total. Once he had recited the Abhidharma, his master instructed him in its meaning, and he immediately grasped it on his own. Thereupon he traveled widely among various masters, extensively studying the scriptural teachings; hearing something but once, he could receive it and exhaust all its corners and recesses. He also perused all the scriptures and books of non-Buddhist traditions. Later, Jīva's mother said to him, 'The profound teachings of the Universal and Equal (Vaipulya) should be extensively propagated in the land of China; that they be transmitted and brought forth to the east depends entirely on your effort.' Soon after, he bade farewell to his mother. In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Jianyuan reign of Fu Jian, the Grand Astrologer memorialized, saying, 'A star has appeared in the division of the foreign realms; there must be a person of great virtue and wisdom entering to court in China.' Jian said, 'We have heard that in the Western Regions there is Kumārajīva,' and immediately sent an envoy to seek him; but before he arrived, Jian died. By the ninth month of the third year of the Hongshi reign of Yao Xing of the Later Qin, his dignified presence arrived here. In the twelfth month of that year, he had an audience with Xing. Xing treated him with the courtesies due to a State Preceptor and showed him exceptional favor. When they engaged in discussions of understanding, they would linger for the entire day; penetrating subtleties and fathoming the ultimate, they forgot fatigue throughout the year. Ever since the Great Dharma was brought east, beginning under Emperor Ming of the Han and progressing through the Wei and Jin dynasties, sūtras and treatises had gradually increased in number; however, those translated by Zhi Qian and Dharmarakṣa mostly adhered to literal phrases or the method of matching meanings (geyi). From his youth Xing had revered the Three Jewels and was eager to sponsor lectures and gatherings. Once Jīva arrived, he invited him into the Ximing Pavilion and the Xiaoyao Garden to translate various sūtras. Since Jīva had memorized most of them and fathomed them thoroughly, and had moreover become proficient in the Chinese language, his phonetic renderings and translations flowed smoothly. Upon examining the older sūtras, he found that their meanings were mostly flawed and improper, which was entirely due to earlier translators losing the underlying import and not matching the Sanskrit originals. Thereupon, Xing directed more than eight hundred śramaṇas—including Senglüe, Sengqian, Faqin, Daoliu, Daoheng, Daobiao, Sengrui, and Sengzhao—to receive and verify Jīva's intent. In the summer of the eighth year of the Hongshi reign, at the Great Monastery of Chang'an, he further assembled more than two thousand śramaṇas versed in the study of doctrinal meaning from the four quarters to translate this sūtra. Furthermore, Master Huirui's 'Essay Clarifying Doubts' (Yuyi lun) states, 'The authentic text of the Lotus Sūtra shed radiance from deep within the earth in the great kingdom of Khotan, welled up into empty space, and thereby came to circulate here.' Yao Chong, Colonel Director of Retainers, General of the Left, and Marquis of Ancheng, whose subtle resonance resonated with the profound gate and whose mind resided beyond the mundane world, focused his sincerity upon this scripture and sponsored its copying, so that it circulates down to the present day. There was also the bhikṣuṇī Beidu, an unfathomable person. While in Pengcheng, hearing that Jīva was in Chang'an, she sighed and said, 'It has been more than three hundred years since this boy and I playfully parted. Our fragrant reunion is not yet appointed; I can only await our meeting in a future life.' A few days before Jīva's demise, he felt that his four great elements were unharmonized. Thereupon he uttered three rounds of divine dhāraṇīs from his mouth and instructed his foreign disciples to recite them in order to save himself. Before their efforts could take effect, he felt his condition turning increasingly critical. Thereupon, struggling against his illness, he bade farewell to the assembly of monks, saying, 'We have met through the Dharma, yet I have by no means fully expressed my heart. Facing a future life, my sorrow is beyond words! Thinking myself foolish and unenlightened, I have improperly filled the role of translator. If what I have transmitted is free of error, may my tongue not be scorched or rot after my body is burned!' On the twentieth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of the illegitimate Qin's Hongshi reign, he passed away in Chang'an. This year was the fifth year of the Yixi reign of the Jin. In the Xiaoyao Garden, in accordance with the foreign customs, they cremated his corpse with fire. The firewood was consumed and his form shattered, but his tongue alone was not reduced to ashes.

2.22

Samādhi of the Lotus Sūtra (Fahua sanmei jing), in one fascicle.

2.23

The above [was translated by] the śramaṇa Zhiyan, who penetrated the Dharma. He was a man of Western Liangzhou. Having left the household life at the age of twenty, he immediately became renowned for his diligent application. Clad in patched robes, he sat in peaceful meditation and lived on a vegetarian diet all his life. Always desiring to serve renowned masters widely and to search extensively for sūtras and teachings, he traveled through the Western Regions, advancing as far as Jibin (Kashmir), where he entered the Mātandhara monastery and studied the methods of dhyāna under the bhikṣu Buddhasena. Gradually steeped in it for three years, his achievement exceeded that of ten years. Buddhasena, seeing that his meditative thoughts were well ordered, held him in especially high regard as an exceptional vessel. When the monastics and laity there heard of him, they sighed and said, 'In the land of Qin there is indeed a śramaṇa who seeks the Way!' Only then did they cease to look down on the people of Qin and respectfully received people from afar. At that time there was the bhikṣu Buddhabhadra, who was also a master of meditation in that country. Zhiyan then invited him to return east, wishing to transmit the Dharma to the central lands. Buddhabhadra commended his earnest sincerity and traveled east together with him. Thereupon, traversing dangerous sands, they arrived in Guanzhong. He constantly followed Buddhabhadra, staying at the Great Monastery of Chang'an. Soon after, Buddhabhadra was wrongfully expelled by the Qin monks, and Zhiyan also parted ways, resting at a monastery east of the mountains, where he sat in meditation, recited sūtras, and vigorously pursued his cultivation. In the thirteenth year of the Yixi reign, Emperor Wu of the Song campaigned west against Chang'an; having achieved victory and turned his banners home, his route took him east of the mountains. At that time, Wang Hui, Duke of Shixing, accompanied the imperial retinue sightseeing the mountains and rivers, and arrived at Zhiyan's monastery. He saw three monks residing together, each seated upon a corded meditation-chair, their meditative contemplation serene and clear. Long after Hui had arrived, they did not notice him. He then snapped his fingers; the three opened their eyes, but shortly after closed them again without speaking to him. Hui's heart was astonished by their extraordinary manner. Inquiring among the elders, all said, 'These three monks live in seclusion to fulfill their aspirations; they are Dharma masters of lofty purity.' Hui immediately reported this to Emperor Wu of the Song and invited them to return to the capital, but none were willing to go. After he repeatedly urged them with heartfelt earnestness, the other two urged Zhiyan to accompany him. Hui's disposition toward the Way had always been devout, and he served him with great attentiveness. Upon returning to the capital, Zhiyan stayed at Shixing Monastery. Zhiyan was quiet and aloof by nature, with an aspiration to avoid noisy worldly dust. Hui thereupon built another monastery for him on the border of the eastern suburbs, which was the Zhiyuan Monastery. As for the various sūtras Zhiyan had obtained earlier upon returning from the Western Regions, he had not yet had the opportunity to translate and transcribe them; arriving at the fourth year of the Yuanjia reign, he translated the aforementioned sūtra together with the śramaṇa Baoyun. Zhiyan was pure, plain, and of few desires; what he received he immediately gave away. Having traveled widely from his youth, he had no attachments. By nature he was modest and retiring, never putting himself forward; therefore, although he had many admirable deeds, the world could not transmit them all. Formerly, before Zhiyan left the household life, he had once received the five precepts and committed a violation. Later, when he entered the Way and received full ordination, he constantly doubted whether he had truly obtained the precepts and was perpetually apprehensive about it. Though he practiced meditation and contemplation for many years, he could not resolve this within himself. He then took to the sea again, returning once more to India to consult various luminaries. Meeting an arhat bhikṣu, he inquired of the matter in full. The arhat could not decide, so he entered samādhi on Zhiyan's behalf, ascended to Tuṣita Palace, and submitted the inquiry to Maitreya. Maitreya replied, 'He has obtained the precepts.' Zhiyan leaped with great joy. Thereupon he returned on foot; arriving at Jibin, he passed away without illness at the age of seventy-eight. According to the custom of that country, the cremation of ordinary people and noble beings took place in separate locations. Although Zhiyan's observance of the precepts was lofty and clear, his true realization had not yet been verified. When they first moved the corpse toward the cemetery of ordinary monks, the corpse became heavy and could not be lifted; when they redirected it toward the cemetery of the noble beings, it became light and drifted along of itself. Zhiyan's disciples Zhiyu and Zhiyuan deliberately came from the west to report this auspicious sign, and both returned to the foreign country. Judged by this, Zhiyan was truly a person who had attained the Way.

2.24

Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (Guanshiyin jing).

2.25

The above [was translated in] the reign of Emperor Xiaowu of the Song by the Marquis of Anyang, Jingsheng, cousin of Juqu Mengxun, King of Hexi of the Northern Liang. Meeting the end of the Liang's fortunes, it was destroyed by the Yuan Wei. Jingsheng fled into concealment and rushed south to Jiankang, concealing his aspirations for the rest of his life and avoiding human affairs. He constantly wandered and stayed at stūpas and monasteries, conducting his entire life as a lay practitioner. Severing ties with wife and children, he was indifferent to worldly glory and gain, freely associating with companions of the Dharma and propagating the correct teaching. For this reason, both monastics and laity held him in high esteem. He translated the aforementioned sūtra.

2.26

The 'Devadatta Chapter' of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing Tipodaduo pin).

2.27

The above [was obtained by] the śramaṇa Faxian, whose lay surname was Xu, a native of Yanshui in Xihai. He earlier followed his maternal uncle to Liangzhou, where he left the household life. In the sixteenth year of the Yuanjia reign, he went down to the capital and stayed at the Upper Dinglin Monastery. He transmitted and propagated the sūtras and vinaya; his aspirations and endeavors were steadfast and vigorous, and he was skilled at enduring hardships, with all sorts of schemes for repairing monasteries. Having earlier heard that the venerable Fayong had journeyed west and witnessed all manner of spiritual wonders, he vowed to forget his own body and go to view the sacred traces. In the third year of the Yuanhui reign of the Song, he set out from Jinling, traveled west through Ba and Shu, took the road via Henan, and passed through Rouran. Arriving at Khotan, he wished to cross the Congling Mountains, but the plank roads were cut off; thereupon he turned back from Khotan, having obtained this previous chapter, and then returned. The dangers and obstacles along his journey are fully recorded in a separate account. During the Yongming reign of Emperor Wu of the Qi, Xian met the foreign Tripiṭaka master Dharmamati, whose name was translated as Fayun ('Dharma Meaning') in Qi; at the Waguan Monastery in Yangzhou, it was translated. Xian was at that time the leader of the saṃgha. He died at the end of the Jianwu reign at the age of seventy-five.

2.28

Verses of Repeated Recitation in the Universal Gate Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra (Miaofa lianhua jing Pumenpin chongsong ji).

2.29

The above: Śramaṇa Jñānagupta, translated in the Sui as Dezhi, was a native of the kingdom of Gandhāra in northern India, which in Sui translation is called the Kingdom of Fragrant Conduct. Gupta was the youngest of five brothers. Having planted roots of virtue in past lives, he early developed the resolve for the way. While still a young child, he wished to leave the household. His parents deeply recognized his capacity and did not go against his request. In his home country there was a monastery named Dalin (Mahāvana); he then went to take refuge there and thus obtained ordination and deliverance. From the time Gupta left the household, he was filial, respectful, dedicated, and sincere. Receiving instruction over accumulated years, he gained a comprehensive understanding of the essential teachings. At the age of twenty-seven, he accompanied his master to propagate the Dharma. In the beginning of the Wucheng era of Emperor Ming of the Northern Zhou, he arrived at Chang'an and stayed at Caotang Monastery. Master and disciple traveled to transform beings, already fulfilling their original wish in coming. He mounted the pure altar once again and received the full precepts anew. It happened that Yuwen Xian, Prince of Qiao, was stationed to garrison Shu, and he again invited him to travel together. There for three years he served as Monastic Overseer of Penzhou. At Longyuan Monastery, he translated the above verses, with the śramaṇa Yuanming acting as scribe. When the fortunes of the Jiande era deteriorated, the semblance teaching was not propagated, and the five assemblies were overnight reduced to the eyes of the common folk. Emperor Wu treated him with courtesy, issuing an edict summoning him to the imperial capital, conferring high ranks and stipends upon him, and forcing him to adopt the robes of a Confucian scholar. Gupta maintained his integrity resoundingly, facing death without fear. Pitying his unbending virtue, the Emperor took compassion on him and released him to return [home]. His route took him through Ganzhou and northward through the Turks, where he was detained by the Turks. In the fifth year of the Kaihuang era, Śramaṇa Danyan and more than thirty others from Daxingshan Monastery, being themselves engaged in translation and finding the pronunciations and meanings discordant, learned that Gupta was in the north and submitted a memorial requesting an imperial edict to summon him back. The Emperor readily consented and sent envoys to invite and seek him out. Gupta's hopes of returning west had already been cut off; stranded for ten years, he deeply longed in this enlightened age to meet again with the Three Jewels. Suddenly receiving this distant quest, joy and aspiration mingled together, and he immediately accompanied the emissaries to enter the state. At that time, Emperor Wen was on an imperial progress to Luoyang, and he had audience with him there. The Son of Heaven was greatly pleased, repeatedly bestowing gifts and inquiries. Before returning to the imperial capital, the Emperor promptly decreed that translations be expounded; together with the śramaṇas Sengxiu, Facan, and others, he further translated various sūtras. Prince Teng of the Sui revered his precept-observing model and honored him as his master. Because of an involvement in worldly affairs, he was banished to Dongyue; while in Oumin, the renown of his way became renowned again, rescuing both bodies and minds and bringing immense benefit. In the twentieth year of the Kaihuang era, he passed away at the age of seventy-eight.

2.30

Medicinal Herbs Chapter of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra, with five additional sheets, and the various dhāraṇīs also differing.

2.31

The above: Śramaṇa Dharmagupta, translated in the Sui as Fami, was a native of the kingdom of Laṭa in southern India. He was of the kṣatriya caste, with the clan name Vyāghra, which means 'Tiger Clan'. He had four younger brothers and was the eldest son. His parents were deeply attached to him and would not allow him to leave the household. However, because of his earnest love for the Dharma gate and deep desire to renounce the secular world, at the age of twenty-three he went to central India and only then was able to shave his hair. After Gupta received the full precepts, he spent another three years studying under a master. What his master had attained, he glimpsed in broad outline. Thereupon, he traveled through various Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna countries and monastic establishments, hearing and seeing twice as much. Later, hearing that the Three Jewels were flourishing in the great realm of Cīna (China), he and his companions were of one mind, setting their sights on coming here. Having reached Yiwu, he stayed there for one year. Meeting with troubles, they took refuge in the southwest; the road was purely gravel and desert, lacking both water and grass. The companions looked at one another, having nowhere to preserve their lives. They then temporarily placed the sūtras and treatises they were carrying beside the road and crossed mountains in search of water, hoping thereby to survive. The search having failed, their exhaustion and distress increased all the more. He single-mindedly recited the Avalokiteśvara dhāraṇī, and night rain suddenly fell, bringing complete joy to body and mind. Soon they returned to the original road, but looking around in all directions, everything was vast and indistinct; they had lost their way. Hesitating whether to advance or retreat, they simply let themselves move forward, and finally reached Guazhou, only then realizing that they had taken a roundabout northern route. Gupta had long admired the great empire, trudging over land for accumulated years; of the companions who initially made the pact, some had stayed behind and some had died. Looking at his solitary shadow as he reached this place, in the stillness he reflected on it, with grief and joy intermingling. Soon he received an imperial decree inviting him into the capital city, where he was accommodated in a celebrated monastery and provided for abundantly; this was in the tenth month, winter, of the tenth year of the Kaihuang era. Not long after his arrival, he gained a fair understanding of the Chinese language. Furthermore, receiving a special imperial decree commanding him to engage in translating sūtras, he resided at Xingshan Monastery, where he held the originals and translated them, producing many accurate and sound renderings. The Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna treatises he recited were all profound and essential; when it came to expounding and explaining them, he broadly propagated their subtle purports, repeatedly resolving longstanding doubts for scholars of this land. When Emperor Yang established his capital at the eastern capital, his veneration was deep and generous; as for the Buddha-Dharma, he exalted it still more. He then issued a decree to establish a translation bureau inside the Shanglin Park on the southern bank of the Luo River, seeking out and promoting the eminent and outstanding so as to permanently safeguard the transmission of the Dharma. He immediately issued a decree summoning Gupta and various scholars, all of whom assembled there. Together with Śramaṇa Yancong, he supplemented and translated the aforementioned chapter. In the second year of the Wude era, he passed away by the banks of the Luo River.

2.32

Excerpts from the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka Sūtra; Excerpts from the Lotus Bhaiṣajyarāja Sūtra.

2.33

The above: Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling and Duke Wenxuan, who served as Minister of Education under the Southern Qi, revered the Śākya school and deeply penetrated the ultimate teaching. He annotated sūtras and treatises and excerpted their phrasing and doctrines, barring heterodox paths to open the correct ford, and propagating the One Vehicle while exalting the seven assemblies. The world called him an ocean of the brush, and his contemporaries styled him a mountain of wisdom. Sometimes he communicated through dreams with the Solitary Honoured One, being given the fine posthumous title of Heavenly King; at other times he expounded and transmitted sūtras and chants, passing down eminent regulations of marvelous measure. His virtues are difficult to recount in detail, so we readily pass over them here. He excerpted the aforementioned sūtras to keep them by his side.

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