法華傳記 2.16

2.16

妙法蓮華經者。破二明一之指歸也。降神五濁。弘道三乘。權智不思。大悲難極。先設化城之迹。後示繫珠之本。車雖有異。兩實無差。記以正覺之名。許以真子之位。同入法性。歸之於此。昔燉煌沙門竺法護。於晉武之世。譯正法華。後秦姚興。更請羅什。譯妙法蓮華。考驗二譯。定非一本。護似多羅之葉。什似龜茲之文。余撿經藏。備見二本。多羅則與正法符會。龜茲則共妙法允同。護葉尚有所遺。什文寧無其漏。而護所闕者。普門品偈也。什所闕者。藥草喻品之半。富樓那及法師等二品之初。提婆達多品。普門品偈也。什又移囑累。在藥王之前。二本陀羅尼。並置普門之後。其間異同。言不能極。竊見提婆達多及普門品偈。先賢續出。補闕流行。余景仰遺風。憲章成範。大隋仁壽元年辛酉之歲。因普曜寺沙門上行所請。遂共三藏崛多笈多二法師。於大興善寺。重勘天竺多羅葉本。富樓那及法師等二品之初。勘本猶闕藥草喻品。更益其半。提婆達多通入寶塔品。陀羅尼次神力之後。囑累還結其終。字句差殊。頗亦改正。儻有披尋幸勿疑惑。雖千萬億偈妙義難盡。而二十七品本文。且具所願四辯梵詞。遍神州之域。一乘祕教。悟象運之機。聊記翻譯。序之云爾。

The Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra is the ultimate intent of breaking the two to illuminate the one. Descending his spirit into the five defilements, [the Buddha] promoted the path of the three vehicles. His skillful wisdom is inconceivable, his great compassion difficult to measure. First he established the trace of the conjured city; later he revealed the fundamental jewel tied [in the garment]. Although the carts differ, the two are in truth without disparity. Conferring prophecies with the title of Right Awakening, he granted them the station of true sons. Entering together into the Dharma-nature, they return here. Formerly, the Dunhuang śramaṇa Zhu Dharmarakṣa translated the Zheng fahua jing during the Jin dynasty under Emperor Wu. Later, Yao Xing of the Later Qin further invited Kumārajīva to translate the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. Examining the two translations, they definitely were not based on a single text: Dharmarakṣa's resembles a palm leaf [manuscript], while Kumārajīva's resembles a Kuchean text. When I inspected the scriptural canon, I examined both texts thoroughly: the palm leaf corresponds with the Zheng fahua, while the Kuchean accords with the Miaofa. If Dharmarakṣa's palm leaves still had omissions, how could Kumārajīva's text have no gaps? What Dharmarakṣa lacked were the verses of the 'Universal Gateway Chapter'; what Kumārajīva lacked was half of the 'Parable of the Medicinal Herbs Chapter', the beginnings of the two chapters 'Pūrṇa' and 'Dharma Teacher', the 'Devadatta Chapter', and the verses of the 'Universal Gateway Chapter'. Moreover, Kumārajīva moved the 'Entrustment' to before the 'Bhaiṣajyarāja', and in both texts the 'Dhāraṇī' was placed after the 'Universal Gateway'. The differences and agreements between them cannot be fully recounted. I note that the 'Devadatta' and the verses of the 'Universal Gateway Chapter' were subsequently brought forth by earlier worthies to supply the omissions and circulate them. Looking up with admiration to their remaining influence, taking them as a model and standard, in the xinyou year, the first year of the Renshou era of the great Sui, at the request of the śramaṇa Shangxing of Puyao Monastery, I together with the two Tripiṭaka masters Jñānagupta and Dharmagupta re-examined the Indian palm-leaf texts at Daxingshan Monastery. The beginnings of the two chapters 'Pūrṇa' and 'Dharma Teacher' were still missing in the collated text; the 'Parable of the Medicinal Herbs Chapter' was augmented by its half; the 'Devadatta' was incorporated into the 'Jeweled Stūpa Chapter'; the 'Dhāraṇī' was placed after 'Transcendental Powers'; and the 'Entrustment' again concluded at the very end. Where words and phrases differed, they were also corrected considerably. Should anyone open and examine it, may they not harbor doubts. Although the wondrous meanings of thousands of myriads of eons are difficult to exhaust, the authentic text of the twenty-seven chapters is now complete. May the Sanskrit expressions endowed with the four analytical knowledges spread across the realm of the Divine Continent, and may the secret teaching of the One Vehicle awaken the capacities of the semblance age. I have briefly recorded this translation and prefaced it thus.