法華傳記 9.30

9.30

釋僧朗一名法朗。俗姓許氏南陽人也。年二十餘。欣欲出家。尋預剃落。栖止無定。多住鄂州。形貌與世而殊有奇相。飲噉同俗為時共輕。常養一猴一犬。其狀偉大。皆黃赤色。不狎餘人。惟附於朗。日夕相隨。未曾捨離。若至食時。以木盂受食。朗噉飽已餘者。用餧同器。食訖猴便取盂戴之。騎犬背上。先朗而行。人有奪者。輒為所昨朗任犬盤遊。略無常度。陳末隋初。行於江嶺之表。章服麁蔽威儀越序。杖策徒行。護養生命。時復讀誦諸經。偏以法華為志。素乏聲哢清靡不豐。乃潔誓誦之一坐七遍。如是不久。聲如雷動。知福力之可階也。其誦必以七數為期。乃至七十七百七千逮于七萬。聲韻諧暢任縱而起其類。箏笛隨發明了。故所誦經。時旁人觀者視聽皆失。朗[辰/目]吻不動。而囀起咽喉。遠近亮澈。因以著名。然臂脚及手。申縮任懷有。若龜藏時同肉聚。或往酒席同諸醼飲。而嚼㗱猪肉。不測其來。故世語曰。法華朗五處俱時縮猪肉滿口顙。或復巡江洄泝拱手。舟中猴犬在旁。都無艤棹。隨意所往。雖淩犯風波。眴息之間。便達所在。後猴犬死。有人夢。猴犬是朗宿世朋友。聞法華故。捨壽生天。畜生尚狎持經者。聞誦經聲生天。況人乎。

Śramaṇa Senglang, also named Falang, had the secular surname of Xu and was a native of Nanyang. When he was twenty-odd years old, he rejoiced in the desire to leave home, and soon received tonsure. He had no fixed dwelling, mostly residing in Ezhou. His appearance was extraordinary and distinct from the worldly, possessing wondrous signs. His eating and drinking were like those of common folk, and he was despised by the contemporaries. He constantly kept a monkey and a hound, both large in stature and of a yellowish-red color. They were not intimate with other people, but adhered only to Lang, following him morning and evening without ever parting. When it was time to eat, he received food in a wooden bowl; after Lang ate his fill, the remainder was fed to them from the same vessel. When the meal was finished, the monkey would take the bowl and wear it on its head, ride on the hound's back, and walk ahead of Lang. If anyone attempted to snatch it, they were invariably bitten by the animals. Lang let the hound wander at will, with scarcely any fixed routine. In the late Chen and early Sui dynasties, he traveled south of the Jiang and the ridges. His robes were coarse and tattered, his deportment went beyond the conventional rules, and he traveled on foot with a staff, protecting and nurturing living beings. From time to time he read and chanted various sūtras, but devoted his resolve especially to the Lotus Sūtra. He had originally lacked vocal resonance, his voice being faint, low, and not abundant. He then made a pure vow to recite it seven times in a single sitting. Before long, his voice moved like thunder, revealing that the power of merit can indeed be scaled. His recitations were always marked by cycles of seven, up to seventy, seven hundred, seven thousand, and even seventy thousand. The tones and rhythm were harmonious and flowing, rising unrestrained like the sound of zithers and flutes resonating clearly. Therefore, when he recited the sūtra, onlookers and listeners beside him would lose all track of seeing and hearing. Lang did not move his lips, yet warbled from his throat, echoing clearly near and far; because of this, he became famous. Furthermore, his arms, legs, and hands could extend and contract at will, like a turtle retracting its limbs, at times resembling a lump of meat. Sometimes he went to banquets and drank with others, chewing on pork, none knowing where it came from. Therefore the world had a saying: "Lotus Lang contracts in five places at once, his mouth and throat full of pork." Or again, he would travel along the river, upstream and downstream with hands folded, the monkey and hound beside him in the boat, without any oars or paddles, going wherever he pleased; though encountering winds and waves, in the blink of an eye he would reach his destination. Later, the monkey and the hound died. Someone dreamed that the monkey and the hound were Lang's friends from a past life; because of hearing the Lotus Sūtra, they relinquished their lives and were born in heaven. If beasts can still be intimate with an upholder of the sūtra and be born in heaven through hearing the sound of sūtra recitation, how much more so for human beings?