[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [華嚴經傳記](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073) › 2.5 # 華嚴經傳記 2.5 華嚴經傳記 2.5 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2.5) 求那跋陀羅。此云功德賢。中天竺人。以大乘學故。世號摩訶衍。本婆羅門種。初學五明諸論。天文書𥫫醫方呪術。靡不該博。後遇見阿毘曇雜心。尋讀驚悟。深崇佛法焉則投簪落飾。專精志學。及受具戒。博通三藏。須之辭小乘師。進學大乘師。大乘師試令探取經匣。即得華嚴。師喜而歎曰。汝於大乘有重緣矣。於是讀誦講宣。莫能酬抗。進受菩薩戒法。既而有緣東方。乃隨舶泛海。中途遇難。遂力念十方佛。稱觀世音。一舶蒙濟。其誠感如此。元嘉十二年至廣州。刺史車朗表聞。宋太祖遣信。迎接既至京。勅名僧慧嚴慧觀。於新亭郊勞。見其神情朗徹。莫不虔仰。雖因譯交言。而欣若傾蓋。初住祇洹寺。俄而太祖延請。深加崇重。琅耶顏延之通才碩學。束帶造門。於是京師遠近。冠蓋相望。大將軍彭城王義康丞相南譙王義宣。竝師事焉。須之眾僧共請出經。於祇洹寺東安寺丹陽郡等諸處。集義學沙門七百餘人。前後所出凡百餘卷。譙王欲請講華嚴經。而跋陀自忖。未善宋言。有懷愧歎。則旦夕禮懺。請觀世音。乞求冥應。遂夢有人。白服持劍。擎一人首。來至其前曰。何故憂耶。跋陀具以事對答曰。無所多憂。即以劍易首。更安新頭。語令迴轉曰。得無痛耶。答曰。不痛。豁然便覺。心神喜悅。則備領宋言。於是遠近道俗。服其精感。請令就講。遂講華嚴。數十餘遍。元嘉末。譙王屢有怖怪夢。跋陀答曰。京師將有搰亂。未及一年。元凶搆逆。至若丞相陰謀。預陳三諫之略。世祖遙望。懸知一怪之言。策杖江中。神童忽至。焚香樓下。山鬼自移登御座。而齊尊。居釣臺而拯物。若斯感德。未暇詳舉。而自幼已來。恒執香爐。未甞輟手。每食輟分施飛鳥。鳥或馴之。集手而食。到太始四年正月。覺體不悆。便與太宗及公卿等告別。臨終之日。延佇而望云。見天華聖像。隅中遂卒。春秋七十有五。太宗深加痛惜慰贈甚厚。公卿會葬。勞哀備焉。 > Guṇabhadra—here translated as "Virtue-Auspicious"—was a native of Central India. Because of his study of the Mahāyāna, the world called him Mahāyāna. He was originally of Brahmin lineage. At first he studied the treatises of the five sciences, and in celestial texts, arithmetic, medical prescriptions, and incantations, there was nothing he did not master widely. Later, happening upon the Abhidharma-saṃyuktatattva\[-hṛdaya-śāstra\], he read it and was startled into awakening, coming to revere the Buddha-Dharma deeply; he then cast away his hairpin, removed his ornaments, and devoted himself with single-minded diligence to study. Upon receiving full ordination, he became broadly versed in the Tripiṭaka. After a while, taking leave of his Hīnayāna master, he went to study under a Mahāyāna master. The Mahāyāna master tested him by having him draw a sūtra box at random, and he drew the Avataṃsaka. The master rejoiced and praised him, saying, "You have profound affinities with the Mahāyāna!" Thereupon he chanted and expounded it, and none could match or challenge him. Advancing further, he received the bodhisattva precepts. Soon, having karmic connections with the East, he boarded a ship and sailed the ocean. Encountering peril halfway, he vigorously recollected the Buddhas of the ten directions and recited Avalokiteśvara's name; the entire ship was saved. Such was his sincere resonance. In the twelfth year of the Yuanjia reign, he arrived in Guangzhou. The regional inspector Che Lang presented a memorial to the throne, and Emperor Taizu of the Song dispatched messengers to welcome him. Once he arrived in the capital, the emperor ordered the eminent monks Huiyan and Huiguan to hold a reception in the suburbs at Xinting. Seeing that his spiritual bearing was bright and penetrating, there was none who did not venerate him. Although they communicated through translation, they were as joyful as old friends meeting by chance. At first he resided at Jetavana Monastery (Qihuansi). Soon Taizu invited him and treated him with profound esteem. Yan Yanzhi of Langya, a man of versatile genius and vast learning, adjusted his sash and came to his gate. Thereupon, from near and far in the capital, carriage caps looked upon one another in procession. The General-in-Chief, King Yikang of Pengcheng, and the Prime Minister, King Yixuan of Nanjiao, both served him as their master. After a while, the assembly of monks jointly requested him to produce sūtras. At Jetavana Monastery, Dong'ansi, Danyang Commandery, and other places, more than seven hundred śramaṇas of doctrinal study were assembled; what was produced before and after totaled over one hundred fascicles. King Jiao wished to invite him to lecture on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, but Bhadra reflected that his Chinese was not yet skilled, harboring shame and regret. Thus, morning and evening he performed repentances, prayed to Avalokiteśvara, and pleaded for a hidden response. Then he dreamed of a man dressed in white carrying a sword and holding a person's head, who came before him and said, "Why do you worry?" Bhadra replied by detailing the matter, and \[the man\] said, "No need to worry so much." He immediately exchanged heads using the sword and mounted a new head, telling him to turn it around and asking, "Does it hurt?" He replied, "It does not hurt." He suddenly woke up with a joyful mind, and had fully mastered the Chinese language. Thereupon, monastics and laypeople far and wide submitted to his spiritual resonance and requested him to give lectures; he subsequently lectured on the Avataṃsaka dozens of times. At the end of the Yuanjia era, King Jiao repeatedly had frightening and strange dreams. Bhadra answered, "There will soon be turmoil in the capital." In less than a year, the prime malefactor plotted rebellion. As for the Prime Minister's secret plot, \[Bhadra\] presented in advance the outline of three remonstrances. When Shizu gazed from afar, \[Bhadra\] foreknew the talk of a single strange portent. Planting his staff in the river, a divine boy suddenly arrived; burning incense beneath the tower, the mountain ghost departed of itself. Ascending the imperial seat, he was treated with equal honor; staying at the fishing terrace, he rescued living beings. Such moving virtues cannot be recounted in detail here. From his youth onward, he constantly held an incense burner, never letting it leave his hand. At every meal he set aside a portion to feed flying birds, and the birds became so tame that they would gather on his hand to feed. Coming to the first month of the fourth year of the Taishi reign, feeling unwell in his body, he bid farewell to Taizong, the ministers, and lords. On the day of his passing, he stood waiting and gazed afar, saying he saw heavenly flowers and holy images. At midday he passed away. His age was seventy-five. Taizong deeply grieved and conferred lavish posthumous gifts. The lords and ministers gathered for the funeral, with all labor and mourning fully paid. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2.4) - [Next: 2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2.6) - [Up: 2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073~en-mt.2.5) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (2) - [貞元新定釋教目錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.7.28.7) — 圓照, Classical Chinese - [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.16) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2073.2.5) · Pramāṇa