華嚴經傳記 5.6

5.6

釋德圓。不知氏族。天水人也。少出家。常以華嚴為業。讀誦禪思。用為恒准。周遊講肆。妙該宗極。欽惟奧典。希展慇誠。遂修一淨園。樹諸穀楮。并種香草雜華。洗濯入園。溉灌香水。楮生三載。馥氣𣱦氳。別造淨屋。香泥壁地。潔檀淨器浴具新衣。匠人齊戒。易服入出。必盥𠻳熏香。剝楮取皮。浸以沈水。護淨造紙。畢歲方成。別築淨基。更造新室。乃至材梁椽瓦。竝濯以香湯。每事嚴潔。堂中安施文柏牙座。周布香華。上懸繒寶蓋。垂諸鈴珮。雜以流蘇白檀紫沈。以為經案。并充筆管。經生日受齋戒。香湯三浴。華冠淨服。狀類天人。將入經室。必夾路焚香。梵唄先引。圓亦形服嚴淨。執鑪恭導。散華供養。方乃書寫。圓跪運想。住目傾心。纔寫數行。每字皆放光明。照於一院。舉眾同見。莫不悲感。久之方歇。復感神人執戟現形警衛。圓與書生同見。餘人則不覩焉。又有青衣梵童子。無何而至。手執天華。忽申供養。前後靈感。雜沓相仍。迄經二歲。書寫方畢。盛以香函。置諸寶帳。安彼淨堂。每申頂謁。後因轉讀。函發異光。至於潔敬。事絕今古。若茲徵瑞蓋亦罕儔。此經遽相付授。至今五師。後人入淨轉讀。時有靈應。今在西大原寺僧賢首處。守護供養焉。

Śramaṇa Deyuan: his clan is unknown; he was a native of Tianshui. Having gone forth into homelessness in his youth, he constantly took the Avataṃsaka as his vocation, making reading, recitation, and dhyāna-contemplation his constant standard. He traveled widely among lecturing halls, subtly comprehending the ultimate tenets. Revering this profound scripture, he longed to unfold his sincere devotion. Thereupon he cultivated a pure garden, planting paper-mulberry trees along with aromatic herbs and various flowers. To enter the garden he first washed, and he watered the plants with fragrant water. When the paper-mulberry had grown for three years, their sweet perfume was densely suffused. He constructed a separate pure room, plastering the walls and floor with scented mud, and prepared pure sandalwood, immaculate vessels, bathing gear, and new garments. The craftsmen observed the fast, changing their clothes when entering or leaving, always rinsing their mouths and perfuming themselves with incense. They peeled the paper-mulberry to harvest the bark, steeped it in agarwood water, and guarded the purity while making the paper, completing it only when a full year had passed. He then raised a separate pure terrace and built another new chamber upon it; even the timber, beams, rafters, and tiles were all washed with fragrant decoctions, every matter being severe and clean. In the hall he placed an ivory seat of patterned cypress, arrayed all around with fragrant flowers. Above, he suspended a silken jeweled canopy hanging with bells and pendants, mingled with tassels of white sandalwood and purple agarwood, which served as desks for the scripture and as brush handles. Each day the scribes received the fasting precepts, bathed three times in fragrant decoctions, and wore floral crowns and pure robes, resembling celestials in appearance. Whenever about to enter the scripture chamber, incense was always burned along the flanking path, led in advance by Sanskrit chanting. Deyuan likewise, his person and attire austere and pure, respectfully guided them holding an incense burner, scattering flowers in offering, and only then was the copying begun. Deyuan knelt in contemplative concentration, fixing his gaze and devoting his mind. When only a few lines had been written, every single character gave off bright light, illuminating the entire cloister. The whole assembly saw it together, and there was none who was not moved to tears. Only after a long while did it cease. Furthermore, he moved a divine being brandishing a halberd to manifest in form and stand guard. Deyuan and the scribes saw it together, while other people did not perceive it. There was also a blue-clad youth of pure conduct who arrived out of nowhere, holding celestial flowers in his hands, suddenly offering them in veneration. Such spiritual inspirations, before and after, followed one another in close succession. Only after two years had passed was the copying finally completed. He contained it in a fragrant casket, set it within a jeweled curtain, placed it in that pure hall, and constantly rendered head-bowing veneration. Later, on an occasion when it was chanted, the casket emitted an extraordinary light. As for such cleanliness and veneration, it surpassed past and present; such omens of auspicious response were indeed rarely matched. This scripture was successively transmitted, down to the present day through five masters. When later people entered purity to chant it, there were occasional spiritual responses. It is now kept in the quarters of the monk Xianshou at the Western Dayuansi, where it is guarded and venerated.