華嚴經傳記 1.9

1.9

Buddhabhadra of Daochangsi in the Jin capital: In Chinese, this translates to 'Enlightened Worthy' (Juexian). His original clan name was Śākya; he was a native of Kapilavastu and a descendant of King Amṛtodana. His grandfather, Dharmadeva—which translates as Fatian—once traveled through India and consequently settled there. His father was Dharmasūrya, which translates as Fari. Buddhabhadra lost his father at the age of three and his mother at eight, and was raised by his maternal relatives. His grandfather's cousin, Kumāri, heard of his intelligence and took pity on his orphaned youth, so he brought him back and ordained him as a novice (śrāmaṇera). By the age of seventeen, together with several fellow students, he took up recitation and study as his vocation. Where the others would labor for an entire month, Buddhabhadra could master the material in a single day. His master sighed in admiration, saying, 'In a single day, [Buddha]bhadra rivals thirty men!' When he received the full precepts, he applied himself diligently to his studies, learned extensively from the various sūtras, and attained a comprehensive mastery of most of them. In his youth he was renowned for meditation (dhyāna) and monastic discipline (vinaya). He lived and traveled for years together with his fellow student Saṃghadatta. Although Saṃghadatta admired his talents and virtue, he had not yet plumbed their depth. Later, while Saṃghadatta was sitting in meditation behind closed doors in a secret chamber, he suddenly saw Buddhabhadra enter. Startled, he asked where he had come from. [Buddhabhadra] replied, 'I briefly ascended to Tuṣita to pay homage to Maitreya.' As soon as he had spoken, he vanished. Only then did Saṃghadatta realize he was a holy sage. Afterward, he repeatedly witnessed Buddhabhadra's miraculous transformations, and through utmost sincerity came to know that he had attained the fruit of non-returning (anāgāmin). [Buddhabhadra] always wished to travel abroad to propagate the teachings and observe different customs. At that time, the Qin monk Zhiyan arrived in Jibin and inquired among the monastic assembly of that country as to who might be able to spread the transformation to the Eastern Lands. Everyone said, 'There is Buddhabhadra, originally born in the city of Nagarahāra in India. His clan has preserved its lineage for generations, following the study of the Way. He is intelligent and extensively learned, and his attainment and practice are hard to fathom. Leaving home in his childhood, he had already mastered the sūtras and treatises. He received instruction from the Great Meditation Master Buddhadeva (Fotuo Daxian).' Buddhadeva was also in Jibin at the time; hearing of Zhiyan's search, he told Zhiyan, 'The one who can uphold the monastic assembly and proclaim the meditation methods is Buddhabhadra.' After Zhiyan pleaded earnestly with great persistence, Buddhabhadra silently consented. Thereupon he took leave of his master, packed provisions, and headed east. Traveling for three years, he endured the full cycle of cold and heat. There were towering crags and dense shade, with continuous freezing temperatures for a thousand li. At clear dawn they traversed rugged and perilous ridges; when the hidden sun signaled dusk, they slept pillowed upon ice and snow. Over hanging ladders and suspended rock steps, they stepped sideways along cliffs; clinging to ropes and hanging cables, they looked up to reach cloud-covered peaks. Beyond the ice and snow, the hardships of the journey were manifold. When their provisions ran out en route, they shared individual grains to sustain their meals. Relying on holy protection, they barely managed to cross safely. Having crossed the Pamir Mountains (Congling), they passed through some six kingdoms. The kings of these kingdoms, honoring his mission to transform distant lands, all joyfully provided provisions and offerings. Reaching Jiaozhi, they boarded a merchant vessel and sailed along the coast. Passing beneath an island, Buddhabhadra pointed to a mountain and said, 'We may anchor here.' The shipmaster replied, 'A passenger values daylight, and favorable winds are hard to come by; we cannot stop.' Having traveled for more than two hundred li, they suddenly encountered a contrary wind that blew the ship back to the previous island. The mariners all realized his supernatural ability and treated him as their master, relying entirely on him for when to advance and when to halt. Later they met a favorable wind, and the other vessels all set sail. Buddhabhadra said, 'You must not move.' The shipmaster therefore stayed behind. Soon after, those who set sail first were all overturned and destroyed. Later, in the middle of the night, he suddenly ordered all the ships to set sail together, but none were willing to follow. Buddhabhadra himself arose, hauled up the cable, and departed alone on a single vessel. Shortly after, pirates arrived, and those who remained behind were all plundered and harmed. Next, he arrived at Donglai Commandery in Qingzhou. Hearing that Kumārajīva was in Chang'an, he set out joyfully to meet him, arriving in the fourth month of the tenth year of the Hongshi era of the Qin (408 CE). Kumārajīva was greatly delighted. Together they discussed the characteristics of phenomena (dharmalakṣaṇa) and brought out profound subtleties, leading to much awakening and insight. Thereupon [Buddhabhadra] said to Kumārajīva, 'Your explanations do not surpass ordinary conception, yet you have attained such a high reputation—why is that?' Kumārajīva replied, 'It is merely because of my advanced age; how could it be worthy of praise?' Whenever Kumārajīva had doubtful points, he would invariably discuss and resolve them with him. Monks such as Daocai, Tanchang, Sengrui, and Huiguan—six hundred persons in all—received meditation instructions together. What he taught was nothing other than the true essentials. In the more than four hundred years since the transmission of the bequeathed Dharma to the east, no deeper elucidation had ever matched this. In expressing principles and analyzing phenomena, he always sought the precise mean, never carelessly accommodating contemporary trends, nor seeking to best others in argument. What he had attained, he expounded clearly without omission; what he did not know, he left aside for the time being. The Qin Crown Prince Hong wished to hear Buddhabhadra preach the Dharma, so he summoned the monastic assembly to enter the Eastern Palace to engage in debate. Kumārajīva and Buddhabhadra exchanged arguments back and forth multiple times; these are too extensive to record here. The Qin ruler Yao Xing was wholeheartedly devoted to the Buddha-Dharma; more than three thousand monks were accommodated in the palace precincts, actively engaging in worldly affairs. Only Buddhabhadra maintained stillness, not conforming to the multitude. Later he told his disciples, 'Yesterday I saw five ships setting sail together from my homeland.' About a year later, foreign ships arrived, and upon inquiring, they turned out to be the five ships from India he had seen earlier. When the entire region heard of this, people competed to come and pay him homage and make offerings. Whatever was presented to him, he refused to accept. He carried his alms bowl to beg for food without discriminating between the noble and the humble. Once, together with his disciple Huiguan, he went begging for food in succession and arrived at the residence of Yuan Bao of Chen Commandery. Yuan Bao was usually lacking in respect and faith and treated them very poorly. Before [Buddhabhadra] was full, he prepared to take his leave. Yuan Bao said, 'You seem not to have had enough; please stay a little longer.' Buddhabhadra said, 'The patron's giving heart is limited, and so what you prepared is already exhausted.' Yuan Bao immediately called his attendants to add more rice, but the rice was indeed finished. Yuan Bao was deeply ashamed. Afterward, he asked Huiguan, 'What kind of man is this monk?' Huiguan said, 'The measure of his virtue is lofty and vast, beyond the fathoming of ordinary people.' Yuan Bao sighed in profound wonder. Buddhabhadra's deportment was plain and unadorned, differing from Chinese customs, yet his aspirations and spirit were pure and distant, possessing an elegant and profound tenor. The Dharma Master Sengbi wrote in a letter to the monk Baocai: 'The Meditation Master of the Douchang [Daochang] Monastery possesses a truly grand mind; he is truly a lord of India—what an extraordinary man of refined spirit!' By the fourteenth year of the Yixi era (418 CE), Meng Yi, the Governor of Wujun, and Chu Shudu, General of the Right Guards, invited Buddhabhadra to translate this sūtra. Holding the Sanskrit text in his hands, together with over a hundred monks including the monks Faye and Huiyan, he translated it at Daochangsi. They established the text's principles, reconciled the dialect, and marvelously captured the meaning of the sūtra; thus Daochangsi still has an Avataṃsaka Hall to this day. The propagation of this great teaching was indeed due to his efforts. When the sūtra was first being translated, two youths in green garments would regularly emerge from the pond in front of the hall, offering incense and flowers, which the entire assembly witnessed. There were also deities guarding them on both sides. Buddhabhadra passed away in the sixth year of the Yuanjia era (429 CE) at the age of seventy-one. With three fingers flexed on his hand, he clearly demonstrated that he had attained the fruit of anāgāmin.