傳法正宗記 9.71

9.71

The Jibin monk Narendrayaśas arrived at the capital city of Ye during the reign of Emperor Xiaojing of the Eastern Wei, devoting himself exclusively to translation. When the Gao clan replaced the Wei and declared [the Northern] Qi, Yaśas translated even more sūtras. Earlier, together with the retired scholar Wan Tianyi, he translated the Zunsheng pusa wuliangmen tuoluoni jing. Tianyi once asked Yaśas: 'Are there any great beings in the Western Regions who uphold this teaching?' Yaśas replied: 'The twenty-seven great beings among the patriarchs of the Western lands all upheld it as well. However, the twenty-seventh patriarch was named Prajñātāra, and his Dharma-inheriting disciple was called Dharmatrāta. Formerly, in the first year of Zhengguang under Emperor Ming of this [Northern Wei dynasty], he arrived here at Luoyang. This man was also well versed in this sūtra.' Wan Tianyi asked: 'Indeed, I have also heard that this great being held the patriarchal seat and transmitted the Buddha's true Dharma. I do not know, however, if there were any successors after him?' Yaśas then spoke a verse in response to Tianyi: / 'The [teaching of] Zunsheng now conceals the ancient; / It has no arms, yet it has arms. / Only when the dragon arrives are the jewels received; / Receiving the thing, he yet disdains the name.' / Tianyi asked again as before. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'At the beginning, he does not declare his name; / Wild like the wind, he yet makes a sound. / When people come, they take no pleasure in seeing him; / The white jewel is at first level and plain.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'Arising of itself, it seeks non-obstruction; / Transmitted by the master, I set the guideline. / On the road he meets a monk and bows; / Beneath his feet six branches arise.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'Three and four, gold without self; / Across the water he receives the lamp of the mind. / His honorable title surpasses all measures; / Though in vain they rage, he stirs no hatred.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'Receiving the thing, when was it ever received? / Speaking of diligence, yet not diligent. / Only writing a four-line verse, / To encourage the people of the auspicious field.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'Within the mind he can harbor things, / Speaking toward the shores of the Han River. / Reaching into the lake's waves for a moon, / It will shine upon two or three people.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas spoke another verse: / 'Receiving the precious and earnest words, / Departing his homeland, he spreads them day by day. / Rice and grain move to the nearby road; / The remaining reckoning is for the fellows of foot and sky.' / Tianyi asked again. Yaśas said: 'What was recorded before indicates that virtuous men of the state will be born between times; I will say no more about it. Yet as for the affairs after them, I will record them for you together in six verses.' The first reads: / 'In the Gen direction the profound intent is born; / Communicating with the honored, the flattering is also honored. / Shoulder to shoulder with the three times nine lineages; / Beneath their feet one village is divided.' / The second reads: / 'Numen gathered, ashamed before Heaven's grace; / Giving birth to fangs, two times six men. / Within the Dharma there is no flavor; / Upon the stone there is merit and accomplishment.' / The third reads: / 'Originally the son of a tiger, / Turning around, he makes the lion's roar. / The court bestows a title upon Feng Mountain; / Together considering the thirty-three.' / The fourth reads: / 'Nine daughters transcend human relations; / Eight individuals cut off marriage. / To the rotten couch six legs are added; / The mind-patriarch is honored among the crowd.' / The fifth reads: / 'Running Wu borders the tide; / The offspring of the crow takes his leave. / Though the two heavens have resonance; / The three transformations are tranquil, without dust.' / The sixth reads: / 'Speaking of few, when was it ever few? / Speaking of flow, yet it does not flow. / If the grass has its head removed, / Three and four cultivate in succession at the gate.' / He further said to Tianyi: 'Two hundred and eighty years after my parinirvāṇa, there will be a great king in this land who will govern his people well. Customs will be peaceful and happy. The sages and worthies recorded before will all appear in succession, greatly benefiting all living beings. Yet it is because one supreme master first opened the gate of nectar that matters will subsequently be like this.' Wan Tianyi then followed Yaśas in translating these prophetic verses. Yaśas also brought out his account concerning the twenty-seven patriarchs and the successor disciple of Prajñātāra, the twenty-eighth patriarch Bodhidharma, and verified it with Tianyi (the title given to the book at that time has been lost). Soon after, Yaśas wandered off alone to Mount Lu and passed into extinction in the mountains. Later, Emperor Jianwen of the Liang heard of this, and accordingly dispatched the envoy Liu Xianyuan to the Qi to obtain this book and return with it to the realm. He decreed that the monk Baochang should compile it into the Xu faji. (Emperor Jianwen of the Liang reigned for only a little over a year when the Qi was established before he died. Moreover, his demise occurred during the violent rebellion of a treacherous minister; did he have the leisure to seek out Dharma matters? Could it be that before this, through an embassy sent to the north, he had already obtained this book? Furthermore, the date when Baochang composed the Xu faji is not found, so I still doubt it. It is merely that the text was transmitted from the north to the south, and its transmission had an origin; I tentatively follow the old records and write it down.) Thus, from the Seven Buddhas down to the twenty-eighth patriarch Bodhidharma, it was translated by this Narendrayaśas. As for the monk Jiana of the Western Regions, it is unknown which country he was actually from, nor is it clear when he reached China. During the Tianbao era of the Tang, it happened that Li Chang, Governor of Henan, obtained the relics of the Third Patriarch, Great Master Can. He then assembled monks at his house and held a vegetarian banquet to dedicate them, and Jiana was among them. Li Chang thereupon asked Jiana: 'How many patriarchs are there in the Indian Chan lineage?' Jiana said: 'From Kāśyapa directly down to Prajñātāra, there are twenty-seven patriarchs. If one lists the collateral branch of the Venerable Siṃha, the twenty-two individuals over four generations from Dharmatrāta, there are forty-nine patriarchs in total. If counted from the Seven Buddhas down to this Great Master Can, not including the collateral branches, there are thirty-seven patriarchs.' Chang also asked the other monks at the gathering: 'I have often seen patriarch charts that cite more than fifty patriarchs, and as for their branch lineages, they vary greatly, their clans are unfixed, or they have only empty names. Why is this so?' It happened that a disciple of the Sixth Patriarch named Chan Master Zhiben replied: 'This was because during the Later Wei dynasty, the Buddha-Dharma was suppressed and destroyed. At that time, a monk named Tanyao, in the midst of the emergency, simply recorded the names of the various patriarchs, having no time to transcribe them completely. Holding them in his bosom, he fled into the mountains and marshes. By the time Emperor Wencheng of the Wei restored the teachings, thirty years had elapsed. When Emperor Xiaowen came to the throne, Tanyao was promoted to Controller of Monks. Soon after, he brought out these matters and gave them to the assembly of monks to edit, titling it the Fu fazang zhuan. The errors and omissions began with what Tanyao caused.' Later, Jiana's final end was not known.