廬山記 3.26

3.26

佛馱耶舍此云覺明。罽賓國大婆羅門種也。年十三。隨師游於曠野。與虎相遇。師欲避之。耶舍曰。此虎已飽。必不食人。俄而虎去。中道果見餘食。師密異之。年十五。誦大乘經百萬言。猶為沙彌。乃學五明論。世間法術多所練習。然性簡傲。謂少堪己師。年二十七。方受具戒。讀誦手常不釋卷。每端坐思義。猶以虛度日景為歎。其專精如此。在沙勒與羅什甚相尊敬。後入龜茲。法化甚盛。時羅什已為呂光所執。什在姑臧。遣信要之。耶舍欲從之。恐為國人所留。乃取清水一鉢。以藥投中。呪數十言。與弟子洗足。即便夜發。比旦行數百里。國人追之不及。問弟子曰。何所覺耶。曰唯聞疾風之響。而眼有淚耳。耶舍又為呪水洗足乃止。達姑臧。什公已入長安。乃請姚興迎之。別立新省於逍遙園。與什對譯十住婆娑等論。耶舍髭赤。時人號為赤髭論主。前後贈遺四事供養並不受。時至分衛。一食而已。衣鉢臥具滿屋三間。不以關心。姚興為貨之。城南造寺。耶舍先誦曇無德律。興疑其謬。乃試令誦羌籍藥方。可五萬言。經二日。執文覆之。不誤一字。眾伏其強記。弘始中譯出四分律為秦言。晉義熙八年壬子。入廬山。為遠公預社之客。後辭還本國。自罽賓以虛空藏經一卷附賈客。至于涼州。莫知所終。

Buddhayaśas is translated here as Jueming (Awakened Illumination). He was of the great brāhmaṇa caste in the country of Jibin. At the age of thirteen, while traveling in the wilderness with his teacher, they encountered a tiger. The teacher wished to avoid it, but Yaśas said, 'This tiger is already full; it will certainly not eat people.' Shortly afterward, the tiger left, and on their path they indeed saw leftover food; his teacher secretly regarded him as extraordinary. At the age of fifteen, he recited one million words of Mahāyāna scriptures; while still a śrāmaṇera, he studied the treatises of the five sciences and became well-practiced in many worldly arts. However, by nature he was proud and aloof, considering few worthy of being his teacher. Only at the age of twenty-seven did he receive full ordination. In reading and reciting, a scroll was never out of his hands; whenever he sat upright contemplating doctrine, he would still lament wasting the daylight. Such was his focused diligence. In Kashgar, he and Kumārajīva respected each other greatly. Later he entered Kucha, where his propagation of the Dharma flourished. At that time, Kumārajīva had already been detained by Lü Guang. While in Guzang, Kumārajīva sent a message inviting him. Yaśas wished to follow it, but feared that the people of the country would detain him. He thereupon took a bowl of clear water, cast medicine into it, incanted several dozen words, and washed his disciples' feet with it. They then set out by night; by dawn they had traveled several hundred li, so that the countrymen could not overtake them. He asked his disciples, 'What did you feel?' They replied, 'We only heard the sound of rushing wind, and our eyes were watering.' Yaśas again incanted water to wash their feet, and it ceased. Upon reaching Guzang, Master Kumārajīva had already entered Chang'an, so he requested Yao Xing to welcome [Yaśas]. [Yao Xing] separately established a new quarters in the Xiaoyao Garden, where [Yaśas] worked with Kumārajīva to translate treatises such as the Daśabhūmikavibhāṣā. Yaśas had a red beard, so the people of the time called him the Red-Bearded Master of Treatises. From first to last, he accepted none of the offerings of the four requisites presented to him. When the time came, he went on almsround, eating only one meal. Robes, bowls, and bedding filled three rooms, yet none concerned his mind. Yao Xing sold them on his behalf and built a temple south of the city. Yaśas previously recited the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya; Xing suspected there might be errors, so he tested him by having him recite Qiang medical prescriptions, amounting to some fifty thousand words. After two days, they held the text and checked it against his recitation; not a single word was mistaken. The assembly submitted to his formidable memory. During the Hongshi era, he translated the Four-Part Vinaya into the Qin language. In the eighth year of the Yixi era of the Jin, the renzi year, he entered Lushan and became a guest participating in Master Yuan's society. Later he took his leave to return to his native country. From Jibin, he entrusted one fascicle of the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra to a merchant to be sent to Liangzhou. It is not known where he ended his life.