廬山記 3.28

3.28

Buddhabhadra is translated into Chinese as Juexian (Awakened Worthy). His original surname was Śākya, and he was a native of Kapilavastu, a descendant of King Amṛtodana. Juexian lost his mother at the age of three and his father at the age of five, being raised by his maternal relatives. His grand-uncle Kumāravāri, hearing of his sharp intelligence, brought him back and ordained him as a śrāmaṇera. At the age of seventeen, together with several fellow students, he engaged in recitation as his practice; what others recited in a month, Xian recited in a single day. His master sighed and said, 'In a single day Xian matches thirty men.' When he received full ordination, he studied the scriptures extensively, thoroughly penetrating most of them. In his youth, he was renowned for dhyāna and vinaya. Together with his fellow society member Saṃghadatta, he traveled to the country of Jibin. Although Datta submitted to his talent and brilliance, he had not yet fathomed the man. Later, while sitting in dhyāna in a secret room, [Datta] suddenly saw Xian arrive. Startled, Datta asked his intention, and [Xian] replied, 'I briefly went to Tuṣita to pay homage to Maitreya.' Having spoken, he disappeared. Datta thereby realized his spiritual powers. Later, seeing even more of his spiritual transformations, he reverently inquired of him and only then learned that he had attained the fruit of a non-returner. Xian took pleasure in wandering to propagate and transform; he crossed the Onion Ranges, passed through six countries, boarded a ship from Jiaozhi, and traveled along the sea to Donglai Commandery in Qingzhou. Hearing that Kumārajīva was in Chang'an, he immediately went to follow him. Kumārajīva was overjoyed; together they elucidated profound tenets, Kumārajīva deferring to him in many matters. Later he came to Lushan; Master Yuan had long admired his reputation and they bonded like old friends at their first meeting. Behind the Incense Valley, [Xian] made a thatched hut to dwell in. From this time onward, Jiangdong first became immersed in the bliss of dhyāna. In the fourteenth year of the Yixi era of Emperor An, a śramaṇa had previously obtained the first section of thirty-six thousand gāthās of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in Khotan, which had not yet been translated. They thereupon invited the Master to DaChang Temple to act as the chief translator. Together with Meng Yi, the Governor of Wu Commandery, Chu Shudu, the General of the Right Guard, the śramaṇa Faye, and others, they established the text and meaning, harmonized Chinese and Sanskrit, and wonderfully captured the intent of the scripture. Along with treatises and sūtras translated earlier and later, such as the Guan fo sanmei hai jing, there were ninety-five works in one hundred and seventeen fascicles, all circulating in the world. In the sixth year of the Yuanjia era, he returned to stillness in Jianye at the age of seventy-one. Xian possessed three relics of Śākyamuni that he carried with him, and so he was buried on the northern ridge, where a stūpa was subsequently erected.