[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [北山錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113) › 9.2.2 # 北山錄 9.2.2 北山錄 9.2.2 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [9.2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2.2) 此下並解釋之者）上古造釋眾矣。 於中妙者有十八千頌。 演其經本（演上四經也）是闍耶昳底大學士所造。 其人當此國之初矣（武德貞觀間也）凡造西土不習此者。 於其所學徒然哉。 其有苾栗底蘇呾囉議釋二十四千頌。 是學士鉢顛杜攞所造。 斯乃重顯前經（解前正經也）又有呵利伐㨖論二十五千頌。 廣敘人事聲明諸家興廢（若今書史）即以其人為論目也。 凡此諸書在異域。 法俗通學。 始為有知矣（異域西國也）彼方論師。 前則龍猛．提婆．馬鳴（猛即龍樹也。 南印度梵志。 造智論十萬偈。 提婆者南印度人。 才超倫輩。 一國有大自在天金鑄高二丈。 以頗黎為目。 提婆鑿之。 夢神索眼。 以手出眼還之。 遂闕一目。 師龍猛出家。 為外道所殺。 馬鳴者師脇尊者。 本外道也。 為月氏王說法。 馬垂淚悲鳴。 又云。 生時諸馬盡鳴故名也）中則無著．天親（北印度人。 佛滅九百年間出世）僧賢．清辯（僧賢。 亦云眾賢。 清辯造掌珍論。 以芥子擊脩羅窟。 待彌勒出問義也）近則陳那．護法．法稱．戒賢．師子月．安慧．慧護．德光（戒賢。 唐三藏往西國猶見之也）靡不具茲內外之典也。 馬鳴大士撰蘇遠拏太子歌詞（太子好施捨男女等事）并本行詩（序佛成道等事。 并佛所行讚。 今在藏內也）龍樹以詩代書。 寄南天竺國婆多婆漢那。 彼方之人。 咸皆誦詠（若此方文選等也）以為華而典也。 其有摩呾哩制咤。 承佛先記。 廣興讚詠。 初造四百頌。 次造一百五十頌。 無著世親西土修詞者。 莫不鑽仰祖習為美焉（論語云。 鑽之彌堅。 仰之彌高也。 祖習師承也。 祖宗也。 習學也）其身毒以婆羅門為上。 不齒餘三姓（婆羅門。 本梵天苗裔。 德尊也。 剎帝利。 但貴爾故皆不及也）故有四圍陀書。 可十萬偈（一云阿由。 此云方命。 謂醫方等。 二云殊夜。 謂祭祀。 書也。 三婆麼。 謂禮儀十相音樂戰法諸事等也。 四阿達婆。 謂呪術等。 皆梵天所說也）咸悉口相傳授。 不書皮貝（七歲就師口誦學之。 學成為國之師也）彼國相承云。 有學聰明法。 一謂覆審生智（謂推求道理。 審覆義味也）二顯字母（從字生字。 從聲生聲也）安神旬月之內思若湧泉。 計無此法則無以誦群言如激箭也。 昔者佛陀耶舍求那跋摩則其人也。 初耶舍至于秦。 將事翻譯。 秦人試之。 授以差籍藥方及諸書。 於三日誦畢。 求那所誦凡百餘萬言。 諸來三藏罕有不至此者。 華夏自燧人氏仰觀斗極。 以定方名（伏犧□□民之純鈍。 但識其母。 不識其父。 只知蔽前。 不知蔽後。 飢則求食。 飽則棄餘。 太昊伏而化之。 故曰伏犧仰觀天文。 俯察地理。 以辨方物也）庖犧用之而畫八卦造書契。 至若三墳五典八索九丘。 皆古之遺書（三墳三皇之書。 五典五帝之書。 八索八卦之書。 九丘九州之志）如楚倚氏之所讀者也（楚靈王時。 左史倚相能讀三墳五典八索九丘也）洎仲尼。 刪詩定禮樂。 贊易道修春秋。 振崩壞之俗（周自幽厲之後。 東遷洛邑。 諸侯專征禮樂崩壞。 魯哀公十一年。 夫子自衛反魯。 十四年獲麟。 遂修春秋。 刪詩。 定禮。 正崩瓌之俗）故有六經焉（春秋。 禮記。 周易。 尚書。 毛詩。 樂章）故孔子曰。 溫柔敦厚詩教也（不學詩無以言）疏通知遠書教也（正王言之道）廣博易良樂教也（和民之情）潔淨精微易教也（窮理盡性）恭儉莊敬禮教也（安上治民）屬辭比事春秋教也（正褒貶之道事類相近也）左氏國語（左丘明以春秋事義未盡。 置國語以互見也）馬遷史記（司馬遷得罪囚蠶室因修史記。 以至漢武時凡一百三十卷）漢魏以後。 皆有書誌（班固前漢書一百二十卷。 司馬彪後漢書八十卷。 陳壽三國志等。 > \[All\] from here on are commentaries on them.) In high antiquity, many composed commentaries. Among them, the most excellent has eighteen thousand verses, which expounds their primary texts (it expounds the four treatises mentioned above). It was composed by the great scholar Jayāditya. That man was contemporary with the beginning of our dynasty (during the Wude and Zhenguan eras). All who travel to the Western lands without studying this find their study in vain. Then there is the commentary on the \*Vṛttisūtra\* in twenty-four thousand verses, composed by the scholar Patañjali. This further clarifies the earlier treatise (it explains the earlier root treatise). There is also the \*Haricarita\* treatise in twenty-five thousand verses, which broadly recounts human affairs and the rise and fall of the various schools of grammar (like our histories today), taking its author's name as the title of the treatise. All these books are in the foreign land; both monastics and laity study them thoroughly before they are considered knowledgeable (the foreign land is the Western countries). As for the treatise masters of that region, in the early period there were Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, and Aśvaghoṣa (Nāgārjuna is Longshu; a South Indian brāhmaṇa, he composed the \*Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa\* in one hundred thousand verses. Āryadeva was a native of South India whose talents surpassed his peers. In a certain kingdom there was a golden statue of Maheśvara twenty feet high with crystal eyes; Āryadeva gouged them out, and in a dream the deity demanded his eye, so he gouged out his own eye with his hand and returned it, thus lacking one eye; he became a monk under Nāgārjuna and was killed by a non-Buddhist. Aśvaghoṣa had the Venerable Pārśva as his master; originally a non-Buddhist, he expounded the Dharma for the Yuezhi king, and the horses shed tears and neighed sorrowfully; another version says that when he was born, all the horses whinnied, hence his name). In the middle period, there were Asaṅga, Vasubandhu (natives of North India, who appeared nine hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa), Saṅghabhadra, and Bhāviveka (Saṅghabhadra is also called Zhongxian. Bhāviveka composed the \*Karatalaratna\*, and struck an asura cave with mustard seeds, awaiting the appearance of Maitreya to question him on the doctrine). In the recent period, there were Dignāga, Dharmapāla, Dharmakīrti, Śīlabhadra, Siṃhacandra, Sthiramati, Prajñāpāla, and Guṇaprabha (as for Śīlabhadra, the Tang Tripiṭaka master \[Xuanzang\] still met him when he went to the Western countries). None of them did not possess these inner and outer scriptures. The Great Being Aśvaghoṣa composed the song-lyrics on Prince Suvarṇa (the prince's fondness for giving away boys, girls, and so forth), along with the \*Buddhacarita\* poem (recounting the Buddha's attainment of awakening and other matters; together with the \*Buddhacarita-kāvya\*, it is now in the canon). Nāgārjuna sent a letter in the form of a poem to King Sātavāhana of South India. The people of that region all recite and chant it (like the \*Wen xuan\* in this land), regarding it as both ornate and classical. There was also Mātṛceṭa, who, receiving the Buddha's prior prediction, broadly composed praises and hymns, first composing the four hundred verses, and next composing the one hundred and fifty verses. Among those who practiced rhetoric in the Western lands, such as Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, none did not drill into, look up to, and follow their tradition as exemplary (the \*Analects\* says, 'The more I drill into it, the harder it becomes; the more I look up to it, the higher it seems.' Following the tradition means receiving it from masters; 'ancestor' means origin, and 'tradition' means study). In Shendu, they regard the brāhmaṇas as the highest and refuse to associate with the other three castes (the brāhmaṇas were originally descendants of Brahmā, their virtue held in honour; the kṣatriyas are merely noble, and hence none match them). Therefore they have the four Veda books, comprising about one hundred thousand verses (the first is called Āyurveda, here rendered 'Formulas for Life', referring to medicine and formulas; the second is called Yajurveda, referring to sacrifice and scriptures; the third is Sāmaveda, referring to rituals, the ten signs, music, martial arts, and such matters; the fourth is Atharvaveda, referring to incantations and such; all were spoken by Brahmā). They are entirely transmitted by mouth and not written on palm leaves or birch bark (at seven years old one attends a master to study by oral recitation; when one's study is complete, one becomes a master of the state). In that country, it is traditionally said that there are methods for acquiring intelligence: the first is called 'generating wisdom through careful review' (meaning to infer and seek principles, and carefully examine meanings and tastes); the second is 'revealing the alphabet' (from letters generate letters, from sounds generate sounds). Focusing the mind within a decade of days or a month, their thoughts gush forth like a spring; presumably, without these methods, they would have no way to recite numerous texts as swift as an arrow. Formerly, Buddhayaśas and Guṇavarman were such men. At first, when Yaśas arrived in Qin and was about to engage in translation, the people of Qin tested him, handing him registers of corvée labour, medical formulas, and various books; he finished reciting them all within three days. What Guṇa recited amounted to more than a million words. Among the Tripiṭaka masters who came, rare were those who did not attain this standard. In Huaxia, from the time of Suirenshi, who looked up to observe the Northern Dipper to fix the names of directions (Fuxi \[…\] the people were pure and dull; they only knew their mothers and did not know their fathers; they only knew how to cover their front and did not know how to cover their back; when hungry they sought food, when sated they cast aside the leftovers. Taihao subdued and transformed them, hence he was called Fuxi; he looked up to observe the heavenly patterns and looked down to examine the geography, so as to discern the regional products), Paoxi used this to draw the eight trigrams and create written tallies. As for the \*Three Graves\*, the \*Five Canons\*, the \*Eight Cords\*, and the \*Nine Hills\*, all are surviving books of antiquity (the \*Three Graves\* are the books of the Three Sovereigns; the \*Five Canons\* are the books of the Five Thearchs; the \*Eight Cords\* are the books of the eight trigrams; the \*Nine Hills\* are the gazetteers of the Nine Provinces), such as were read by Yixiang of Chu (in the time of King Ling of Chu, the scribe of the left, Yixiang, was able to read the \*Three Graves\*, the \*Five Canons\*, the \*Eight Cords\*, and the \*Nine Hills\*). Coming down to Zhongni, he edited the \*Odes\* and settled the rites and music, elucidated the Way of the \*Changes\* and compiled the \*Spring and Autumn Annals\*, revitalising decaying customs (from King You and King Li of the Zhou onward, the capital was moved east to Luoyi; the feudal lords led expeditions on their own authority, and the rites and music collapsed. In the eleventh year of Duke Ai of Lu, the Master returned to Lu from Wei; in the fourteenth year, a qilin was captured, whereupon he compiled the \*Spring and Autumn Annals\*, edited the \*Odes\*, settled the rites, and rectified the collapsing customs). Thus there are the Six Classics (the \*Spring and Autumn Annals\*, the \*Book of Rites\*, the \*Zhou Changes\*, the \*Book of Documents\*, the \*Mao Odes\*, and the \*Music\*). Therefore Confucius said: 'Gentle, kind, generous, and sincere is the teaching of the \*Odes\* (without studying the \*Odes\*, one has no means of speaking); broad-minded, discerning, far-sighted, and profound is the teaching of the \*Documents\* (rectifying the way of the king's words); broad, extensive, easy, and good is the teaching of the \*Music\* (harmonising the feelings of the people); pure, clean, refined, and subtle is the teaching of the \*Changes\* (fathoming principles and exhausting natures); respectful, frugal, dignified, and reverent is the teaching of the \*Rites\* (securing superiors and governing the people); choosing words and comparing events is the teaching of the \*Spring and Autumn Annals\*' (rectifying the way of praise and blame, and categorising similar affairs). \[Then there are\] Zuo's \*Discourses of the States\* (Zuo Qiuming, considering that the events and meanings of the \*Spring and Autumn Annals\* were incomplete, compiled the \*Discourses of the States\* to provide mutual reference), Sima Qian's \*Records of the Grand Historian\* (Sima Qian was punished and confined to the silkworm chamber, where he compiled the \*Records of the Grand Historian\*, reaching down to Emperor Wu of Han, in one hundred and thirty fascicles in all). From the Han and Wei onward, all have had histories and treatises (Ban Gu's \*History of the Former Han\* in one hundred and twenty fascicles; Sima Biao's \*History of the Later Han\* in eighty fascicles; Chen Shou's \*Records of the Three Kingdoms\*, and so forth). > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 9.2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2.1) - [Next: 9.2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2.3) - [Up: 9.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113~en-mt.9.2.2) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2113.9.2.2) · Pramāṇa