[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) › [鐔津文集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115) › 8.9 # 鐔津文集 8.9 鐔津文集 8.9 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [8.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8.9) 吾年十九時。往吾邑之寧風鄉。至于姚道姑之舍。道姑異婦人也。其舍在山巾。留且數日。遂聞其舍之山脅有聲發于陂池之間。舂然若振大鐘。如此數聲吾初怪之。顧此非有鐘可聲。頃之遂以問道姑。道姑肅然作而曰。異乎此龍吟也。聞此者大瑞。子後必好。道姑處子時。嘗取水溪中。身感龍漦。及人禮之夕龍光發于房。女子即亡。亡而還。不復樂其家居。鄉人神之。遂為結精廬處之山中。然姚女自少獨守精潔齋戒。初頗逆道人間吉凶。其事輒驗。及吾見時已老。年六十餘。氣貌泠然不復道人吉凶。楮冠布服栖高樓專誦佛經。雖數萬言日夜必數帙（妙法華經）遇物慈善。故其鄉人靡然相化。吾嘗問其何所以授經。曰嫗少時每有神僧。乘虛而來教嫗耳。吾故以其所謂龍吟者不妄也。吾讀書視古人如是者多矣。有若房琯薛令之賤時栖山。皆謂曾聞龍吟。其後房果為宰相。薛至太子侍讀。此其所聞之驗也。嗟乎余雖不埒於二公。然而遵道行已。豈負於聖賢而卒以弘法為庸人誣陷遂示醜於天下。何其所聞未異而所驗不同邪。姚氏之謂可疑也。吾意夫龍者君之象也。豈今天下治平盛乎聲名文物。以遭其時得以而歌之。此其驗也。不然神龍亦有妄以聞乎（有本云龍亦有妄鳴乎）。 > When I was nineteen years old, I went to Ningfeng Township in my home county and arrived at the dwelling of Daoist Nun Yao. The Daoist nun was an extraordinary woman. Her dwelling was situated on the mountain ridge, and I stayed there for several days. Then I heard a sound from the flank of the mountain by her dwelling, emanating from between the ponds, pounding like the striking of a great bell. There were several such sounds, and at first I found it strange; looking about, there was no bell that could produce sound. Soon after, I asked the Daoist nun about it. The Daoist nun solemnly rose and said: “How marvelous! This is a dragon's roar. Hearing this is a great auspicious sign; you will surely fare well in the future.” When the Daoist nun was a maiden, she once fetched water from a stream and her body was affected by dragon saliva. On the night she was to be betrothed to a man, a dragon light issued from her room; the maiden vanished immediately. Having vanished and returned, she no longer took joy in family life. The villagers considered her divine, and so built a retreat for her to dwell in the mountains. Yet from her youth Maiden Yao kept to pure asceticism and fasting alone. At first, she foretold the good and bad fortunes of the human world, and her predictions were always verified. When I saw her, she was already old, over sixty years of age; her air and appearance were serene, and she no longer spoke of men's fortunes. Wearing a paper cap and cloth clothes, she perched in a high chamber, exclusively reciting Buddhist scriptures; though they were tens of thousands of words, day and night she would finish several fascicles (of the Lotus Sutra of the Wonderful Dharma). In encountering creatures, she was kind and compassionate, so that the people of her village were transformed in harmony. I once asked her from where she had received the scriptures. She said: “When this old woman was young, divine monks frequently came riding upon the void to teach me, that is all.” I thus considered what she called the dragon's roar not to be false. In my reading of books, I have seen many among the ancients who were like this. For instance, when Fang Guan and Xue Lingzhi were of low status dwelling in the mountains, both were said to have heard a dragon's roar; thereafter, Fang indeed became Prime Minister, and Xue reached the post of Prince's Reader-in-Waiting. This was the verification of what they heard. Alas! Although I cannot compare to those two lords, yet in complying with the Way to conduct myself, how could I have betrayed the sages and worthies? Yet in the end, because of propagating the Dharma, I was falsely accused by mediocre men and made an object of disgrace before all under Heaven. Why is it that what was heard was no different, yet what was verified was not the same? What Yao said may be questioned. In my view, the dragon is the emblem of the ruler; could it not be that today all under Heaven is at peace, with glorious renown and cultural refinement flourishing, and encountering such times, I was able to sing of it? This is its verification. If not so, does even a divine dragon ever roar in vain? (One edition reads: "does a dragon ever roar in vain?") > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 8.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8.8) - [Next: 8.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8.10) - [Up: 8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115~en-mt.8.9) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2115.8.9) · Pramāṇa