代宗朝贈司空大辨正廣智三藏和上表制集 4.53

4.53

The Upādhyāya's taboo name was Amoghavajra; His Holy Majesty revered him as the Tripitaka Master of Vast Wisdom. He was an heir in the Dharma transformation of the late Vajrabodhi, the ācārya of South India. Formerly, Vairocana Buddha transmitted the unsurpassed, secret, supreme Great Vehicle teaching of Yoga to Vajrasattva. Only after several hundred years did Vajrasattva find Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva and transmit it to him. Several hundred years later, Nāgārjuna transmitted it to Nāgabodhi Ācārya. Several hundred years later, Nāgabodhi transmitted it to Vajrabodhi Ācārya. Vajrabodhi shook his khakkhara, came east, and transmitted it to the Upādhyāya. From the Dharmakāya Tathāgata down to the Upādhyāya, only six persons have transmitted this path. The Upādhyāya left home while still a young boy. Exceptionally intelligent and outstanding, he served diligently and laboured bitterly day and night without rest. Whatever passed his ears or met his eyes, he recited it all without omission. Hearing one, he understood ten, as if informed by spirits. His former master sighed and said: 'My path has gone east!' After the former master passed away, the Upādhyāya sailed across the sea, travelling to such lands as India and Siṁhala. He went to Nāgabodhi Ācārya and further obtained the rituals of the eighteen assemblies of Yoga, the secret treasury of the five divisions, and the transmitted scriptures of the three vehicles, examining every one of their subtleties. His physical appearance was like other men, but his mind was equal to a Buddha's. In the beginning of the Tianbao era he returned to the upper capital. Xuanzong revered and treated him with profound respect. He subsequently became National Preceptor to three reigns, going in and out of the forbidden portals. His Holy Majesty repeatedly invited him to the inner palace, seeking instruction like one standing downwind. The Upādhyāya's abstruse words brought fertile nourishment, and the emperor's reverence grew deeper day by day. In the ninth year of Dali he manifested illness and took to his bed. Imperial emissaries arrived one after another, and the attendant physicians tested his medicines without a single day missed. By gracious imperial decree, while lying ill, he was granted the rank of Specially Advanced with the Same Marks as the Three Excellencies, Acting Court of Imperial Regalia Chamberlain as before, enfeoffed as Duke of the State of Su, with an estate of three thousand households. He repeatedly declined, but was not permitted. On the fifteenth day of the sixth month, he suddenly bathed in orchid water, changed into clean garments, presented a memorial bidding farewell to the sovereign, and peacefully passed away. His springs and autumns were seventy; his monastic years were fifty. His Holy Majesty, struck with grief, suspended the court for three days. In the temple where the Upādhyāya resided there was a lotus pond several tens of mou in circumference. Without any surrounding inflow, sweet springs welled up from its center, sweet as nectar and clear as a mirror, constantly full winter and summer. When the day of the Upādhyāya's transformation arrived, the pond's water dried up the evening before. Though different from the twin trees turning white, the sympathetic resonance was the same. Now, the Dharma-body is firm and solid, without coming or going. Responding to mundane conditions, it manifests in the human world; witnessing the factors of enlightenment, it returns to nirvāṇa. How could ordinary minds fathom it? His painted likeness is as if alive; the roofbeam has collapsed. Composing a preface to his original deeds and recording his many fine sayings, I re-proclaim this meaning and compose a hymn of praise: / The supreme vehicle of Yoga, the secret gate, / Crosses beyond all dhyāna concentrations and swiftly enters the Buddha's body. / The direct heirs of the Dharma transformation number six to this day. / Reverently we think of the Upādhyāya, appearing in response to the times, / Expounding the teaching and saving the world like hoisting the sun and moon. / Preceptor to three sages, an udumbara flowering anew. / Just as the sweet dew poured down, nirvāṇa would not wait. / All of us later learners sink our minds in a sea of sorrow. / His painted portrait is truly lifelike; looking up in reverence, he seems present.