法苑珠林 100.410

100.410

宋京師中興寺。有求那跋陀羅。此云功德賢。中天竺人。幼學五明諸論陰陽呪術。靡不該博。落髮之後。專精志學博通三藏。為人慈和恭恪。事師盡禮。頃之辭小乘師。進學大乘。大乘師試令探取經匣。即得大品華嚴。師嘉歎曰。汝於大乘有重緣矣。於是講誦弘宣莫能詶抗。至宋元嘉十二年至廣州。刺史車朗表聞。宋太祖遣信迎接。既至京都。太祖交言欣若傾蓋。初住祇桓寺。後譙王鎮荊州。請與俱行安止辛寺。王欲請譯華嚴等經。而跋陀自忖。未善宋言。有懷愧歎。即旦夕禮懺請觀世音乞求冥應。遂夢有人白服持劍。擎一人首來至其前曰。何故憂耶。跋陀具以事對。答曰。無所憂。即以劍易首更安新頭。語令迴轉。又曰。得無痛耶。答曰。不痛。豁然便寤。心神喜悅。旦超道義備領宋言。於是就稱。元嘉將末。譙王屢有怪夢。跋陀答曰。京都將有禍亂。未及一年。元凶搆逆。及孝建之初。譙王陰謀逆節。跋陀顏容憂悴。未及發言。譙王問其故。跋陀諫之懇切。乃流洟而曰。必無所冀。貧道為客。不得扈從。譙王以其物情所信。乃逼與俱下。至梁山之敗。大艦轉迫。去岸懸遠。判無令濟。唯一心稱觀世音。手捉卭杖。投身江中。水齊至膝。以杖刺水。水流深駛。見一童子尋後而至。以手牽之。顧謂童子汝小兒何能度我。恍惚之間覺行十餘步。仍得上岸。即脫納衣。欲賞童子。顧覓不見。舉身毛竪。方知神力焉。後於秣陵界鳳皇樓西起寺。每至夜半輒有推戶而喚。視不見人。眾屢厭夢。跋陀燒香呪願曰。汝宿緣在此。我今起寺行道禮懺。常為汝等。若住者為護寺善神。若不能住各隨所安。既而道俗十餘人。同夕夢見鬼神千數。皆荷擔移去。寺眾遂安。今陶後渚白塔寺。即其處也。

At Zhongxing Temple in the capital of the Song dynasty, there was Guṇabhadra, here translated as 'Virtuous and Worthy', a man of Central India. In his youth he studied the treatises of the pañcavidyā, yin-yang, and mantric arts, being thoroughly learned in all of them. After shaving his head, he applied himself wholeheartedly to learning, becoming broadly versed in the tripiṭaka. By nature he was gentle, deferential, and reverent, serving his teachers with complete propriety. Before long he took leave of his Hīnayāna master and advanced to study the Mahāyāna. The Mahāyāna master tested him by having him draw a scripture box at random, and he immediately obtained the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā and the Avataṃsaka. The master praised him, saying: 'You have a deep affinity with the Mahāyāna!' Thereupon he expounded and broadly propagated them, and none could rival him. In the twelfth year of the Yuanjia reign of the Song (435 CE), he arrived in Guangzhou. The regional inspector Che Lang presented a memorial reporting this, and Emperor Taizu of the Song dispatched envoys to welcome him. Once he arrived in the capital, Taizu conversed with him, delighting like old friends at a chance encounter. At first he resided at Jetavana Temple. Later, when the Prince of Qiao governed Jingzhou, he requested that Guṇabhadra accompany him and reside at Xin Temple. The prince wished to request him to translate scriptures such as the Avataṃsaka, but Bhadra reflected that he was not yet proficient in the language of the Song, feeling shame and sighing. Thereupon, day and night he performed repentance and prayed to Avalokiteśvara, begging for a hidden response. He then dreamed of a person dressed in white holding a sword, carrying a man's head, who came before him and asked: 'Why are you grieving?' Bhadra answered by recounting the matter in full. The man replied: 'There is nothing to grieve about.' Thereupon he used the sword to exchange his head, fitting a new one in its place, told him to turn it around, and further asked: 'Is it painful?' He answered: 'It is not painful.' He suddenly awoke, his mind filled with joy. At dawn his understanding of the principles of the Way surged, and he fully mastered the language of the Song; thereupon he undertook the translation. Toward the end of the Yuanjia reign, the Prince of Qiao repeatedly had strange dreams. Bhadra answered him: 'There will be disaster and rebellion in the capital.' Before a year had passed, the prime villain (Liu Shao) plotted rebellion. By the beginning of the Xiaojian reign, the Prince of Qiao secretly plotted disloyalty. Bhadra's countenance was haggard with worry. Before he could speak, the Prince of Qiao asked him the reason. Bhadra earnestly admonished him, shedding tears and saying: 'There will certainly be nothing to hope for. A poor monk is merely a guest and cannot follow along.' The Prince of Qiao, knowing that the public placed their trust in him, forced him to go down [the river] together. When they were defeated at Mount Liang, the great warships bore down on them; the shore was far away, and escape was judged impossible. With single-minded devotion he called upon Avalokiteśvara, grasped his Qiong bamboo staff, and plunged into the river. The water came up only to his knees. When he poked the water with his staff, the current flowed deep and swift. He saw a boy coming up behind him, who took his hand to lead him. He looked back and said to the boy: 'You are just a small child, how can you deliver me?' In a daze, he felt that he walked more than ten paces and still reached the bank. He immediately took off his patched robe wishing to reward the boy, but looking around he could not find him. His hair stood on end over his entire body, and only then did he realise it was divine power. Later, he established a temple west of the Fenghuang Tower within the boundaries of Moling. Every midnight someone would push the door and call out, but looking, no one was to be seen; the assembly repeatedly suffered nightmares. Bhadra burned incense and made a prayer of invocation, saying: 'Your past karma is here. Now that I have built a temple to practice the Way and perform repentance, it is always for your sake. If you remain, be good spirits protecting the temple; if you cannot remain, go wherever you may find peace.' Soon after, more than ten monastics and laypeople on the same night dreamed of thousands of ghosts and spirits, all carrying loads on their shoulders and moving away. The temple assembly was thereupon at peace. The present Baitasi (White Stupa Temple) at the islet behind the potteries is that very place.