[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) › [法苑珠林](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122) › 17.26 # 法苑珠林 17.26 法苑珠林 17.26 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [17.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.26) 宋琰。稚年在交阯。彼土有賢法師者。道德僧也。見授五戒。以觀世音金像一軀見與供養。形製異今又非甚古類。元嘉中作鎔鐫。殊工似有真好。琰奉以還都。時年在齠齓。與二弟常盡勤至專精不倦。後治改弊廬無屋安設。寄　京師南㵎寺中。于時百姓競鑄錢。亦有盜毀金像以充鑄者。時像在寺已經數月。琰晝寢夢見立于座隅。意甚異之。時日已暮即馳迎還。其夕南㵎十餘軀像。悉遇盜亡。其後久之像於曛暮間放光。顯照三尺許地。金輝秀起煥然奪目。琰兄弟及僕役。同覩者十餘人。于時幼小不即題記。比加撰錄忘其日月。是宋大明七年秋也。至泰始末。琰移居烏衣周旋。僧以此像權寓多寶寺。琰時暫游江都。此僧仍適荊楚。不知像處。垂將十載。常恐神寶與因俱絕。宋升明末。游躓峽表徑過江陵。見此沙門迺知像所。其年琰還京師。即造多寶寺訪焉。寺主愛公云。無此寄像。琰退慮此僧孟浪將遂失此像。深以惆悵。其夜夢人見語云。像在多寶。愛公忘耳。當為得之。見將至寺。此人手自開殿見像。在殿之東眾小像中。的的分明詰旦造寺具以所夢請愛公。愛公乃為開殿。果見此像在殿之東。如夢所覩。遂得像還。時建元元年七月十三日也。像今常自供養。庶必永作津梁。修復其事有感深懷。沿此徵覿綴成斯記。夫鏡接近情莫踰儀像。瑞驗之發多自此興。經云。鎔斵圖繢類形相者。爰能行動及放光明。今西域釋迦彌勒二像輝用若冥。蓋得相乎。今華夏景揩神應亟著。亦或當年群生因會所感。假憑木石以見幽異。不必剋由容好而能然也。故沈石浮深。寔闡閩吳之化。塵金瀉液。用紓彭宋之禍。其餘銓示繁方雖難曲辯。率其大哲允歸目從。若夫經塔顯効。旨證亦同。事非殊貫。故繼其末（右二驗出冥祥記）。 > I, Yan of the Song, was in Jiaozhi during my childhood. In that land was a Master of the Dharma named Xian, a monk of virtue and conduct, who conferred the five precepts upon me and presented me with a golden image of Avalokiteśvara for worship. Its form and make were different from modern ones, nor did it resemble the very ancient sort; it had been cast and engraved during the Yuanjia era with extraordinary craftsmanship, having an appearance of genuine beauty. I took it with me and returned to the capital; at that time I was still a boy losing my milk teeth, and together with my two younger brothers, I was constantly devoted and dedicated without wearying. Later, when repairing and renovating our dilapidated cottage, there was no room to house it, so I deposited it in Nanjian Temple in the capital. At that time, the common people were competing to cast coins, and there were also those who stole and melted down golden images to supply the minting. The image had been at the temple for several months when I took a midday nap and dreamed of seeing it standing at the corner of my seat, which I thought very strange. The sun was already setting, so I immediately galloped off to welcome it back. That night, over ten images in Nanjian Temple were all stolen and lost. Long after that, at dusk the image emitted light, illuminating about three feet of ground; its golden radiance surged forth, brilliant and dazzling to the eye. My brothers and our servants—more than ten people in all—witnessed it together. At that time I was young and did not immediately make a written record; by the time I came to compile this account, I had forgotten the date. It was in the autumn of the seventh year of the Daming era of the Song. By the end of the Taishi era, I moved to Wuyi, and an acquaintance monk temporarily lodged this image at Daobao Temple. I briefly travelled to Jiangdu at that time, while this monk went on to Jingchu, and I did not know where the image was. Nearly ten years passed, and I always feared that the divine treasure had parted from me along with our karmic connection. Toward the end of the Shengming era of the Song, as I travelled and was delayed beyond the Gorges, passing directly through Jiangling, I met this śramaṇa and finally learned the image's whereabouts. That year I returned to the capital and went immediately to Daobao Temple to seek it out. The temple abbot, Master Ai, said: 'There is no such deposited image here.' I withdrew, fearing that this monk had been reckless and that the image would be lost forever, feeling deeply despondent. That night, I dreamed of a person telling me: 'The image is at Daobao Temple; Master Ai has simply forgotten it. I shall find it for you.' I saw him lead me to the temple, open the hall with his own hands, and see the image on the east side of the hall among numerous small images, distinctly and clearly recognizable. At dawn I went to the temple, told Master Ai in full about what I had dreamed, and requested \[him to search\]. Master Ai then opened the hall for me, and indeed found this image on the east side of the hall, just as seen in the dream. I thus got the image back. It was on the thirteenth day of the seventh month in the first year of the Jianyuan era. The image is now regularly worshipped by me, hoping that it will forever serve as a ferry and bridge. When I restored this matter, I was deeply moved in my heart, and tracing these verifications, I composed this record. Truly, nothing touches human sentiment more closely than holy images; the occurrences of auspicious verifications mostly arise from this. A scripture states: 'Those who cast, carve, paint, and depict resembling forms are thereby able to move and emit light.' Today, the two images of Śākya and Maitreya in the Western Regions manifest radiant efficacy as if miraculous—is it not because they have attained the true likeness? Now in the Huaxia lands, standard representations repeatedly show divine responses; perhaps also the living beings of those years, moved by their karmic conjunctions, availed themselves of wood and stone to manifest the subtle and mysterious, without it having to depend strictly on physical likeness to be so. Thus, sinking stones floating on the deep opened the conversion of Min and Wu; dusted gold liquefying relieved the calamity of Peng and Song. As for the rest of the numerous instructions across diverse regions, though difficult to discuss in detail, in general the great sages have faithfully won allegiance. As for scriptures and stūpas manifesting efficacy, their doctrinal import is also the same; the matter does not follow a different thread, so I append it to the end. (The two verifications above are taken from the Mingxiang ji.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 17.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.25) - [Next: 17.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.27) - [Up: 17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.17.26) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.17.26) · Pramāṇa