[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) › 22.45 # 法苑珠林 22.45 法苑珠林 22.45 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [22.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22.45) 宋京師祇桓寺有求那跋摩。此云功德鎧。本是剎利種。累世為王治在罽賓國。機辯俊達深有大度。仁愛汎博崇德務善。以宋元嘉八年正月達于建業。文帝引見勞問慇懃。因又言曰。弟子常欲持齋不殺。迫以身拘不獲從志。法師既不遠萬里來化此國。將何以教之。跋摩曰。夫道在心不在事法。由己非由人。且帝王與匹夫所修各異。匹夫身賤名劣言令不威。若不剋己苦躬將何為用。帝王以四海為家。萬民為子。出一嘉言則士女咸悅。布一善政則人神以和。刑不夭命。役無勞力。則使風雨適時寒暖應節。百穀滋繁桑麻欝茂。如此持齋。齋亦大矣。不殺戒亦眾矣。寧在闕半日之餐全一禽之命。然後方為普濟耶。帝乃撫几歎曰。夫俗人迷於遠理。沙門滯於近教。迷遠理者。謂至道虛說。滯近教者。則拘戀篇章。至如法師所言。真謂開悟明達。可與言論天人之際矣。乃勅住祇桓寺供給隆厚。王公英彥莫不宗奉。大翻經論具在高僧傳。並文義詳允梵漢弗差。時影福寺尼慧果淨音等。共請跋摩云。去六年有師子國八尼至京云。宋地先未經有尼。那得二眾受戒。恐戒品不全。跋摩云。戒法本在大僧眾發。設不本事無妨得戒。如愛道之緣。諸尼又恐年月不滿苦欲更受。跋摩稱云。善哉。苟欲增明甚助隨喜。但西國尼年臘未登。又人不滿。且令學宋語。別因西域居士。更請外國尼來足滿十數。其年夏在定林下寺安居。時有信者採花布席。唯跋摩所坐花采更鮮。眾咸崇以聖禮。夏竟還祇桓。其年九月二十八日。中食未畢。先起還問其弟子。後至奄然已終。春秋六十有五。既終之後即扶坐繩床。顏貌不異似若入定。道俗赴者千有餘人。並聞香氣芬烈。咸見一物狀若龍蛇。可長一丈許。起於屍側直上衝天。莫能銘者。以香薪闍維香油灌之。五色焰起𣱦氳麗空。四部群集哀聲慟天。悲泣望斷不能自勝（又二驗出梁高僧傳錄）。 > In the Song capital, at Jetavana Temple, there was Guṇavarman, which is translated as Armor of Merit (Gongde'ai). He was originally of the kṣatriya caste, his family having been kings of the country of Kashmir for generations. He had quick wits, penetrating eloquence, and profound magnanimity; his benevolence was widespread, and he honored virtue and applied himself to good deeds. In the first month of the eighth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, he reached Jianye. Emperor Wen granted him an audience and diligently conveyed his solicitude. He then said, "Your disciple always desires to keep the fast and not kill, but being constrained by my person, I cannot fulfill my aim. Now that the Dharma Master has not considered ten thousand miles too far to come and convert this state, with what will you instruct me?" Varman said, "The Way resides in the mind, not in physical practices; it originates in oneself, not in others. Furthermore, what an emperor practices and what a common man practices are different. A common man is lowly in status and inferior in reputation; his words and orders carry no authority. If he does not conquer himself and distress his person, what use will he be? An emperor takes the four seas as his home and the myriad people as his children. If he utters a single fine word, then men and women are all delighted; if he institutes a single good policy, then humans and spirits are brought into harmony. If punishments do not cut short lives and labor services do not exhaust strength, then wind and rain will be timely and cold and warmth will answer the seasons; the hundred grains will flourish, and mulberries and hemp will grow lush. In keeping the fast like this, the fast is truly great; the precept against killing is likewise comprehensive. How could it depend on omitting half a day's meal and preserving the life of a single animal before it becomes universal salvation?" The Emperor then tapped his table and sighed, saying, "Worldly people are deluded about profound principles, and śramaṇas are stuck in immediate teachings. Those who are deluded about profound principles claim the ultimate Way is an empty tale; those who are stuck in immediate teachings are bound to literal texts. When it comes to what the Dharma Master has said, it can truly be called enlightened, penetrating, and intelligent; one can discuss the boundary between Heaven and man with you!" He then ordered that he stay at Jetavana Temple and provided him with generous support. The princes, dukes, and eminent scholars all revered him. His extensive translations of sūtras and treatises are fully recorded in the Biographies of Eminent Monks; their text and meaning are detailed and accurate, with no discrepancies between Sanskrit and Chinese. At that time, the nuns Huiguo, Jingyin, and others from Yingfu Temple together asked Varman: "Six years ago, eight nuns from the Lion Country (Śrīlaṅkā) arrived in the capital, saying, 'In the land of the Song there were previously no nuns; how could ordination be received from both saṃghas? We fear that the precepts received are not complete.'" Varman said, "The method of ordination originally arises from the assembly of the great monks. Even if the requisite conditions were not fully met, it does not prevent the attainment of the precepts, just like the precedent of Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī." The nuns also feared that the years of their ordination were insufficient, and they earnestly wished to receive it again. Varman said, "Very good! If you wish to make it even more manifest, I rejoice and fully support it. However, the nuns from the Western Countries have not yet reached the required monastic age, and their number is also incomplete. For now, let them learn the Song language, and through other laymen from the Western Regions, we shall further invite foreign nuns to make up the number of ten." In the summer of that year, he spent the rains retreat at Lower Dinglin Temple. At that time, a faithful devotee picked flowers and spread them over the seats; only the flowers upon which Varman sat grew even fresher in color. The assembly all revered him with the rites accorded to a sage. When the summer retreat concluded, he returned to Jetavana Temple. On the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month of that year, before his midday meal was finished, he rose first to go and question his disciples; when they arrived later, he had already passed away peacefully. His age was sixty-five. After he passed away, they immediately sat him up on a corded chair; his countenance was unchanged, as if he were entering samādhi. More than a thousand clerics and laypeople rushed there, and all smelled an intense, fragrant aroma. They all saw a creature shaped like a dragon or snake, perhaps ten feet long, rise from the side of the corpse and ascend straight into the sky, but none could name it. They cremated him (jhāpita) with fragrant firewood and poured fragrant oil over it; a five-colored flame arose, rising gracefully into the air. The fourfold assembly gathered together, their laments shaking heaven; weeping with sorrow, their grief was boundless and uncontrollable. (These two verifications are also drawn from the records of the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 22.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22.44) - [Next: 22.46](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22.46) - [Up: 22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.22.45) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22.45](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.22.45) · Pramāṇa