法苑珠林 24.64

24.64

隋京師延興寺釋曇延。姓王。蒲州萬泉人也。世家豪族宦歷齊周。而姓協書籍鄉邦稱敘。探𭭻玄旨洞曉無差。欲著涅槃大疏。恐滯凡情每祈誠寤寐。願得嘉徵。乃於夜夢有人被白服乘於白馬。騣尾拂地而道授經旨。延手執馬騣與之請論。寤後惟曰。此必馬鳴菩薩授我義端。執騣知其宗旨。抵事可觀耳。雖感此瑞猶恐不合理。更持經疏。於陳州治仁壽寺舍利塔前。燒香誓曰。延以凡度仰測聖心。銓釋已了具如別卷。若幽致微達。願示明靈。如無所感誓不傳授。言訖涅槃卷軸並放光明。通夜呈祥。道俗稱慶。塔中舍利又放光明。三日三夜暉光不絕。上燭天漢下照山河。合境望光皆來謁拜。既感徵祥眾伏傳受。君臣重德罕有斯人。以隋開皇八年八月十三日。終於延興寺。春秋七十有三。

Under the Sui, Shi Tanyan of Yanxing Temple in the capital was surnamed Wang and was a native of Wanquan in Puzhou. He came from a prominent and noble family whose official careers spanned Northern Qi and Northern Zhou. His surname was recorded in historical records, and his native region praised him. Exploring the profound tenets, he understood them clearly without error. Wishing to compose a great commentary on the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra*, but fearing he might be hampered by ordinary sentiments, he constantly prayed with sincerity whether waking or sleeping, hoping to obtain an auspicious sign. In a night dream, he saw a person wearing white clothes riding a white horse whose mane and tail brushed the ground, instructing him in the sūtra's meaning along the road. Tanyan held the horse's mane with his hand, requesting discourse with him. After waking, he thought, 'This must be Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa instructing me in the essential points of the meaning. Grasping the mane signifies knowing its central tenet; approaching the matter will yield something worth beholding.' Although he evoked this auspicious sign, he still feared it might not accord with principle. Holding the sūtra and commentary before the śarīra stūpa of Renshou Temple in Chenzhou, he burned incense and vowed: 'With my ordinary estimation, I look up to gauge the sage's mind. The interpretation is now complete, as detailed in the separate fascicles. If its profound import has attained some subtle penetration, I pray you show a bright spiritual sign; if there is no response, I vow not to transmit it.' Having spoken, the scrolls of the *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* all emitted light, displaying auspiciousness throughout the night, and clergy and laity rejoiced. The śarīra within the stūpa also emitted light, its brilliance uninterrupted for three days and three nights, illuminating the Heavenly River above and shining upon the mountains and rivers below. People from the entire region gazed at the light and came to pay homage. Having evoked such auspicious signs, the multitude submitted and received his teachings; as for a person whose virtue was so esteemed by sovereign and ministers, rare indeed was anyone like him. On the thirteenth day of the eighth month in the eighth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, he passed away at Yanxing Temple at the age of seventy-three.