[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) › 25.28 # 法苑珠林 25.28 法苑珠林 25.28 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [25.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.28) 凡為十偈。辭喻皆爾。什雅好大乘志存敷廣。常歎曰。吾若著筆作大乘阿毘曇。非迦旃延子所比也。今在秦地深識者寡。折翮於此。將何所論。乃悽然而止。唯為姚興著實相論二卷。并注維摩經。出言成章無所改刪。辭喻婉約莫非玄奧。什為人神情映徹傲岸出群。應機領會鮮有儔匹。篤性仁厚汎愛為心。虛己善誘終日無勌。姚主甞謂什曰。大師聰明超悟天下莫二。若一旦後世。何可使法種無嗣。於是杯度比丘在彭城。聞什在長安乃歎曰。吾與此子戲別三百餘年。杳然未期遲有遇於來生耳。什未終省覺四大不愈。口云。願凡所宣譯傳流後世。咸共弘通。今於眾前發誠實誓。若所傳無謬者。當使焚身之後舌不燋爛。以偽秦弘始十一年八月二十日。卒於長安。是歲晉義熙五年也。即於逍遙園。依外國法以火焚燒。薪滅形碎唯舌不灰。 > \[His verses\] totaled ten, and their language and metaphors were all of this kind. Kumārajīva was deeply fond of the Mahāyāna and bent his mind upon its broad dissemination. He would often sigh and say, 'If I were to set brush to paper and compose an Abhidharma of the Mahāyāna, Kātyāyanīputra could not compare with me. Now, in the land of Qin, those of profound understanding are few; my wings are broken here—what is there to expound?' Thereupon he sorrowfully desisted. He only composed for Yao Xing the Treatise on the Real Mark (Shixiang lun) in two fascicles and annotated the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa. His spoken words naturally formed elegant compositions without need of revision or deletion; his diction and allegories were subtle and graceful, and none failed to be profoundly abstruse. In character, Kumārajīva had a lucid and penetrating disposition, lofty and outstanding above the crowd. In grasping things according to the occasion, he had few peers. By nature devoted, benevolent, and kind, he held universal love in his heart; emptying himself and excelling at guidance, he never tired throughout the day. Yao Xing, the sovereign of Qin, once said to Kumārajīva, 'The Master's brilliant comprehension transcends all others; there is none like him in the realm. If one day you pass away, how can we let the lineage of the Dharma have no successor?' At that time, the bhikṣu Beidu was in Pengcheng. Hearing that Kumārajīva was in Chang'an, he sighed and said, 'It has been more than three hundred years since I playfully parted from that fellow. Our separation has been long and without appointment; only in a future life can I look forward to meeting him.' Before his end, Kumārajīva was aware that the four great elements \[of his body\] were failing. He said, 'I vow that everything I have proclaimed and translated will be transmitted to future generations and widely propagated together. Now, before the assembly, I make this sincere vow: if what I have transmitted is free of error, may my tongue not be scorched or rot away after my body is burned.' On the twentieth day of the eighth month of the eleventh year of the Hongshi era of the illegitimate Qin, he passed away in Chang'an. This was the fifth year of the Yixi era of the Jin. Thereupon, in the Xiaoyao Garden, they burned him with fire according to foreign practice. The firewood was consumed and his form reduced to fragments, but his tongue alone was not reduced to ashes. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 25.27](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.27) - [Next: 25.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.29) - [Up: 25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122~en-mt.25.28) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.28) · Pramāṇa