[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) › 25.29 # 法苑珠林 25.29 法苑珠林 25.29 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [25.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.29) 宋江陵新寺有釋法顯。姓龔。平陽武陽人。志行明敏儀軌整肅。常慨經律舛闕志欲尋求。以晉隆安三年與同學慧景道整慧應慧嵬等。發自長安西度流沙。上無飛鳥下無走獸。四顧茫茫莫測所之。唯視日以准東西。人骨以標行路耳。屢有熱風惡鬼。遇之必死。顯任緣委命直過險難。有頃至葱嶺。葱嶺冬夏積雪。有惡龍吐毒風雨沙礫。山路艱危壁立千仞昔有鑿石通路。傍施梯道。凡度七百餘所。又躡懸絙過河數十餘處。皆漢時張騫甘父所不至也。次度雪山。遇寒風暴起。慧景齡顫不能前。語顯曰。吾其死矣。卿可前去。勿得俱殞。言絕而卒。顯撫之泣曰。本圖不果命也奈何。復自力孤行。遂過山險。凡所經歷四十餘國。將至天竺。去王舍城三十餘里有一寺。逼瞑過之。顯欲詣耆闍崛山。寺僧諫曰。路甚艱阻且多黑師子。亟經噉人何由可至。顯曰。遠涉數萬誓到靈鷲。身命不期出息非保。豈可使積年之誠既至而廢耶。雖有險難吾不懼也。眾莫能止。乃遣兩僧送之。顯既至山日將曛夕。遂欲停宿。兩僧危懼捨之而還。顯獨留山中燒香禮拜。翹感舊迹如覩聖儀。至夜有三黑師子。來蹲顯前舐脣搖尾。顯誦經不輟。一心念佛。師子乃低頭下尾伏顯足前。顯以手摩之。祝曰。若欲相害待我誦竟。若見試者可便退矣。師子良久乃去。明晨還返。路窮幽梗。止有一徑通行。未至里餘忽逢一道人。年可九十。容服麁素而神氣俊遠。顯雖覺其韻高。而不悟是神人。後又逢一少僧。顯問曰。向耆年是誰耶。答云。頭陀迦葉大弟子也。顯方大惋恨。更追至山所。有橫石塞于室口。遂不得入。顯流淚而去。進至迦施國。國有白耳龍。每與眾僧約令國內豐熟。皆有信效。沙門為起龍舍并設福食。每至夏坐訖。龍輒化作一小蛇。兩耳悉白。眾皆咸識是龍。以銅盂盛酪置龍於中。從上座至下行之。遍乃化去。年輒一出。顯亦親見。後至中天竺。於摩竭提邑波連弗阿育王塔南天王寺。得摩訶僧祇律。又得薩婆多律抄雜阿毘曇心線經方等泥洹經等。顯留三年學梵語梵書。方躬自書寫。於是持經像寄附商客到師子國。顯同旅十餘。或留或亡。顧影唯己。常懷悲慨。忽於玉像前。見商人以晉地一白團絹扇供養。不覺悽然下淚。停二年。復得彌沙塞律長雜二含及雜藏。並漢土所無。既而附商人大舶循海而還。舶有二百許人。值黑風水入。眾皆惶懼。即取雜物棄之。顯恐棄其經像。唯一心念觀世音。及歸命漢土眾僧。舶任風而去得無傷壞。經十餘日達耶婆提國。停五月復隨他商東適廣州。舉帆二十餘日。夜忽大風令舶震懼。眾咸議曰。坐載此沙門使我等狼狽。不可以一人故令眾俱亡。共欲推之。法顯檀越勵聲呵商人曰。汝若下此沙門亦應下我。不爾便當見殺。漢地帝王奉佛敬僧。我若至彼告王必當罪汝。商人相視失色俛仰而止。既水盡糧竭。唯任風隨流。忽至岸見藜藿菜。依然知是漢地。但未可測何方。即乘船入浦尋村。見獵者二人。顯問。此是何地耶。獵人曰。此是青州長廣郡牢山南岸。獵人還以告太守李嶷。嶷素信敬。忽聞沙門遠至。躬自迎慰。顯持經像隨還。頃之欲南歸。青州刺史請留過冬。顯曰。貧道投身於不返之地。志在弘通。何期未果不得久停。遂南造京師。就外國禪師佛馱跋陀。於道場寺翻譯經律論等百餘萬言。流布教化咸使見聞。有一家失其姓名。居近朱雀門。世奉正化。自寫一部讀誦供養。無別經室與雜書共屋。後風火忽起延及其家。資物皆盡。唯泥洹經儼然具存。煨燼不侵卷色無改。京師共傳咸歎神妙。其餘經律。後至荊州卒於新寺。春秋八十有六。眾咸慟惜。其游履諸國別有大傳（右二驗出梁高僧傳）。 > At the Xin Temple in Jiangling during the Song dynasty, there was the śramaṇa Shi Faxian, whose lay surname was Gong, a man of Wuyang in Pingyang. His aspiration and practice were luminous and keen, and his monastic comportment was disciplined and austere. He often lamented that the sūtras and vinayas were deficient and incomplete, and he resolved to seek them out. In the third year of the Long'an era of the Jin, together with his fellow students Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying, Huiwei, and others, he set out from Chang'an and crossed the shifting sands to the west. Above there were no flying birds, and below there were no running beasts. Looking around in all four directions, all was vast and boundless, with no way to tell where to go. One could only look at the sun to determine east and west, and rely on human bones to mark the path. There were frequent hot winds and evil demons; whoever encountered them surely died. Faxian gave himself over to conditions and entrusted himself to fate, passing directly through the perils and hardships. After some time, he reached the Congling (Pamir) Mountains. The Congling Mountains accumulate snow winter and summer; evil dragons spit poisonous winds, rain, sand, and gravel. The mountain roads are arduous and perilous, with cliffs rising sheer for thousands of fathoms. In the past, people had chiseled the stone to open paths and erected ladders along the sides, crossing in this way over seven hundred places. Moreover, they crossed rivers on suspended ropes in several dozen places, none of which had been reached by Zhang Qian or Ganfu during the Han dynasty. Next, they crossed the Snow Mountains (Himālaya). A violent cold wind suddenly arose; Huijing trembled to his core and could not advance. He said to Faxian, 'I am about to die. You must go forward; do not let us both perish.' His words ceased and he passed away. Faxian stroked him and wept, saying, 'Our original plan is not fulfilled—it is fate, what can be done?' Again, relying on his own strength, he traveled alone and eventually crossed the mountain perils. In all, he passed through more than forty countries. When he was about to reach India, some thirty li from Rājagṛha, there was a monastery. It was close to dusk when he passed it. Faxian wished to go to Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain. The monastery monks admonished him, saying, 'The road is exceedingly arduous and obstructed, and there are many black lions that frequently eat people. By what means can you get there?' Faxian said, 'I have traveled tens of thousands \[of li\] from afar, vowing to reach Vulture Peak. Life and limb are not to be counted on, and the outbreath cannot be guaranteed. How could I abandon the sincerity of accumulated years just as I have arrived? Though there be perils and hardships, I am not afraid.' The assembly could not stop him, so they dispatched two monks to escort him. By the time Faxian reached the mountain, the sun was sinking into evening. He then wished to stay overnight. The two monks, alarmed and frightened, abandoned him and returned. Faxian remained alone on the mountain, burning incense and paying homage. Moved with longing for the ancient traces, it was as if he beheld the Holy One's countenance. When night fell, three black lions came, crouched before Faxian, licked their lips, and wagged their tails. Faxian chanted the sūtras without ceasing and recollected the Buddha single-mindedly. The lions then lowered their heads, drooped their tails, and crouched before Faxian's feet. Faxian stroked them with his hand and invoked: 'If you wish to harm me, wait until I finish chanting. If you are testing me, you may withdraw at once.' After a long while, the lions departed. The next morning, Faxian made his way back. The path was utterly steep and obstructed, with only a single track passable. When he was not quite a li away, he suddenly encountered a Daoist-monk, about ninety years of age, whose appearance and clothing were coarse and plain, yet whose spirit was lofty and far-reaching. Although Faxian perceived his elevated demeanor, he did not realize that he was a divine person. Later, he met a young monk. Faxian asked, 'Who was that senior elder earlier?' He replied, 'It was the great disciple of the ascetic Kāśyapa.' Faxian was filled with great regret and chased back to the mountain, but a crosswise rock blocked the entrance to the cave, so that he could not enter. Faxian shed tears and departed. He proceeded to the country of Kāśī. In this country there was a white-eared dragon, which would make an agreement with the monastic assembly to ensure abundant harvests throughout the country, and these always proved effective. The śramaṇas built a dragon shrine for it and provided blessed food. Whenever the summer retreat was completed, the dragon would transform into a small snake with both ears completely white. The whole assembly recognized that it was the dragon. They filled a bronze basin with curds and placed the dragon inside, carrying it in procession from the senior monks down to the junior. Once it had gone round completely, it transformed and vanished, emerging only once each year. Faxian also saw it in person. Later, he reached Central India. At the Devarāja Temple south of King Aśoka's stūpa in Pāṭaliputra of the Magadha region, he obtained the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya. He also obtained the Sarvāstivāda-vinaya extracts, the Za apitan xin (Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya), sūtras, and the Mahāyāna Nirvāṇa-sūtra, and so forth. Faxian stayed for three years to learn Sanskrit language and the Sanskrit script, whereupon he copied them out in his own hand. Then, carrying the sūtras and images, he took passage with merchants to the Lion Country (Siṃhala / Sri Lanka). Faxian's companions had numbered more than ten, but some had stayed behind and some had died; looking only at his own shadow, he was constantly filled with sorrowful laments. Suddenly, before a jade image, he saw a merchant make an offering of a white silk fan from the Jin land; unconsciously, he grieved and wept. He remained there for two years and further obtained the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya, the Dīrgha-āgama, the Saṃyukta-āgama, and the miscellaneous piṭaka, all of which were lacking in the Chinese land. Afterward, he boarded a merchant ship and returned along the sea route. There were some two hundred people on the ship. When they encountered a dark gale, water entered the ship, and the whole assembly was terrified; they immediately took miscellaneous goods and cast them overboard. Faxian feared that they would cast out his sūtras and images; he only single-mindedly recollected Avalokiteśvara and took refuge in the monastic assembly of the Chinese land. The ship drifted with the wind and avoided damage. After more than ten days, they reached the country of Yavadvīpa. After staying for five months, he again followed other merchants eastward toward Guangzhou. After setting sail for more than twenty days, a great wind suddenly blew up at night, causing terror on the ship. The crowd all discussed, saying, 'It is because we carry this śramaṇa that we are driven to this desperate plight! We cannot allow everyone to perish on account of a single person!' Together, they wished to push him overboard. Faxian's patron raised his voice and berated the merchants, saying, 'If you cast down this śramaṇa, you must also cast me down! If not, you must kill me! The emperors and kings of the Chinese land revere the Buddha and respect the saṃgha. If I reach there and inform the king, he will surely punish you!' The merchants looked at each other, lost their color, hesitated, and desisted. When the water was gone and the provisions exhausted, they merely drifted with the wind along the current. Suddenly, they reached a shore and saw goosefoot and wild greens; thus they knew it was the Chinese land, but they could not yet tell which region. They took a boat into a bay to search for a village and saw two hunters. Faxian asked, 'What land is this?' The hunters said, 'This is the southern shore of Mount Lao in Changguang Commandery of Qingzhou.' The hunters returned and informed the governor, Li Yi. Li Yi had long had faith and reverence; suddenly hearing that a śramaṇa had arrived from afar, he personally came out to welcome and comfort him. Faxian carried his sūtras and images and returned with him. Shortly afterward, he wished to return south. The regional inspector of Qingzhou invited him to stay through the winter. Faxian said, 'I, a poor monk, cast myself into a land of no return, with my mind set on widely propagating \[the Dharma\]. How could I delay when my purpose is not yet accomplished?' He then traveled south to the capital. Together with the foreign meditation master Buddhabhadra at Daochang Temple, he translated sūtras, vinayas, and treatises amounting to more than one million words, circulating and teaching them so that all might see and hear them. There was a family whose surname and personal name have been lost, who lived near the Zhuque Gate and had long revered the upright teaching. They personally copied a set \[of the Nirvāṇa-sūtra\] to recite and make offerings to, having no separate sūtra chamber so that it was kept in the same room with miscellaneous books. Later, a fire driven by wind suddenly arose and spread to their home; their property and goods were entirely consumed, but the Nirvāṇa-sūtra alone remained intact as before, untouched by the glowing ashes and without its scrolls' color changing. This was widely reported throughout the capital, and all marvelled at the divine wonder. As for the rest of his sūtras and vinayas, he later went to Jingzhou and passed away at the Xin Temple at the age of eighty-six. The assembly all grieved and lamented. Regarding his travels through the various countries, there is a separate major biography. (The above two testimonies are taken from the Liang Gaoseng zhuan.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 25.28](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.28) - [Next: 25.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.30) - [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.25.29) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2122.25.29) · Pramāṇa