法苑珠林 55.41

55.41

宋文帝。高祖第三子也。聰睿英博雅稱令達。在位三十年。嘗以暇日從容而顧問侍中何尚之吏部羊玄保曰。朕少來讀經不多。比復無暇。三世因果未辯措懷。而復不敢立異者。正以卿輩時秀率所敬信也。范泰謝靈運常言。六經典文本在濟俗為政。必求性靈真奧。豈得不以佛理為指南耶。帝曰。釋門有卿。亦猶孔門之有季路。所謂惡言不入於耳也。自是文帝致意佛經卷不釋手。

Emperor Wen of the Song was the third son of Emperor Gaozu. Intelligent, sagacious, heroic, and broadly learned, he had an elegant reputation for brilliance and perspicacity. He was on the throne for thirty years. Once, at leisure, he calmly asked the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary He Shangzhi and Minister of Personnel Yang Xuanbao: “Since youth I have not read the scriptures much, and recently I have had no free time. I have not yet comprehended karmic causes and conditions across the three lives to settle my mind upon them; yet I dare not put forward dissenting views, precisely because you, the elite of our times, uniformly revere and believe in them. Fan Tai and Xie Lingyun used to say: ‘The texts of the Six Classics were originally meant for aiding mundane affairs and governing; if one must seek the true profundity of the spirit's nature, how can one fail to take Buddhist principles as one’s compass?’ ” The Emperor said: “The Buddhist fold having you is just like the Confucian school having Jilu; of him it was said that harsh words never entered his ears.” From then on, Emperor Wen devoted his attention to Buddhist scriptures, never setting the scrolls from his hand.