法苑珠林 63.59

63.59

齊錢唐靈苑山有釋曇超。姓張。清河人。形長八尺。容止可觀。蔬食布衣一中而已。而止都龍華寺。元嘉末南游始興遍觀山水。獨宿樹下虎兕不傷。大明中還都。至齊太祖即位。被勅往遼東弘闡禪道。停彼二年大行法化。建元末還京。俄又適錢唐之靈苑山。每一入禪累日不起。後時忽聞風雷之聲。俄見一人執笏而進。稱嚴鎮東通。須臾有一人至。形甚端正羽衛連翩。下席禮敬自稱弟子。居在七里任周此地。承法師至故來展東富陽縣人故冬。鑿麓山下為博。侵壞龍室。群龍共忿作三百日不雨。今已一百餘日。井池枯涸田種永罷。法師既道德通神。欲仰屈前行。必能感致潤澤蒼生。功有歸也。超曰。興雲降雨本是檀越之力。貧道何所能乎。神曰。弟子。部曲止能興雲不能降雨。是故相請耳。遂許之。神脩然而去。超乃南行。經五日至赤亭山。遙為龍呪願說法。至夜群龍悉化作人。來詣超禮拜。超更說法。因乞三歸。自稱是龍。超請其降雨。乃相看無言。其夜又與超夢云。本因忿立誓。法師既導之以善。輒不敢違命。明日晡時必當降雨。超明旦即往臨泉寺。遣人告縣令。辦船於江中。轉海龍王經。縣令即請僧浮船石首。轉經纔竟。遂雲降大雨。高下皆足。歲以獲收。超以永明十年卒。春秋七十有四（右五人出梁高僧傳）。

Under the Qi, at Mount Lingyuan in Qiantang, there was the Śramaṇa Tanchao, surnamed Zhang, a man of Qinghe. He was eight chi tall, with an imposing demeanor. He wore coarse clothing, ate vegetarian food, and took only one meal at midday. He resided at Longhua Temple in the capital. At the end of the Yuanjia reign-period, he traveled south to Shixing to gaze upon its mountains and waters; sleeping alone beneath trees, tigers and wild beasts did not harm him. During the Daming reign-period, he returned to the capital. When Emperor Taizu of the Qi ascended the throne, Tanchao was commanded by imperial decree to go to Liaodong to propagate the way of dhyāna. He stayed there for two years, and the Dharma transformation flourished greatly. At the end of the Jianyuan reign-period, he returned to the capital. Soon afterwards, he went to Mount Lingyuan in Qiantang. Every time he entered dhyāna, he would not rise for several days. Later, he suddenly heard the sound of wind and thunder, and presently saw a man holding a tablet step forward, announcing that Yan, the General Pacifying the East, requested an audience. In an instant a man arrived, of exceedingly handsome appearance, accompanied by fluttering feather guards. Descending from his seat, he paid homage and called himself a disciple, saying, "I live in Qili, and my charge covers this territory. Hearing that the Dharma Master had arrived, I have come to pay my respects. Last winter, the people of Fuyang county quarried stone beneath the foot of the mountain for gambling counters, which encroached upon and damaged the dragons' chamber. The dragons were all enraged and swore not to let it rain for three hundred days. Now more than one hundred days have passed; wells and ponds have dried up, and planting in the fields has ceased entirely. Since the Dharma Master's virtue communicates with spirits, I wish to invite you to step forward; you will surely be able to induce moisture to soak the common people, and the merit will belong to you." Tanchao said, "Raising clouds and sending down rain is originally within the power of the dānapati; what can a poor monk do?" The spirit said, "My subordinates can only raise clouds; they cannot produce rain. That is why I have made this request." Tanchao then consented. The spirit vanished in a flash. Tanchao then traveled south. After five days, he reached Mount Chiting, where he offered prayers and taught the Dharma to the dragons from afar. At night, the dragons all transformed into men and came to Tanchao to pay homage. Tanchao preached the Dharma further to them, whereupon they begged for the Three Refuges and identified themselves as dragons. When Tanchao requested them to send down rain, they looked at one another without a word. That night, they appeared in Tanchao's dream, saying, "Originally, out of anger we made a vow; but since the Dharma Master guides us with goodness, we dare not disobey your command. Tomorrow at late afternoon, rain will surely fall." The next morning, Tanchao immediately went to Linquan Temple and sent someone to notify the county magistrate to prepare boats on the river to chant the Sāgarānaparipṛcchā-sūtra. The county magistrate immediately invited monks to drift in boats at Shishou. Just as the chanting of the sūtra was completed, heavy rain poured down from the clouds, satisfying both high and low ground, and that year a harvest was reaped. Tanchao died in the tenth year of the Yongming reign-period, at the age of seventy-four. (The above five persons are drawn from the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks).