法苑珠林 22.45

22.45

In the Song capital, at Jetavana Temple, there was Guṇavarman, which is translated as Armor of Merit (Gongde'ai). He was originally of the kṣatriya caste, his family having been kings of the country of Kashmir for generations. He had quick wits, penetrating eloquence, and profound magnanimity; his benevolence was widespread, and he honored virtue and applied himself to good deeds. In the first month of the eighth year of the Yuanjia era of the Song dynasty, he reached Jianye. Emperor Wen granted him an audience and diligently conveyed his solicitude. He then said, "Your disciple always desires to keep the fast and not kill, but being constrained by my person, I cannot fulfill my aim. Now that the Dharma Master has not considered ten thousand miles too far to come and convert this state, with what will you instruct me?" Varman said, "The Way resides in the mind, not in physical practices; it originates in oneself, not in others. Furthermore, what an emperor practices and what a common man practices are different. A common man is lowly in status and inferior in reputation; his words and orders carry no authority. If he does not conquer himself and distress his person, what use will he be? An emperor takes the four seas as his home and the myriad people as his children. If he utters a single fine word, then men and women are all delighted; if he institutes a single good policy, then humans and spirits are brought into harmony. If punishments do not cut short lives and labor services do not exhaust strength, then wind and rain will be timely and cold and warmth will answer the seasons; the hundred grains will flourish, and mulberries and hemp will grow lush. In keeping the fast like this, the fast is truly great; the precept against killing is likewise comprehensive. How could it depend on omitting half a day's meal and preserving the life of a single animal before it becomes universal salvation?" The Emperor then tapped his table and sighed, saying, "Worldly people are deluded about profound principles, and śramaṇas are stuck in immediate teachings. Those who are deluded about profound principles claim the ultimate Way is an empty tale; those who are stuck in immediate teachings are bound to literal texts. When it comes to what the Dharma Master has said, it can truly be called enlightened, penetrating, and intelligent; one can discuss the boundary between Heaven and man with you!" He then ordered that he stay at Jetavana Temple and provided him with generous support. The princes, dukes, and eminent scholars all revered him. His extensive translations of sūtras and treatises are fully recorded in the Biographies of Eminent Monks; their text and meaning are detailed and accurate, with no discrepancies between Sanskrit and Chinese. At that time, the nuns Huiguo, Jingyin, and others from Yingfu Temple together asked Varman: "Six years ago, eight nuns from the Lion Country (Śrīlaṅkā) arrived in the capital, saying, 'In the land of the Song there were previously no nuns; how could ordination be received from both saṃghas? We fear that the precepts received are not complete.'" Varman said, "The method of ordination originally arises from the assembly of the great monks. Even if the requisite conditions were not fully met, it does not prevent the attainment of the precepts, just like the precedent of Mahāprajāpatī Gautamī." The nuns also feared that the years of their ordination were insufficient, and they earnestly wished to receive it again. Varman said, "Very good! If you wish to make it even more manifest, I rejoice and fully support it. However, the nuns from the Western Countries have not yet reached the required monastic age, and their number is also incomplete. For now, let them learn the Song language, and through other laymen from the Western Regions, we shall further invite foreign nuns to make up the number of ten." In the summer of that year, he spent the rains retreat at Lower Dinglin Temple. At that time, a faithful devotee picked flowers and spread them over the seats; only the flowers upon which Varman sat grew even fresher in color. The assembly all revered him with the rites accorded to a sage. When the summer retreat concluded, he returned to Jetavana Temple. On the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month of that year, before his midday meal was finished, he rose first to go and question his disciples; when they arrived later, he had already passed away peacefully. His age was sixty-five. After he passed away, they immediately sat him up on a corded chair; his countenance was unchanged, as if he were entering samādhi. More than a thousand clerics and laypeople rushed there, and all smelled an intense, fragrant aroma. They all saw a creature shaped like a dragon or snake, perhaps ten feet long, rise from the side of the corpse and ascend straight into the sky, but none could name it. They cremated him (jhāpita) with fragrant firewood and poured fragrant oil over it; a five-colored flame arose, rising gracefully into the air. The fourfold assembly gathered together, their laments shaking heaven; weeping with sorrow, their grief was boundless and uncontrollable. (These two verifications are also drawn from the records of the Liang Biographies of Eminent Monks.)