法苑珠林 36.58

36.58

Formerly, during the Yongjia years of the Song, there was the foreign Tripiṭaka master Guṇavarman, who was summoned by imperial decree to Jetavana Temple. Whenever he lectured, the fourfold assembly gathered like clouds. Once, when the summer retreat had ended, people of faithful mind went to pick various flowers and laid them beneath the monks' seats. Afterwards, upon inspection, only where Guṇavarman had sat remained as fresh and flourishing as before. Knowing in advance the time of his death, on that day he first bathed, then joined his palms, chanted sūtras, sat upright, and passed away. His body was fragrant and soft. Beneath his seat, an autograph scroll of his final writing was found. Its verses said: