大宋僧史略 2.10

2.10

讚唄原始。案十誦律中。俱胝耳（即億耳也）作三契聲以讚佛。其人善唄易了解。阿含中。善和羅作善諷誦。令影勝大王象馬不行。此土則康僧會傳泥洹讚唄。支謙製連句梵唄。又開士法勝善阿毘曇心。別撰二百五偈以為要解。號曰心。其頌聲也撰象天樂。若靈籥自發儀刑群品。觸物有寄。一吟一詠狀鳥步獸行也。一弄一引類乎物情也。情與類遷。則聲隨九變而成歌。氣與數合。則五音協律而俱作。附之金石。則百獸率舞。奏之管絃。則人神同感。斯乃窮音聲之妙會也。魏子建嘗游魚山而感音。翻其曲折同合沙門之唄𠽋焉。南齊竟陵王子良將經中偈契消息。調音曲盡其妙。著讚梵唄偈文一卷。又帛法橋者尤善梵唄。高僧傳中其人頗多。此不具錄。後趙石勒建平年中。有神降于安邑廳事。諷詠經音。七日方絕。僧有摹寫為梵唄焉。或曰。梵唄之聲此何益也。通曰。一者佛道法樂也。此音韻雖哀不傷。雖樂不淫。折中中和故為法樂也。二者諸天鬼神聞皆歡喜故。三者諸佛常法。十方剎土何莫由斯樂也。

Regarding the origins of chanting praises: according to the *Daśādhyāya-vinaya*, Koṭikarṇa (that is, Yier) produced sounds in three cadences to praise the Buddha; he was skilled in chanting and easy to understand. In the *Āgamas*, Sanhavarṇa was skilled in melodious recitation, causing the elephants and horses of King Bimbisāra to stop walking. In this land, Kang Senghui transmitted the praises and chants for the Parinirvāṇa, and Zhi Qian composed Sanskrit chants in linked verses. Furthermore, the bodhisattva Dharmaśrī was skilled in the *Abhidharmahṛdaya*; he composed an additional 205 verses as essential explanations, entitling it the *Hṛdaya* ["Heart"]. The sound of his chanting was modeled on heavenly music; as if a marvelous pipe sounded on its own, it set the model for all things, finding an expression in whatever it touched. Each hum and chant depicted the walking of birds and beasts; each melody and trill resembled the emotions of creatures. When feelings shift with their categories, sounds follow the nine transformations to become song; when breath harmonizes with proportions, the five notes accord with the pitch-pipes and rise together. When applied to metal and stone instruments, the hundred beasts dance; when played on wind and strings, humans and spirits are moved alike. This is the ultimate convergence of the marvel of sounds. Cao Zhi of the Wei once roamed Fish Mountain and was moved by the sounds; he transposed their bends and turns to match the melodies of the monks' chanting. Xiao Ziliang, Prince of Jingling under the Southern Qi, examined the nuances of verses and cadences in the sūtras, tuning the musical airs to exhaust their subtlety, and wrote one fascicle of *Verses for Chanting Sanskrit Chants*. In addition, Bai Faqiao was exceptionally skilled in Sanskrit chants. Such persons in the *Gaoseng zhuan* are quite numerous and are not fully recorded here. During the Jianping era of Shi Le of the Later Zhao (330–332), a spirit descended to the hall of Anyi and recited sūtra melodies, which ceased only after seven days; monks transcribed them to make Sanskrit chants. Someone might ask: "What is the benefit of the sound of Sanskrit chants?" I reply: "First, it is the Dharma-joy of the Buddha's path. Although these melodies and rhythms are sorrowful, they are not distressing; though joyful, they are not licentious. Because they hit the golden mean, they serve as Dharma-joy. Second, all the gods, ghosts, and spirits are delighted upon hearing them. Third, it is the constant practice of all Buddhas; throughout the lands of the ten directions, who does not take joy in this?"