[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [翻譯名義集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131) › 1.208 # 翻譯名義集 1.208 翻譯名義集 1.208 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.208](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1.208) 【鳩摩羅什婆】此云童壽，祖印度人。父以聰敏見稱，龜茲王聞，以女妻之，而生於什。什居胎日，母增辯慧。七歲出家，日誦千偈，義旨亦通。至年九歲，與外道論義，辨挫邪鋒，咸皆愧伏。年十二，有羅漢奇之，謂其母曰：「常守護之。若年三十五，不破戒者，當大興佛法，度無數人。」又習五明，四韋陀典，陰陽星算，必窮其妙。後轉習大乘，數破外道，近遠諸國，咸謂神異。母生什後，亦即出家，聰拔眾尼，得第三果。什既受具，母謂之曰：「方等深教，應大闡秦都，於汝自身無利，如何？」什曰：「菩薩之行，利物亡軀，大化必行，鑪鑊無恨。」從此已後，廣誦大乘，洞其祕奧。西域諸王，請什講說，必長跪座側，命什蹹登。符堅建元九年，太史奏云：「有德星現，外國當有大德智人入輔中國。」堅曰：「朕聞西域有羅什，襄陽有道安，將非此耶？」後遣將軍呂光等，率兵七萬西伐龜茲。光與什同來，什在道數言應變，光盡用之。光據西涼，亦請什留。至姚秦弘始三年，興滅西呂，方入長安。秦主興厚加禮之，延入西明閣及逍遙園，別館安置。勅僧䂮（音略）等八百沙門，諮受什旨。興卑萬乘之心，尊三寶之教，於草堂寺，共三千僧，手執舊經，而參定之，莫不精究，洞其深旨。時有僧叡，興甚嘉焉，什所譯經，叡並參正。然什詞喻婉約，出言成章，神情鑒徹，慠岸出群，應機領會，鮮有其匹。且篤性仁厚，汎愛為心，虛己善誘，終日無倦。南山律師嘗問天人陸玄暢云：「什師一代所翻之經，至今若新，受持轉盛，何耶？」答云：「其人聰明，善解大乘，已下諸人，並皆俊乂，一代之寶也。絕後光前，仰之所不及。故其所譯，以悟達為先，得佛遺寄之意也。又從毘婆尸佛已來譯經。」又云：「什師位階三賢，文殊指授，令其刪定。」 > \[Kumārajīvaka\] Here translated as "Youth Longevity" (Tongshou). His ancestors were from India. His father was praised for his intelligence, and when the King of Kucha heard of him, he gave him his daughter in marriage, and she gave birth to Kumārajīva. While Kumārajīva was in the womb, his mother's eloquence and wisdom increased. At seven years of age he renounced household life, reciting a thousand verses daily, and he comprehended their meanings. When he reached nine years of age, he debated doctrines with non-Buddhists, breaking the sharp edge of their heterodox views so that all submitted in shame. At twelve, an arhat marveled at him and said to his mother: "Constantly guard and protect him. If by thirty-five years of age he does not break the precepts, he will greatly propagate the Buddha-Dharma and save countless people." Furthermore, he studied the five sciences (pañcavidyā), the four Vedas, yin-yang, and astrology, exhausting their subtleties. Later he turned to studying the Mahāyāna and repeatedly refuted non-Buddhists; kingdoms near and far all deemed him supernatural and marvelous. After Kumārajīva's mother gave birth to him, she also renounced household life; excelling among all nuns in intelligence, she attained the third fruit. After Kumārajīva received full ordination, his mother said to him: "The profound teachings of the Vaipulya should be greatly propagated in the Qin capital, but there is no benefit for yourself; what will you do?" Kumārajīva replied: "The bodhisattva's practice is to benefit beings and forget oneself. If the great transformation must be enacted, I would feel no regret even in cauldrons and furnaces." From then on, he widely recited the Mahāyāna, penetrating its secret mysteries. When the kings of the Western Regions invited Kumārajīva to preach, they would always kneel beside his seat and bid him step upon them to ascend. In the ninth year of the Jianyuan reign era of Fu Jian, the Grand Astrologer reported: "An auspicious star has appeared; a person of great virtue and wisdom from a foreign land shall come to assist the Middle Kingdom." Fu Jian said: "We have heard that the Western Regions have Kumārajīva and Xiangyang has Dao'an; could it not be them?" Later he dispatched General Lü Guang and others, leading seventy thousand troops westward to conquer Kucha. Lü Guang returned together with Kumārajīva; on the road Kumārajīva spoke several times in response to changing situations, and Lü Guang followed all of his advice. When Lü Guang occupied Western Liang, he also asked Kumārajīva to stay. In the third year of the Hongshi reign era of the Yao Qin, after Yao Xing destroyed the Western Lü, Kumārajīva finally entered Chang'an. Yao Xing, the ruler of Qin, treated him with profound courtesy, inviting him into the Ximing Pavilion and Xiaoyao Garden, where he was accommodated in a separate lodge. He ordered Senglüe and eight hundred other śramaṇas to consult and receive instruction from Kumārajīva. Yao Xing humbled his status as sovereign of ten thousand chariots and revered the teaching of the Three Jewels; at Caotang Temple, together with three thousand monks, he held the old sūtras in his own hands to compare and verify them. There were none who did not investigate them meticulously and penetrate their deep purport. At that time there was Sengrui, whom Yao Xing greatly praised; of the sūtras translated by Kumārajīva, Sengrui checked and verified them all. Kumārajīva's phrases and metaphors were graceful and succinct, his spoken words formed elegant compositions, his spirit was discerning and thorough, and his aloof dignity surpassed the crowd; in grasping matters according to capacity, few were his match. Moreover, his nature was genuinely kind and generous, taking universal love as his mind; humble himself, he was skilled at guidance, never wearying throughout the day. Vinaya Master Nanshan \[Daoxuan\] once asked the celestial being Lu Xuanchang: "Why is it that the sūtras translated by Master Kumārajīva in his generation remain as fresh as new to this day, and are received and upheld ever more flourishingly?" He replied: "That man was intelligent and skilled at understanding the Mahāyāna; all those beneath him were outstanding talents, treasures of an era. Surpassing the past and illuminating the future, ordinary mortals cannot match them. Therefore his translations prioritized awakening and comprehension, grasping the intended meaning bequeathed by the Buddha. Furthermore, he has been translating sūtras ever since the time of Vipaśyin Buddha." He also said: "Master Kumārajīva's rank was at the three stages of the worthy; Mañjuśrī instructed him, bidding him to edit and establish \[the texts\]." > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.207](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1.207) - [Next: 1.209](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1.209) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131~en-mt.1.208) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (2) - [古今譯經圖紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2151.3.12) — Classical Chinese - [道宣律師感通錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2107.1.10) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1.208](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2131.1.208) · Pramāṇa