翻譯名義集 1.208

1.208

[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]."