出三藏記集 10.51

10.51

毘婆沙者。蓋是三藏之指歸。九部之司南。司南既准則群迷革正。指歸既宣則邪輪輟駕。自釋迦遷暉六百餘載。時北天竺有五百應真。以為靈燭久潛神炬落耀。含生昏喪重夢方始。雖前勝迦旃延撰阿毘曇以拯頹運。而後進之賢尋其宗致。儒墨競搆是非紛然。故乃澄神玄觀搜簡法相。造毘婆沙抑正眾說。或即其殊辨。或標之銓評。理致淵曠文蹄艶博。使西域勝達之士莫不資之以鏡心。覽之以朗識。而冥瀾潛灑將洽殊方。然理不虛運。弘之由人。大沮渠河西王者。天懷遐廓標誠沖寄。雖迹纏紛務而神棲玄境。用能丘壑廊廟館第林野。是使淵叟投竿巖逸來廷。息心昇堂玄客入室。誠詣既著理感不期。有沙門道泰才敏自天冲氣疎朗。博關奇趣遠參異言。往以漢土方等既備幽宗粗暢。其所未練唯三藏九部。故杖策冒嶮。爰至葱西。綜攬梵文義承高旨。并獲其胡本十萬餘偈。既達涼境。王即欲令宣譯。然懼環中之固將或未盡。所以側席虛衿企矚明勝。時有天竺沙門浮陀跋摩。周流敷化會至涼境。其人開悟淵博神懷深邃。研味鑽仰喻不可測。遂以乙丑之歲四月中旬。於涼城內苑閑豫宮寺。請令傳譯理味。沙門智嵩道朗等三百餘人。考文詳義。務存本旨。除煩即實質而不野。王親屢迴御駕陶其幽趣。使文當理詣斥言有寄。至丁卯歲七月上旬都訖。通一百卷。會涼城覆沒淪湮遐境。所出經本零落殆盡。今涼王信向發中深探幽趣。故每至新異悕仰寄聞。其年歲首更寫已出本六十卷。令送至宋臺宣布未聞。庶令日新之美敞於當時。福祚之興垂于來葉。挻以後緣得參聽末。欣遇之誠竊不自默。粗列時事以貽來哲。

The *Vibhāṣā* is indeed the ultimate refuge of the Tripiṭaka and the compass of the nine divisions [of scriptures]. When the compass is aligned, the deluded masses are reformed and righted; when the ultimate refuge is proclaimed, the chariot of heterodoxy halts. More than six hundred years after Śākyamuni withdrew his radiance, there were five hundred arhats in North Tianzhu who considered that the spiritual lamp had long been submerged, the divine torch had shed its glow, and sentient beings were dimly grieving just as a heavy dream was beginning. Although the former eminent Kātyāyana had compiled the Abhidharma to rescue the declining fortune, later scholars investigated its central principles, and rival factions contended, with right and wrong thrown into confusion. Therefore, purifying their spirits in profound contemplation and investigating the characteristics of dharmas, they composed the *Vibhāṣā* to curb and rectify the various doctrines. In some places they addressed distinct analyses; in others, they marked critical judgments. Its reasoning was profound and vast, its diction splendid and expansive, causing the eminent scholars of the Western Regions all to rely on it to reflect their minds and inspect it to illumine their understanding. Its dark currents, secretly sprinkling, were about to drench distant regions. However, truth does not function in vain; its propagation depends upon people. The Great King of Hexi, Juqu, had a heavenly mind that was vast and broad, and set his sincere aspirations on the profound. Although his tracks were entangled in bustling affairs, his spirit dwelled in the mystical realm; thus he could make the hills and ravines his court, and the mansions his wilderness. This caused the old hermits of the deep pools to drop their fishing rods and the recluses of the cliffs to come to court; those who quieted their minds ascended his hall, and mystical guests entered his chamber. When sincere devotion became manifest, the spiritual response came unlooked-for. There was the śramaṇa Daotai, whose natural talent was divine, his lofty spirit open and lucid. He broadly examined wondrous depths and engaged in foreign languages from afar. In the past, considering that the Mahāyāna was already complete in the Han land and its obscure principles broadly clear, what he had not yet mastered was only the Tripiṭaka and the nine divisions. Therefore, leaning on his staff and braving perils, he went west of the Congling Mountains, surveyed the Fan texts, and inherited their lofty purport, also obtaining over one hundred thousand gāthās of Hu manuscripts. Upon arriving in the territory of Liang, the King immediately wished to have them translated; yet fearing that the firmness of the central truth might not be fully attained, he vacated his seat and opened his mind, eagerly anticipating an eminent master. At that time, there was an Indian śramaṇa named Buddhavarman, who was traveling widely to spread the teaching and arrived in Liang. His understanding was profound and expansive, his spiritual disposition deep and vast; when he savored and investigated it, it seemed unfathomable. Thus, in the middle of the fourth month of the yichou year, at the Xianyu Palace monastery in the inner gardens of the city of Liang, he was requested to translate its doctrinal taste. The śramaṇas Zhisong, Daolang, and more than three hundred others examined the text and analyzed the meaning, striving to preserve the original purport; eliminating verbosity, they adhered to the substance, making it plain but not crude. The King personally turned his carriage back many times to refine its obscure subtleties, ensuring that the text corresponded to the principles and the phrasing conveyed the meaning. By the first third of the seventh month in the dingmao year, it was completely finished, totaling one hundred fascicles. It happened that the city of Liang fell and was submerged in a distant realm; the produced manuscripts of the scripture were scattered and almost entirely lost. Now, the King of Liang's faith springs from within, and he deeply probes the obscure subtleties; therefore, whenever new and extraordinary works arrive, he eagerly longs to hear them. At the beginning of that year, he had the previously produced sixty fascicles copied again and sent to the Song court to proclaim what had not yet been heard. It is hoped that the daily-renewed beauty may be displayed in the present, and the rise of blessed fortune may be handed down to future generations. Because of a later karmic affinity, I, Daoyan, was able to join the audience at the end. Unable to conceal my sincere delight in this encounter, I have roughly set out the events of the time to bequeath to future wise men.