出三藏記集 13.16

13.16

竺法護。其先月支人也。世居燉煌郡。年八歲出家。事外國沙門高座為師。誦經日萬言。過目則能。天性純懿操行精苦。篤志好學萬里尋師。是以博覽六經。涉獵百家之言。雖世務毀譽。未常介於視聽也。是時晉武帝之世。寺廟圖像雖崇京邑。而方等深經蘊在西域。護乃慨然發憤志弘大道。遂隨師至西域。遊歷諸國。外國異言三十有六。書亦如之。護皆遍學貫綜古訓音義字體無不備曉。遂大齎胡本。還歸中夏。自燉煌至長安。沿路傳譯。寫以晉文所獲。大小乘經。賢劫大哀法華普耀等。凡一百四十九部。孜孜所務。唯以弘通為業。終身譯寫勞不告惓。經法所以廣流中華者。護之力也。護以晉武之末。隱居深山。山間有清㵎。恒取澡漱。後有採薪者。穢慢其側。水俄頃而熇。護乃徘徊歎曰。水若永竭真無以自給。正當移去耳。言終而泉流出滿㵎。其幽誠所感。皆此類也。後立寺於長安青門外。精勤行道。於是德化四布。聲蓋遠近。僧徒千數咸來宗奉。時有沙彌竺法乘者。八歲聰慧。依護為師。關中有甲族。欲奉大法試護道德。偽往告急求錢二十萬。護未有答。乘年十三。侍在師側即語客曰。和上意已相許矣。客退。乘曰。觀此人神色非實求錢。將以觀和上道德何如耳。護曰。吾亦以為然。明日此客率其一宗百餘口。詣護請受五戒。具謝求錢意。於是四方士庶聞風嚮集。宣隆佛化二十餘年。後值惠帝西幸長安。關中蕭條百姓流移。護與門徒避地東下。至昆池遘疾卒。春秋七十有八。後孫興公製道賢論。以天竺七僧方竹林七賢。以護比山巨源。其論云。護公德居物宗。巨源位登論道。二公風德高遠。足為流輩。其見美後代如此。初護於西域得超日明經胡本譯出。頗多繁重。時有信士聶承遠。乃更詳正文偈。刪為二卷。今之所傳經是也。承遠明練有才理篤志法務。護公出經多參正焉。惠懷之際。有沙門法炬者。不知何許人。譯出樓炭經。炬與沙門法立共出法句喻及福田二經。法立又訪得胡本。別譯出百餘首。未及繕寫。會病卒。尋值永嘉擾亂。散滅不存。

Zhu Fahu's ancestors were Yuezhi people; for generations they had lived in Dunhuang Commandery. At the age of eight he went forth from household life, serving a foreign śramaṇa, Gaozuo, as his master. He recited ten thousand words of scripture a day, mastering them as soon as his eyes passed over them. By nature he was pure and admirable, his conduct disciplined and rigorous. Earnest in purpose and fond of learning, he travelled ten thousand li in search of masters. For this reason, he read widely in the Six Classics and dipped into the words of the Hundred Schools. Though worldly affairs brought praise or blame, they never troubled his senses. At that time, during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin, although temples and icons were revered in the capital, the profound scriptures of the Vaipulya were hidden in the Western Regions. Fahu was deeply moved, aroused his determination to propagate the Great Way, and thereupon followed his master to the Western Regions, travelling through various states. There were thirty-six foreign languages, and their scripts were likewise; Fahu learned them all thoroughly, synthesizing ancient glosses, phonetic values, and script styles, fully understanding them all. He then returned to China carrying a great number of Hu originals. From Dunhuang to Chang'an, he translated along the way, transcribing into Chinese texts the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna scriptures he had obtained—a total of one hundred and forty-nine works, including the Bhadrakalpika, Mahākāruṇika, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, and Lalitavistara. Tirelessly diligent in his task, his sole occupation was propagation; translating and copying his whole life long, he never spoke of weariness. That the scriptural Dharma became widely diffused throughout China was due to Fahu's efforts. At the end of Emperor Wu of the Jin's reign, Fahu lived in seclusion in the deep mountains. In the mountains there was a clear stream from which he regularly washed and rinsed. Later, woodcutters defiled its banks, and the water suddenly dried up. Fahu paced about, sighing, 'If the water is permanently exhausted, I shall truly have no means to sustain myself, and it will be time to move away.' When he finished speaking, a spring welled up and filled the stream. His responses brought about by hidden sincerity were all of this kind. Later, he established a monastery outside the Qing Gate of Chang'an and diligently practiced the Way. Thereupon his virtuous influence spread in all four directions, his renown covering near and far, and monks by the thousands came to revere and follow him. At that time there was a śrāmaṇera named Zhu Facheng, eight years old and intelligent, who relied on Fahu as his master. In the Guanzhong region there was a prominent family who, wishing to venerate the Great Teaching and test Fahu's virtue, falsely went to report an emergency and ask for two hundred thousand coins. Fahu had not yet answered when Cheng, who was thirteen years old and attending by his master's side, said to the guest, 'The upādhyāya has already granted your request.' When the guest withdrew, Cheng said, 'Observing this person's countenance, he does not truly seek money; he only intends to see what the upādhyāya's virtue is like.' Fahu said, 'I thought so too.' The next day, this guest led over a hundred people of his clan to visit Fahu, requesting to receive the five precepts and fully apologising for his intention in asking for money. Thereupon, gentry and commoners from all quarters gathered upon hearing of his repute, and he propagated and exalted the Buddhist transformation for more than twenty years. Later, during the Western Progress of Emperor Hui to Chang'an, the Guanzhong region was desolate and the common people were displaced. Fahu and his disciples fled the region and went east; when he reached Kunchi, he fell ill and died at the age of seventy-eight. Later, Sun Xinggong composed the Daoxian lun (Treatise on the Virtuous of the Way), comparing seven Indian monks to the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, and likening Fahu to Shan Juyuan. His treatise states: 'The Venerable Hu's virtue placed him at the head of beings; Juyuan's rank rose to discoursing on the Way. The two gentlemen's refined virtue was lofty and distant, sufficient to be peers.' Such was the praise he received in later generations. Earlier, when Fahu obtained the Hu original of the Chaori ming jing in the Western Regions and translated it, it was rather redundant and cumbersome. At that time there was a layman, Nie Chengyuan, who revised and corrected the prose and verses, condensing them into two fascicles; this is the scripture transmitted today. Chengyuan was clear, experienced, endowed with talent and reason, and earnest in Dharma affairs; many of the scriptures translated by the Venerable Hu were examined and corrected by him. Between the Hui and Huai eras, there was a śramaṇa named Faju, origin unknown, who translated the Loutan jing. Ju and the śramaṇa Fali jointly translated two scriptures, the Fajuyu [jing] and the Futian [jing]. Fali also sought out Hu originals and separately translated over a hundred pieces; before he could copy them out fair, he fell ill and died. Soon afterwards, during the turmoil of Yongjia, they were scattered and lost.