出三藏記集 13.18

13.18

竺叔蘭。本天竺人也。祖父婁陀。篤志好學。清簡有節操。時國王無道百姓思亂。有賊臣將兵得罪。懼誅以其國豪呼與共反。婁陀怒曰。君出於微賤而任居要職。不能以德報恩。而反為逆謀乎。我寧守忠而死。不反而生也。反者懼謀泄。即殺之而作亂。婁陀子達摩尸羅。齊言法首。先在他國。其婦兄二人並為沙門。聞父被害國內大亂。即與二沙門奔晉。居于河南。生叔蘭。叔蘭幼而聰辯。從二舅諮受經法。一聞而悟。善胡漢語及書。亦兼諸文史。然性頗輕躁。遊獵無度。常單騎逐鹿。值虎墮馬。折其右臂。久之乃差。後馳騁不已。母數呵諫。終不改為之蔬食。乃止性嗜酒。飲至五六升方暢常大醉臥於路傍。仍入河南郡門。喚呼吏錄送河南獄。時河南尹樂廣與賓客共酣。已醉謂蘭曰。君僑客。何以學人飲酒。叔蘭曰。杜康釀酒天下共飲。何以僑舊。廣又曰。飲酒可爾。何以狂亂乎。答曰。民雖狂而不亂。猶府君雖醉而不狂。廣大呼時坐客曰。外國人那得面白。叔蘭曰。河南人面黑尚不疑僕面白復何怪耶。於是賓主歎其機辯。遂釋之。頃之無疾暴亡。三日還蘇。自說入一朱門。金銀為堂見一人。自云。是其祖父。謂叔蘭曰。吾修善累年。今受此報。汝罪人。何得來耶。時守門人以杖驅之。入竹林中見其獵伴。為鷹犬所啄齧。流血號叫求救於叔蘭。叔蘭走避數十步。值牛頭人。欲叉之。叔蘭曰。我累世佛弟子。常供二沙門。何罪見治。牛頭人答。此唯受福。不關獵罪。俄而見其兩舅來。語牛頭曰。我等二人恒受其供。惡少善多可得相免。遂隨道人歸。既而還蘇。於是改節修慈。專志經法。以晉元康元年。譯出放光經及異維摩詰十餘萬言。既學兼胡漢。故譯義精允。後遭母難三月便欲葬。有隣人告曰。今歲月不便。可待來年。叔蘭曰。夫生者必有一死。死者不復再生。人神異塗。理之然也。若使亡母棲靈有地。則烏鳥之心畢矣。若待來年。恐逃走無地。何暇奉營乎。遂即葬畢。明年石勒果作亂。寇賊縱橫。因避地奔荊州。後無疾。忽告知識曰。吾將死矣。數日便卒。識者以為知命。

Zhu Shulan was originally a man of India. His grandfather, Loutuo, was devoted in purpose and fond of learning, pure, simple, and principled. At that time the king of the state was unprincipled and the common people thought of rebellion. A treacherous minister who led troops committed an offense, and fearing execution, he called upon the notables of the state to rebel with him. Loutuo said angrily, 'You arose from lowly status and yet were appointed to an essential post; can you not repay this kindness with virtue, but instead plot treason? I would rather preserve my loyalty and die than rebel and live.' Fearing the plot would leak, the rebel killed him and rose in revolt. Loutuo's son, Damoxiluo (in the language of Qi, Fasou [Dharmaśīla]), had previously been in another country; his wife's two brothers were both śramaṇas. Hearing that his father had been killed and that the country was in great turmoil, he fled to the Jin with the two śramaṇas and lived in Henan, where Shulan was born. Shulan was intelligent and articulate from youth; he studied and received scriptural teachings from his two maternal uncles, awakening upon hearing them once. He was skilled in both Hu and Chinese languages and scripts, and also well versed in diverse literary and historical works. However, he was somewhat reckless and frivolous by nature, indulging in hunting without restraint. He once chased a deer on a single horse, encountered a tiger, fell from his horse, and broke his right arm. Only after a long time did he recover. Afterward, he galloped about without stopping; his mother repeatedly scolded and admonished him, and only when she ceased eating meat and ate vegetables on his behalf did he finally stop. By nature he was fond of wine, feeling relaxed only after drinking five or six sheng, and he would often lie dead drunk by the roadside. He even entered the gate of Henan Commandery shouting and calling, so the clerks recorded and sent him to the Henan jail. At that time Yue Guang, the Intendant of Henan, was drinking with his guests; already drunk, he said to Lan, 'You are an immigrant; why do you learn to drink wine from others?' Zhu Shulan said, 'Du Kang brewed wine for all under heaven to drink; why speak of immigrants or natives?' Guang said again, 'Drinking wine may be fine, but why be wild and disordered?' He replied, 'I, the commoner, may be wild but am not disordered, just as your lordship, though drunk, is not wild.' Guang shouted out and asked the guests present, 'How is it that a foreigner has a white face?' Shulan replied, 'The people of Henan have black faces, yet no one doubts them; what is so strange about my having a white face?' Thereupon host and guests admired his quick wit and released him. Soon afterward, he died suddenly without illness and revived after three days. He related that he entered a vermilion gate where there was a hall made of gold and silver, and saw a man who said he was his grandfather. [The grandfather] said to Shulan, 'I practiced goodness for years and now receive this retribution. You are a sinner; how could you come here?' At that time the gatekeeper drove him out with a staff. Entering a bamboo grove, he saw his hunting companions being pecked and bitten by falcons and hounds, bleeding and crying out to Shulan for help. Shulan ran and fled several tens of paces, where he met an ox-headed man who was about to pierce him with a pitchfork. Shulan said, 'For generations I have been a disciple of the Buddha, constantly making offerings to two śramaṇas. What crime brings this punishment upon me?' The ox-headed man replied, 'This only reaps blessing; it does not concern the sin of hunting.' Soon he saw his two maternal uncles arrive, who said to the ox-headed man, 'The two of us have constantly received his offerings; his evil is little and his good is great, so he may be spared.' He then returned following the clerics, and thereupon revived. Thereupon he altered his conduct, cultivated compassion, and dedicated his mind to the scriptural Dharma. In the first year of Yuankang of the Jin (291 CE), he translated the Fangguang jing and an alternative Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, totaling over one hundred thousand words. Since his learning encompassed both Hu and Chinese, his translated meanings were precise and accurate. Later, his mother died, and after three months he wished to bury her. A neighbour said, 'The months of this year are inauspicious; you may wait until next year.' Shulan said, 'Whatever is born must have a death; the dead do not come back to life. Humans and spirits tread different paths; this is in the nature of things. If my deceased mother's spirit finds a resting place, my filial piety will be fulfilled. If I wait until next year, I fear there will be nowhere to flee—how will there be leisure to attend to this?' He thereupon completed the burial immediately. The next year, Shi Le indeed rose in revolt, and bandits ran rampant. He fled the region to Jingzhou. Later, without illness, he suddenly told his acquaintances, 'I am about to die,' and passed away several days later. Those who understood regarded him as having known his fate.