出三藏記集 14.4

14.4

鳩摩羅什。齊言童壽。天竺人也。家世國相。什祖父達多。倜儻不群。名重於國。父鳩摩炎。聰明有懿節。將嗣相位。乃辭避出家。東度葱嶺。龜茲王聞其棄榮。甚敬慕之。自出郊迎請為國師。王有妹。年始二十。才悟明敏。過目必能。一聞則誦。且體有赤黶法生智子。諸國娉之並不行。及見炎心欲當之。王聞大喜。逼炎為妻。遂生什。什之在胎。其母慧解倍常。往雀梨大寺聽經。忽自通天竺語。眾咸歎異。有羅漢達摩瞿沙。曰此必懷智子。為說舍利弗在胎之證。既而生什。岐嶷若神。什生之後還忘前語。頃之其母出家修道。學得初果。什年七歲。亦俱出家。從師受經口誦日得千偈。偈有三十二字。凡三萬二千言。誦毘曇既過。師授其義。即自通解。無幽不暢。時龜茲國人。以其母王女利養甚多。乃携什避之。什年九歲。進到罽賓。遇名德法師槃頭達多。即罽賓王之從弟也。淵粹有大量。三藏九部莫不縷貫。亦日誦千偈。名播諸國。什既至。仍師事之。遂誦雜藏中阿鋡長阿鋡凡四百萬言。達多每與什論議。深推服之。聲徹於王。王即請入。集外道論師共相攻難。言氣始交。外道輕其幼稚。言頗不順。什乘其隙而挫之。外道折服愧惋無言。王益敬異。日給鵝腊一雙粳麵各三升蘇六升。此外國之上供也。所住寺僧乃差大僧五人沙彌十人營視灑掃。有若弟子。其見尊崇如此。至年十二。其母携還龜茲。至月氏北山。有一羅漢。見而異之。謂其母言。常當守護此沙彌。若至三十五不破戒者。當大興佛法度無數人。與漚波掬多無異。若戒不全無能為也。正可才明俊藝法師而已什進到沙勒國。頂戴佛鉢心自念言。鉢形甚大。何其輕耶。即重不可勝。失聲下之。母問其故。答曰。我心有分別。故鉢有輕重耳。什於沙勒國誦阿毘曇六足諸門增一阿鋡。及還龜茲名蓋諸國。時龜茲僧眾一萬餘人。疑非凡夫。咸推而敬之。莫敢居上。由是不預燒香之次。遂博覽四韋陀五明諸論。外道經書陰陽星算莫不究曉。妙達吉凶言若符契。性率達不礪。小檢修行者頗非之。什自得於心。未常懈意。後從佛陀耶舍學十誦律。又從須利耶蘇摩諮稟大乘。乃歎曰。吾昔學小乘。譬人不識金以鍮石為妙矣。於是廣求義要。誦中百二論。於龜茲帛純王新寺得放光經。始披讀。魔來蔽文。唯見空牒。什知魔所為。誓心逾固。魔去字顯。仍習誦之。後於雀梨大寺讀大乘經。忽聞空中語曰。汝是智人。何以讀此。什曰。汝是小魔。宜時速去。我心如地。不可轉也。停住二年。廣誦大乘經論洞其祕奧。後往罽賓。為其師槃頭達多具說一乘妙義。師感悟心服。即禮什為師。言我是和上小乘師。和上是我大乘師矣。西域諸國服什神俊。咸共崇仰。每至講說。諸王長跪高座之側。令什踐其膝以登焉。什道震西域聲被東國。符氏建元十三年歲次丁丑正月。太史奏有星見外國分野。當有大德智人入輔中國。堅素聞什名。乃悟曰。朕聞西域有鳩摩羅什。將非此耶。十九年即遣驍騎將軍呂光將兵伐龜茲及焉耆諸國。臨發謂光曰。聞彼有鳩摩羅什。深解法相善閑陰陽。為彼學之宗。朕甚思之。若剋龜茲即馳驛送什。光軍未至。什謂其王帛純曰。國運衰矣。當有勍敵。日下人從東方來。宜恭承之。勿抗其鋒。純不從而戰。光遂破龜茲殺純獲什。光性疎慢。未測什智量。見其年尚少。乃凡人戲之。強妻以龜茲王女。什拒而不受。辭甚苦到。光曰。道士之操不踰先父。何所苦辭。乃飲以淳酒同閉密室。什被逼既至。遂虧其節。或令騎牛及乘惡馬欲使墮落。什常懷忍辱。曾無異色光。慚愧而止。光還中路。置軍於山下。將士已休。什曰。不可。在此必見狼狽。宜徙軍隴上。光不納。至夜果雨洪潦暴起。水深數丈。死者數千。光始敬異之。什謂光曰。此凶亡之地。不宜淹留。推數揆運應速言歸。中路必有福地可居。光從之。至涼州聞符氏已滅。遂割據涼土制命一隅焉。正月姑臧大風。什曰。不祥之風。當有姦叛。然不勞自定也。俄而梁謙彭晃相繼而反。尋皆殄滅。光龍飛二年。張掖盧水胡沮渠界成及從弟蒙遜反。推建康太守段業為主。光遣子太原公纂率眾五萬討之。時論謂。業等烏合。纂有威聲勢必全剋。光以問什。什曰。觀察此行未見其利。既而纂敗績。僅以身免。光中書監張資。文翰溫雅識量沈粹。寢疾困篤。光博營救療。有外國道人羅叉云。能差資病。光喜給賜甚豐。什知叉誑詐。告資曰。叉不能為益。徒煩費耳。冥運雖隱。可以事試也。乃以五色絲作繩結之。燒為灰末投水中。灰若出水還成繩者。病不可愈。須臾灰散浮出復繩本形。既而叉治無効。少日資亡。頃之呂光亡。子纂襲偽位。咸寧二年有猪生子。一身三頭。龍出東廂井中。到殿前蟠臥。比旦失之。纂以為美瑞。號大殿為龍翔殿。俄而有黑龍昇於當陽九宮門。纂改九宮門為龍興門。什奏曰。比日潛龍出遊。豕妖表異。龍者陰類。出入有時。而今屢見則為災眚。必有下人謀上之變。宜剋己修德以答天戒。纂不納。與什博戲。殺棊曰。斫胡奴頭。什輒答曰。不能斫胡奴。胡奴將斫人頭。此言有旨。纂終不悟。後纂從弟超。小名胡奴。果殺纂斬首。其豫覩徵兆皆此類也。停涼積年。呂光父子既不弘道。故韞其經法無所宣化。符堅已亡竟不相見。姚萇聞其高名。虛心要請。到晉隆安二年。呂隆始聽什東既至姑臧。會萇崩。子興立。遣使迎什。弘始三年。有樹連理生于廟廷逍遙園。䓗變為薤。到其年十二月二十日。什至長安。待以國師之禮。甚見優寵。自大法東被始於漢明。歷涉魏晉經論漸多。而支竺所出多滯文格義。興少崇三寶銳志講集。什既至止。仍請入西明閤逍遙園譯出眾經。什率多闇誦無不究達。轉能晉言音譯流利。既覽舊經義多乖謬。皆由先譯失旨。不與胡本相應。於是興使沙門僧肇僧略僧邈等八百餘人諮受什旨更令出大品。什持胡本興執舊經。以相讎挍。其新文異舊者。義皆圓通。眾心愜服。莫不欣讚焉。興宗室常山公顯。安成侯嵩。並篤信緣業。屢請什於長安大寺講說新經。續出小品金剛般若十住法華維摩思益首楞嚴華手持世佛藏菩薩藏遺教菩提無行自在王因緣觀一分無量壽新賢劫諸法無行禪經禪法要禪要解彌勒成佛彌勒下生稱揚諸佛功德十誦律戒本大智成實十住中百十二門諸論。三十二部三百餘卷。並顯暢神源發揮幽致。于時四方義學沙門不遠萬里。名德秀拔者。才暢二公乃至道恒僧摽慧叡僧敦僧弼僧肇等。三千餘僧。稟訪精研務窮幽旨。廬山慧遠。道業沖粹。乃遣使修問。龍光道生慧解洞微。亦入關諮稟。傳法之宗莫與競爽。盛業久大至今式仰焉。初沙門慧叡。才識高朗。常隨什傳寫。什每為叡論西方辭體商略同異云。天竺國俗甚重文藻。其宮商體韻以入絃為善。凡覲國王必有讚德見佛之儀。以歌歎為尊。經中偈頌皆其式也。但改梵為秦。失其藻蔚。雖得大意。殊隔文體。有似嚼飯與人。非徒失味。乃令歐穢也。什常作頌贈沙門法和云。心山育德薰。流芳萬由旬。哀鸞鳴孤桐。清響徹九天。凡為十偈。辭喻皆爾。什雅仗大乘志存敷廣。常歎曰。吾若著筆作大乘阿毘曇。非迦旃比也。今在秦地深識者寡。折翮於此。將何所論。乃悽然而止。唯為姚興著實相論二卷。出言成章無所刪改。辭喻婉約莫非淵奧。什為人神情映徹傲岸出群。應機領會鮮有其疋。且篤性仁厚汎愛為心。虛己善誘終日無惓。姚主甞謂什曰。大師聰明超悟天下莫二。若一旦後世何可使法種無嗣。遂以妓女十人逼令受之。自爾以來不住僧房。別立廨舍供給豐盈。每至講說常先自說。譬如臭泥中生蓮華。但採蓮華勿取臭泥也。初什在龜茲。從卑摩羅叉律師受律。卑摩後入關中。什聞至欣然師敬盡禮。卑摩未知被逼之事。因問什曰。汝於漢地大有重緣。受法弟子可有幾人。什答。漢境經律未備。新經及律多是什所傳。出三千徒眾。皆從什受法。但什累業障深。故不受師教耳。又杯度比丘在彭城。聞什在長安。乃歎曰。吾與此子戲別三百餘年。杳然未期遲有遇於來生耳。什臨終力疾與眾僧告別曰。因法相遇。殊未盡伊心。方復異世惻愴何言。自以闇昧謬充傳譯。若所傳無謬。使焚身之後舌不燋爛。以晉義熙中卒于長安。即於逍遙園依外國法以火焚屍。薪滅形化唯舌不變。後有外國沙門來曰。羅什所諳十不出一。初什一名鳩摩羅耆婆。外國製名多以父母為本。什父鳩摩炎。母字耆婆。故兼取為名云。

Kumārajīva, translated in Chinese as Tongshou ('Youth of Long Life'), was a native of Tianzhu. His family had for generations served as state chancellors. Jīva's grandfather, Datta, was distinguished and unconventional, his renown great throughout the kingdom. His father, Kumārāyana, possessed bright intelligence and admirable virtue; when he was about to inherit the position of chancellor, he resigned, renounced worldly life, and went east across the Congling mountains. When the King of Kucha heard that he had cast aside glory, he held him in deep veneration and went out in person to the suburbs to welcome him, appointing him Preceptor of the State. The King had a younger sister, just twenty years of age, whose natural discernment was bright and quick: what passed before her eyes she could invariably master, and hearing something once she could recite it; furthermore, she had a red birthmark on her body indicating that according to the portents she would bear a wise son. Although various kingdoms sought her in marriage, none succeeded, but upon seeing [Kumār]āyana her heart wished to wed him. Hearing of this, the King was overjoyed and pressured Āyana into making her his wife; she subsequently gave birth to Jīva. While Jīva was in the womb, his mother's understanding and insight doubled what was ordinary. When she went to the Great Cakaraka Monastery to hear the sūtras, she suddenly was able of her own accord to speak the language of Tianzhu, at which everyone marveled in astonishment. An arhat named Dharmaghoṣa said, 'She must certainly be carrying a wise child,' citing for them the precedent of Śāriputra while in the womb. Soon afterwards she gave birth to Jīva, whose precocious brilliance seemed divine. After Jīva was born, she again forgot that foreign tongue. Shortly afterwards, his mother went forth to cultivate the Way, studying and attaining the first fruit. When Jīva was seven years old, he likewise went forth. Receiving sūtras from his teacher, his oral recitation each day achieved a thousand verses; each verse had thirty-two syllables, making thirty-two thousand words in total. Having completed his recitation of the Abhidharma, when his teacher imparted its meanings he grasped and penetrated them of his own accord, leaving nothing subtle uncomprehended. At that time, because his mother was a king's daughter, the people of the kingdom of Kucha provided exceedingly abundant offerings; she thereupon took Jīva away to avoid this. When Jīva was nine years old, he traveled onward to Kapiśa, where he met the monk Bandhudatta, a master of famed virtue who was the cousin of the King of Kapiśa. Profound, refined, and magnanimous, he comprehended the Tripiṭaka and the nine divisions of scriptures as though threading them on a cord; he too could recite a thousand verses a day, his name spreading among various kingdoms. Having arrived, Jīva served him as his master, reciting the miscellaneous collections, the Madhyama-āgama, and the Dīrgha-āgama, totaling four million words. Whenever Bandhudatta debated with Jīva, he deeply admired and yielded to him. Jīva's reputation reached the King, who promptly invited him into the palace and assembled non-Buddhist debate masters to engage him in mutual disputation. When the exchange of words first began, the non-Buddhists made light of his youth and spoke rather rudely, but Jīva seized upon their flaws and defeated them; the non-Buddhists conceded defeat, ashamed and regretful, left speechless. The King respected and marveled at him all the more, providing him each day with a pair of dried geese, three sheng each of nonglutinous rice and wheat flour, and six sheng of clarified butter—these being the finest offerings of foreign lands. The monks of the monastery where he stayed assigned five fully ordained monks and ten śrāmaṇeras to look after, attend to, and sweep for him, just as though they were disciples; such was the reverence and veneration shown to him. By the time he reached the age of twelve, his mother took him back to Kucha. Arriving at the northern mountains of the Yuezhi, there was an arhat who saw him, marvelled at him, and said to his mother, 'You should constantly guard and protect this śrāmaṇera. If he reaches the age of thirty-five without breaking the precepts, he will greatly propagate the Buddha-Dharma and deliver countless beings, no different from Upagupta. If his precepts are not kept whole, he will be capable of nothing [more], remaining merely a Dharma master of talent, intelligence, and fine skill.' Jīva proceeded onward to the kingdom of Kashgar. Carrying the Buddha's alms-bowl upon his head, he thought to himself, 'The shape of this bowl is exceedingly large; why is it so light?' Thereupon it became overwhelmingly heavy, and crying out in astonishment he set it down. When his mother asked the reason, he answered, 'My mind gave rise to conceptual differentiation; thus the bowl had light and heavy.' In the kingdom of Kashgar, Jīva recited the six sections of the Abhidharma, the various topics, and the Ekottarika-āgama. When he returned to Kucha, his fame covered all the kingdoms. At that time the community of monks in Kucha numbered over ten thousand; suspecting that he was no ordinary man, all of them deferred to and revered him, none daring to take a seat above him; for this reason he did not participate in the regular order for burning incense. He thereupon read widely in the four Vedas, the treatises of the five sciences, and the scriptures, books, yinyang, and astrology of non-Buddhists, examining and thoroughly understanding them all. He possessed an exquisite penetration of good and bad fortune, his prognostications matching like the two halves of a tally. By nature he was candid, uninhibited, and did not discipline himself in minor restraints, on account of which practitioners of cultivation often criticized him. Jīva remained content within his own mind, never slackening in purpose. Later he studied the Daśādhyāya-vinaya under Vimalākṣa, and also inquired into the Mahāyāna under Sūryasoma, exclaiming, 'Formerly when I studied the Hīnayāna, it was like a person who did not recognize gold and took brass to be wondrous!' Thereupon he broadly sought out the essential principles, reciting the Madhyamaka-śāstra and Śata-śāstra. At the New Monastery of King Po Chun of Kucha he obtained the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra. When he first opened and read it, Māra came and obscured the text, so that he saw only blank tablets. Recognizing that this was Māra's doing, Jīva's resolve became all the firmer; when Māra departed the characters reappeared, and he continued studying and reciting it. Later, while reading Mahāyāna sūtras at the Great Cakaraka Monastery, he suddenly heard a voice in the sky saying, 'You are a wise man; why do you read these?' Jīva said, 'You are a petty māra; you should depart at once. My mind is like the earth: it cannot be moved.' He stayed there for two years, reciting Mahāyāna sūtras and śāstras extensively, penetrating their esoteric depths. Later he went to Kapiśa, where he expounded the wondrous doctrine of the One Vehicle in full to his teacher Bandhudatta. His master was moved and convinced in his heart, promptly bowing to Jīva as his teacher, saying, 'I was the upādhyāya's Hīnayāna teacher, and the upādhyāya is my Mahāyāna teacher!' The various kingdoms of the Western Regions deferred to Jīva's divine brilliance, looking up to him in veneration. Whenever he lectured, the various kings would kneel long beside the high seat, bidding Jīva to step upon their knees to ascend it. Jīva's Way shook the Western Regions and his reputation reached the eastern lands. In the thirteenth year of the Jianyuan era of the Fu clan [377 CE], being the dingchou year, in the first month, the grand astrologer memorialized that a star had appeared in the astrological field corresponding to foreign lands, signifying that a wise man of great virtue would enter to assist the Central Kingdom. Fu Jian, having long heard of Jīva's renown, was struck with realization and said, 'We have heard that in the Western Regions there is Kumārajīva; could it not be he?' In the nineteenth year [383 CE], he dispatched the General of Agile Cavalry Lü Guang leading an army to attack Kucha, Karasahr, and other kingdoms. Just before setting out, he said to Guang, 'We hear that in that realm is Kumārajīva, who profoundly understands the marks of dharmas and is well-versed in yinyang, serving as the master of learning there. We long for him greatly. If you conquer Kucha, immediately dispatch relay couriers to send Jīva.' Before Guang's army arrived, Jīva said to King Po Chun, 'The state's fortune is waning; there will come a powerful enemy, men from under the sun coming from the east. You should respectfully submit to them; do not oppose their vanguard.' Chun did not heed him and fought; Guang thereupon crushed Kucha, killed Chun, and captured Jīva. By nature Guang was loose and arrogant; not discerning Jīva's intellectual measure and seeing that he was still young, he made sport of him as a common person, forcibly marrying him to the daughter of the King of Kucha. Jīva refused and would not accept, pleading with utmost anguish. Guang said, 'A master of the Way's virtue does not exceed that of his late father; why offer such bitter refusals?' He then gave him pure wine to drink and locked them together in a secret room. Subjected to extreme coercion, Jīva eventually compromised his virtue. At times [Guang] would have him ride an ox or mount an unruly horse in an attempt to make him fall; Jīva constantly maintained forbearance, never displaying an unusual countenance. Ashamed, Guang ceased doing so. On the journey back, Guang encamped his army at the foot of a mountain when the generals and soldiers were already resting. Jīva said, 'You must not do so. If you remain here, you will certainly face disaster; you should move the army atop the ridge.' Guang did not accept his advice. Come nightfall, torrential rain indeed fell and flash floods suddenly rose, with water several fathoms deep, drowning several thousand men. Only then did Guang hold him in respect and wonder. Jīva said to Guang, 'This is a place of ruin and death; you should not linger. Deducing the calculations and assessing destiny, you should quickly resolve to return. Midway along the route there will surely be an auspicious land where you can dwell.' Guang followed his advice. Arriving in Liangzhou, he learned that the Fu clan had already been destroyed, whereupon he carved out territory in the land of Liang and established his authority over that region. In the first month, a great gale struck Guzang. Jīva said, 'An ominous wind: there will surely be treason and rebellion, yet without effort it will subside of itself.' Shortly thereafter Liang Qian and Peng Huang rebelled in succession, but were soon eliminated. In the second year of Guang's Longfei era [397 CE], the Lushui Hu Juqu Jiecheng of Zhangye and his cousin Mengxun rebelled, elevating the governor of Jiankang, Duan Ye, as their leader. Guang dispatched his son Zuan, Duke of Taiyuan, leading a force of fifty thousand to suppress them. Contemporary opinion held that Ye and the others were a ragtag mob, while Zuan had an imposing reputation, so they were certain to achieve total victory. Guang asked Jīva about it, and Jīva said, 'Observing this expedition, I see no benefit.' Afterwards Zuan was defeated, barely escaping with his life. Guang's director of the Secretariat, Zhang Zi, was cultivated and elegant in his writings, and his capacity for understanding was deep and refined; he fell bedridden with severe illness, and Guang broadly sought remedies and medical treatment for him. There was a foreign religious practitioner named Rākṣa who said he could cure Zi's illness, and Guang was delighted, bestowing lavish gifts upon him. Jīva knew that Rākṣa was deceitful and told Zi, 'Rākṣa can provide no benefit; it will merely be futile expense. Although the dark operations of fate are hidden, they can be tested by means of a device.' He then took five-colored silk thread, knotted it into a cord, burned it to ash, and threw it into water: 'If the ash floats out of the water and returns to being a cord, the illness cannot be cured.' In an instant the ash dispersed, floated to the surface, and resumed the original form of the cord. Thereafter Rākṣa's treatment was ineffective, and in a few days Zi died. Shortly after this Lü Guang died, and his son Zuan usurped the throne. In the second year of Xianning [400 CE], a sow gave birth to a piglet with one body and three heads. A dragon emerged from the well of the eastern wing and coiled itself before the hall; by dawn it had vanished. Zuan regarded this as an auspicious omen, naming the grand hall the Dragon Soaring Hall. Shortly thereafter a black dragon ascended at the Nine Palaces Gate facing the sun; Zuan changed the name of the Nine Palaces Gate to the Dragon Rising Gate. Jīva memorialized, 'Recently a hidden dragon emerged to wander, and a monstrous pig manifested an anomaly. Dragons belong to the yin category; their emerging and entering have their proper seasons. To appear repeatedly now indicates a calamity or misfortune. There will certainly be an uprising in which inferiors plot against their superior. You should restrain yourself and cultivate virtue so as to respond to the warnings of Heaven.' Zuan did not heed him. When playing board games with Jīva and taking a piece, he said, 'I chop off the head of the Hu slave.' Jīva immediately answered, 'You cannot chop off the Hu slave's head; the Hu slave will chop off a man's head.' These words held a hidden intent, but Zuan never understood. Later Zuan's cousin Chao, whose childhood name was Hu slave, indeed killed Zuan and cut off his head. Jīva's foreseeing of signs and omens was always of this sort. Staying in Liang for many years, since the Lü father and sons did not promote the Way, Jīva harbored the sūtras and teachings within, with nowhere to propagate and transform others. Fu Jian having already died, they never met after all. Yao Chang, hearing of his high reputation, earnestly invited him, but it was not until the second year of Long'an of the Jin dynasty [398 CE] that Lü Long finally permitted Jīva to go east. When he arrived in Guzang, Chang happened to pass away, and his son Xing ascended the throne, dispatching envoys to welcome Jīva. In the third year of Hongshi [401 CE], trees with interlocking branches grew in the ancestral temple courtyard and the Xiaoyao Garden, and scallions transformed into shallots. On the twentieth day of the twelfth month of that year, Jīva arrived in Chang'an, where he was received with the etiquette of a State Preceptor and treated with exceptional favor. Ever since the great Dharma spread east beginning under Emperor Ming of the Han, passing through the Wei and Jin dynasties, the sūtras and treatises had gradually grown numerous, yet what Zhi Qian and Zhu Fahu had produced mostly clung to the literal text or relied on matching concepts (geyi). Xing had revered the Three Jewels from his youth and was keenly devoted to lectures and assemblies; once Jīva arrived, he invited him to enter the Ximing Pavilion in the Xiaoyao Garden to translate various sūtras. Jīva for the most part recited from memory, thoroughly understanding everything, and was further able to translate fluently into the spoken Chinese language. Having examined the older sūtras and finding many discrepancies and errors, which all stemmed from earlier translators losing the underlying purport and not matching the foreign originals, Xing thereupon ordered more than eight hundred monks, including Sengzhao, Senglüe, and Sengmiao, to consult and receive Jīva's purports, commissioning him to re-translate the Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Jīva held the foreign text while Xing held the old sūtra to collate and compare them. Where the new text differed from the old, the meaning was in every case completely coherent, and the multitude was satisfied and convinced, none failing to rejoice and praise it. Members of Xing's royal clan, the Duke of Changshan, Xian, and the Marquis of Ancheng, Song, both had firm faith in karmic causality and repeatedly invited Jīva to lecture on the new sūtras at the Great Monastery of Chang'an. Subsequently he produced the Smaller Prajñāpāramitā, Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā, Daśabhūmika, Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Viśeṣacintibrahmaparipṛcchā, Śūraṅgamasamādhi, Hastikakṣyā, Lokadhara, Buddhapiṭaka, Bodhisattvapiṭaka, Bequeathed Teachings, Bodhi-apramāda, Sarvapunyasamuccayasamādhi, Nidāna-dṛṣṭi-ekadeśa, Sukhāvatīvyūha, the new Bhadrakalpika, Sarvadharmāpravṛtti, Dhyāna-sūtra, Essentials of Dhyāna, Commentary on the Essentials of Dhyāna, Maitreyavyākaraṇa, Descent of Maitreya, Praise of the Virtues of the Buddhas, Daśādhyāya-vinaya prātimokṣa, Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, Satyasiddhi-śāstra, Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā, Madhyamaka-śāstra, Śata-śāstra, and Dvādaśanikāya-śāstra—in all, thirty-two works in more than three hundred scrolls. All illuminated and gave vent to the spiritual source and manifested profound purport. At that time, śramaṇas who studied doctrinal meanings in the four directions came without considering ten thousand li too far; eminent and outstanding figures of famous virtue, including Masters Caichang, Daoheng, Sengbiao, Huirui, Sengdun, Sengbi, and Sengzhao, numbering more than three thousand monks, received his teachings, inquired, carefully investigated, and dedicated themselves to exhausting the profound purport. Huiyuan of Mount Lu, whose practice of the Way was vast and refined, dispatched an envoy to convey greetings and questions. Daosheng of Longguang, whose understanding of wisdom penetrated the subtle, also entered the Pass to consult and receive instruction. Among those who transmitted the Dharma lineage, none could rival his brilliance, and his magnificent achievement has been vast and enduring, looked up to as a model even to this day. Earlier, the śramaṇa Huirui had superior talent and discernment, and regularly followed Jīva to transcribe texts. Jīva would frequently discuss with Rui the stylistic forms of Western writing and deliberate on the similarities and differences, saying, 'The customs of Tianzhu place great value on literary refinement; their musical pitch and poetic rhyme are considered good when suited to stringed instruments. Whenever one has an audience with the king of a state, there must be praises of his virtue; the etiquette for beholding the Buddha gives the highest place to verses of praise. The gāthās in the sūtras are all of this form. But when changing Fan into Qin, one loses their lush elegance; though the general meaning is conveyed, it is completely severed from the literary form. It is like chewing rice to feed another: not only is the flavor lost, it even causes one to vomit in disgust.' Jīva often composed verses presented to the śramaṇa Fahe, saying: 'The mind-mountain nurtures the fragrance of virtue, / its scent wafting ten thousand yojanas; / a sorrowful luan bird cries from a solitary tong tree, / its pure sound piercing the nine heavens.' In all he composed ten gāthās, the phrasing and metaphors being all of this kind. Jīva took the Mahāyāna as his supreme standard and set his mind on broadly propagating it; he often sighed and said, 'If I were to take up the brush to compose a Mahāyāna Abhidharma, it would be no match for [mere] Kātyāyana! Now in the land of Qin those with deep understanding are few; with my wings clipped here, what is there to discuss?' He then broke off in sorrow. He only composed the Treatise on the Real Mark (Shixiang lun) in two scrolls for Yao Xing; when he spoke, it immediately formed refined prose without any need for deletion or correction, its words and metaphors gentle and restrained, none failing to be deep and profound. In person Jīva was lucid and bright in spirit, lofty and preeminent among his peers, grasping principles according to circumstance with rarely an equal. Moreover, he was deeply kind and benevolent by nature, taking universal love as his heart, modest and good at guiding others, never tiring all day long. The lord Yao once said to Jīva, 'The Great Master's intelligence and transcendent awakening are without peer under heaven; if one day you pass to another life, how could we let the lineage of Dharma be left without heirs?' Thereupon he forced ten courtesans upon him and compelled him to accept them. From that time on he no longer dwelt in the monastic quarters, but had a separate residence established for him where provisions were abundantly supplied. Whenever he was about to give a lecture, he would always first say of himself, 'It is like a lotus blossom growing out of foul mud: just take the lotus blossom; do not take the foul mud.' Earlier, while Jīva was in Kucha, he received the Vinaya from the Vinaya master Vimalākṣa. When Vimalākṣa later entered Guanzhong, Jīva, hearing of his arrival, rejoiced and served him as master with complete ritual propriety. Not yet knowing of the forced marriage, Vimalākṣa asked Jīva, 'You have encountered great conditions in the Han territory; about how many disciples have received the Dharma from you?' Jīva replied, 'The sūtras and Vinaya were not yet complete in the Han realm; the new sūtras and Vinaya were mostly transmitted by me. Three thousand followers have all received the Dharma from me, but my karmic hindrances are deep, and therefore I could not keep my master's teachings.' Moreover, when the bhikṣu Beidu was in Pengcheng and heard that Jīva was in Chang'an, he sighed and said, 'It has been more than three hundred years since I parted in jest with this fellow; distant and with no set time, I must patiently wait to meet him in a future life.' When Jīva was facing the end of his life, he rallied his strength despite illness to bid farewell to the assembly of monks, saying, 'We have met through the Dharma, yet I have not fully poured out my heart. Now returning to a different world, how can grief describe it? Considering myself benighted and foolish, I falsely filled the post of translator. If what I transmitted is without error, may my tongue not be burned or decayed after my body is cremated.' In the Yixi era of the Jin dynasty, he died in Chang'an. Thereupon, in accordance with the foreign custom, his corpse was cremated with fire in the Xiaoyao Garden; when the firewood was consumed and his form dissolved, only his tongue remained unchanged. Later a foreign śramaṇa arrived and said that what Kumārajīva had mastered did not amount to even one-tenth of what he translated. Formerly, another name of Jīva was Kumārajīva; in foreign naming practices, names are mostly based on those of the parents. Jīva's father was Kumārāyana, and his mother's name was Jīvā; thus his name combined both.