出三藏記集 15.12

15.12

竺佛念。涼州人也。弱年出家。志業堅精。外和內朗。有通敏之鑒。諷習眾經粗涉外學。其倉雅詁訓尤所明練。少好遊方備貫風俗。家世西河洞曉方語。華戎音義莫不兼解。故義學之徒雖闕。而洽聞之聲甚著。符堅偽建元之中。外國沙門僧伽跋澄及曇摩難提入長安。堅祕書郎趙政。請跋澄出婆須蜜經胡本。當時名德莫能傳譯。眾咸推念。於是澄執梵文。念譯胡漢。質斷疑義音字方明。曇摩難提又出王子法益壞目因緣經。念為宣譯并作經序。至建元二十年。政復請曇摩難提出增一阿含及中阿含。於長安城內集義學沙門請念為譯。敷析研覈二載乃訖。二含光顯念之力也。至姚興弘始之初。經學甚盛。念續出菩薩瓔珞十住斷結及出曜胎經中陰經。於符姚二代為譯人之宗。自世高支謙以後莫踰於念。關中僧眾咸共嘉焉。後卒於長安。遠近白黑莫不歎惜。

Zhu Fonian was a native of Liangzhou. He went forth from home at an early age. His aspirations and practice were firm and refined; externally gentle and internally luminous, he possessed penetrating and quick discernment. He chanted and practiced the various sūtras, and also broadly touched upon non-Buddhist learning; he was particularly clear and practiced in the lexicographical glosses of the Cang [Jie pian] and the [Er]ya. In his youth he was fond of traveling, and thoroughly understood local customs. His family had resided in Xihe for generations, and he had a thorough understanding of regional dialects; of Chinese and barbarian pronunciations and meanings, there was none he did not comprehend. Therefore, although the company of doctrinal scholars was lacking [in him], his renown for extensive learning was prominent. During the counterfeit Jianyuan era of Fu Jian, the foreign śramaṇas Saṃghabhadra and Dharmanandin entered Chang'an. Fu Jian's Palace Secretariat Gentleman Zhao Zheng invited Saṃghabhadra to produce the Indic manuscript of the Vasumitra-śāstra. At that time, none among the famous and virtuous could translate it, and the assembly unanimously recommended Fonian. Thereupon, Saṃghabhadra held the Fan text, while Fonian translated between the barbarian and Chinese [tongues]; determining doubtful points, the pronunciations and characters then became clear. Dharmanandin also produced the Scripture on the Causes and Conditions of Prince Fayid's Ruined Eyes; Fonian proclaimed the translation and also wrote a preface for the sūtra. In the twentieth year of the Jianyuan era, Zheng again invited Dharmanandin to produce the Ekottarika-āgama and the Madhyama-āgama. Doctrinal śramaṇas were gathered within the city of Chang'an to invite Fonian to translate them. Explaining, analyzing, researching, and verifying, it was completed after two years. That the two Āgamas were brilliantly illuminated was through the effort of Fonian. At the beginning of the Hongshi era of Yao Xing, scriptural studies flourished greatly. Fonian successively produced the Bodhisattva-mālā, the Daśabhūmika-saṃyojana-chedana, the Udāna, the Garbha-sūtra, and the Antarābhava-sūtra. Across the two dynasties of Fu and Yao, he was the chief among translators. From the time of An Shigao and Zhi Qian onward, none surpassed Fonian. The monastic assembly of the Guanzhong region all praised him. Later he died in Chang'an. Near and far, lay and monastic, all lamented and mourned him.