出三藏記集 14.10

14.10

Fotobatuo (Buddhabhadra), rendered in Qi as Foxian ("Buddha-virtue"), was a native of North Tianzhu. He was orphaned at five and went forth from the household at seventeen. When chanting sūtras alongside several fellow students who all took a month, Foxian would finish chanting in a single day. His master sighed in admiration: "Foxian matches thirty men in a single day!" Upon receiving full ordination, he applied himself diligently to his studies, extensively learning the various sūtras and mastering many of them. From his youth he was renowned for his practice of dhyāna and the vinaya. He often traveled to Kapiśa together with his fellow student Saṃghadatta, staying there together for accumulated years. Although Datta admired his talent and brilliance, he had not yet fathomed his real attainment. Later, seeing Foxian manifest divine transformations in the dhyāna chamber, he respectfully questioned him and only then learned that he had attained the fruit of a non-returner (anāgāmin). Foxian always wished to travel widely to spread the teachings and observe different customs. Encountering the śramaṇa Zhiyan who had arrived in the Western Regions, he was invited to journey east with him. Thereupon, leaning on his monk's staff, he trudged on foot for three years, his route passing through the Snowy Mountains and braving the utmost hardships. Later, along the way, he boarded a ship and sailed along the sea. Passing an island, he pointed to a mountain and said, "We may stop here." The master of the ship said, "A traveler values his days; a favorable wind is hard to meet and we cannot pause." After sailing over two hundred li, the wind suddenly veered, and the ship returned toward the island. Only then did the passengers realize his divine insight, and all treated him as their master, taking heed of his decisions to advance or halt. Later, meeting a favorable wind, the other companions all set sail. Foxian said, "The ship must not move!" The master thereupon halted. Soon after, the vessels that had departed first capsized and were lost all at once. Later, in the dark of night, he suddenly ordered all the ships to set sail together, but none were willing to follow. Foxian rose by himself and hauled in the cables, and only his ship set out alone. Presently bandits arrived, and all those who had stayed behind were plundered and slain. Soon afterward he reached Donglai Commandery in Qingzhou. Hearing that Kumārajīva was in Chang'an, he went to join him. Kumārajīva was overjoyed; together they discussed the marks of dharmas, unfolding profound principles with many marvelous insights. Foxian then said to Kumārajīva, "What you explain does not exceed ordinary understanding, yet you have attained great renown—why is that?" Kumārajīva said, "It is merely because I am advanced in years; how could it be that I truly merit such high praise?" Whenever Kumārajīva had doubts on doctrinal points, he invariably consulted Foxian to resolve them. At that time, Yao Xing, the ruler of the illegitimate Qin, devoted his mind to sūtras and the Dharma. He provided offerings to over three thousand monks, who went in and out of the palace halls, busily cultivating worldly affairs. Foxian alone maintained quietude and did not join the throng. Later he said to his disciples, "Yesterday I saw five ships set sail together from my native land." The disciples then passed this news along, and outsiders, including Daoheng and other senior monks of Guanzhong, considered it a display of anomalies to delude the masses. Thereupon, along with three thousand monks, they expelled him. Foxian was driven out; his several hundred disciples were frightened and scattered, and he departed with over forty persons, including his disciple Huiguan. His demeanor remained calm and composed, showing no sign of distress. Those who recognized the truth all sighed with regret, and several thousand monks and laypeople saw him off. Yao Xing soon felt regret and dispatched messengers in pursuit, but Foxian declined and would not return. Prior to this, Shi Huiyuan of Mount Lu had long admired his reputation, so he dispatched messengers to enter the Pass and deliver a letter requesting his presence. Hearing later that he had been expelled, Huiyuan sent a letter to Ruler Yao explaining the circumstances of his expulsion, wishing to welcome him so that he could translate dhyāna methods. Before long, Foxian arrived at Mount Lu. Master Huiyuan met him with delight, treating him warmly like an old friend. From summer until winter, they translated various sūtras on dhyāna and numbers. Foxian's aspiration lay in wandering and converting, never seeking comfort in dwelling. In the eighth year of the Yixi era, he went to Jingzhou. There he encountered foreign shipmasters, and upon inquiring, learned that these were indeed the five Tianzhu ships he had previously foreseen. Gentry and commoners throughout the region vied to come and pay him homage, but he accepted none of the offerings presented to him. Carrying his bowl on almsround, he made no distinction between the noble and the humble. At that time Yuan Bao of Chen Commandery was serving as Chief Clerk to the Grand Commander, Emperor Wu of Song, and was in Jingzhou. Foxian led his disciple Huiguan to Yuan Bao's residence to beg for food. Yuan Bao had never been respectful or devout, and treated them very poorly. Before being sated, Foxian excused himself to withdraw. Yuan Bao said, "It seems you have not had enough; pray stay a little longer." Foxian said, "The dānapati's intention to give was limited, so what was prepared is now already exhausted." Yuan Bao immediately called his attendants to add more rice, but the rice was indeed gone; Yuan Bao was deeply ashamed. Afterwards he asked Huiguan, "What kind of man is this śramaṇa?" Huiguan replied, "His virtue and capacity are exalted and profound, beyond the fathom of ordinary men." Yuan Bao marveled greatly and reported this to the Grand Commander. The Grand Commander requested an audience with him, showed him extreme reverence, and provided all manner of provisions. Shortly thereafter, the Grand Commander returned to the capital and invited Foxian to return with him, settling him at Daochang Monastery. Foxian's deportment was plain and unadorned, differing from Chinese customs, yet his demeanor was pure and far-reaching, possessing a classic and profound elegance. Sengbi, a Dharma Master of the capital, wrote in a letter to the renowned monk of virtue Baolin: "The Dhyāna Master of Daochang has a very great mind; he is truly a [spiritual] king of Tianzhu—what an extraordinary man!" Such was the praise he received. Earlier, Zhi Faling had obtained a Hu manuscript of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra of 36,000 gāthās in Khotan, which had not yet been translated. In the fourteenth year of the Yixi era, Meng Yi, Administrator of Wu Commandery, and Chu Shudu, General of the Right Guards, invited Foxian to translate it. The master held the Fan text in his hands and, together with more than a hundred monks including Huiyan and Huiyi, evaluated and determined the meaning, harmonizing Chinese and foreign expressions, marvelously capturing the essence of the sūtra. Therefore, Daochang Monastery still possesses an Avataṃsaka Hall. The works he translated successively included the six-fascicle Niḥvāṇa, the New Amitāyus, Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha, the Root Practices of the Ten Abodes of Bodhisattvas, the Access to the Immeasurable Gate of Dhāraṇī, the Pure Six Pāramitās, the New Subtle Dhāraṇī, the Dhyāna-sūtra, and the Sūtra on the Samādhi of Contemplating the Buddha, totaling eleven works. He died in the sixth year of the Yuanjia era at the age of seventy-one.