出三藏記集 14.22

14.22

Guṇavṛddhi was a native of Central India. From an early age, he followed the path of religion and studied under the Indian Mahāyāna master Saṅghas[ena]. Intelligent, endowed with a strong memory, and diligent in recitation and study, he could recite more than one hundred thousand words of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras. He also studied non-Buddhist texts and clearly understood yin and yang; his meteorological and astrological divinations often proved extraordinarily accurate, so his renown in esoteric and religious arts was known throughout the Western Regions. At the beginning of the Jianyuan era, he came to the capital and stayed at Biyali Monastery. Holding a tin staff with disciples trailing behind him, his comportment was dignified and austere, and princes, dukes, and the noble elite vied to provide him with offerings and invitations. Earlier, in India, Saṅghas[ena] had culled essential parables from the twelve divisions of the sūtra basket and compiled them into one work of one hundred episodes to instruct beginners. Guṇavṛddhi was thoroughly versed in reciting all of them and understood their doctrinal purport. In the autumn of the tenth year of the Yongming era, he translated it into the language of the Qi in ten fascicles; this is the Baiju piyu jing (Hundred Parables Sūtra). He also translated the Xuda zhangzhe [jing] and the Shi'er yinyuan jing, each in one fascicle. Since the Daming era, the translation of sūtras had virtually ceased, so when he disseminated the Dharma-treasure, everyone in the world praised him. Guṇavṛddhi was by nature generous, magnanimous, and full of discernment; he was skilled at receiving and guiding others, and personally practiced the path day and night without wearying. Consequently, foreign monks gathered [to him] from ten thousand li away, and merchants from the South Seas all revered and served him together, offering gifts continuously in all seasons. He accumulated quite a bit and was wealthy in treasures, yet when building for Buddhist affairs, he kept nothing for himself. By the side of the Huai River in Jianye, he founded Zhiguan Monastery, where multi-tiered pavilions, high gates, and monastic halls were kept trim and adorned. His nourishment of disciples and dissemination of teachings were marked by illustrious virtue. He died in the winter of the second year of the Zhongxing era.