古今譯經圖紀 3.25

3.25

The śramaṇa Dharmakṣema (also styled Tanwuchen, translated as "Dharma-Abundance" [Fafeng]) was a man from Central India. He undertook pravrajyā at age six and daily recited ten thousand words. Initially he studied Hīnayāna and treatises of the pañcavidyā. Later he encountered a white-haired meditation master who instructed him in the Mahāyāna; after ten days of disputation, he only then realized its great import. Thereupon he specialized in the Mahāyāna. Dharmakṣema clearly understood incantatory arts (spellcraft), and wherever he applied them, they proved effective; the Western Regions called him the Great Master of Divine Dhāraṇī. In the first year of the Xuanshi era of Juqu of the Northern Liang, the year ren-zi, he arrived at Guzang, carrying the earlier portion of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (ten fascicles) and the Bodhisattva-śīla, lodging at a post-house. Anxious lest he lose the scriptures, he slept using them as a pillow. At night a divine being pulled Dharmakṣema down to the floor. Dharmakṣema thought it was a thief. When this occurred for three nights, he heard a voice in the sky say: "This is the treasury of the Tathāgata's liberation; why do you use it as a pillow?" Ashamed, Dharmakṣema had an awakening and placed it on a high shelf. Sure enough, thieves arrived at night and tried to lift it, yet in the end they could not raise it; the next morning, Dharmakṣema carried it and did not consider it heavy. The thieves regarded him as a sage and all came to prostrate and apologize. When Mengxun heard of Dharmakṣema's reputation, he treated him generously and invited him to translate. Thereupon, beginning translation in the third year of Xuanshi, the year jia-yin, down to the tenth year of Xuanshi, the year xin-you, he translated: the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, one work (forty fascicles); the Mahāvaipulya Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra, one work (thirty-one fascicles); the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra, one work (ten fascicles); the Bodhisattvabhūmi Sūtra, one work (ten fascicles); the Pusa jie jing, one work (eight fascicles); the Upāsaka-śīla Sūtra, one work (six fascicles); the Fangdeng dayun jing, one work (six fascicles); the Xukongzang jing, one work (five fascicles); the Fo benxing jing, one work (five fascicles); the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra, one work (four fascicles); the Hai longwang jing, one work (four fascicles); the Lengqie jing, one work (four fascicles); the Xinshan jing, one work (two fascicles); the Wuwei dao jing, one work (two fascicles); the Shengman jing (one fascicle); the Luomojia jing (one fascicle); the Xuzhen tianzi jing (one fascicle); the Jushi qing seng futian jing (one fascicle); the Tuodajie wang jing (one fascicle); the Gongde baoguang pusa jing (one fascicle); the Fuzhong nü ting jing (one fascicle); the Jueding zuifu jing (one fascicle); the Pusa jieben jing (one fascicle); and the Pusa jietan wen (one fascicle). In total, twenty-three works in one hundred forty-eight fascicles. Huisong served as scribe. Several hundred monks and laymen raised challenging questions; Dharmakṣema resolved doubts and difficulties, his lucid eloquence flowing like a stream. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra was completed across three translation sessions.