續古今譯經圖紀 1.26

1.26

The monk Vajrabodhi (in Chinese: Jingangzhi) was a person from the country of Malaya in South India (which means "Country of Radiance"; this country is close to Mount Potalaka, the palace of Avalokiteśvara) and was of the Brahmin caste. Having gone forth from the household life when young, he travelled through various [regions of] India. Although extensively learned in both inner and outer [sciences], he was particularly adept in dhāraṇī; in this single gate, he rarely had an equal. Wandering and transforming in accord with conditions, he benefited living beings everywhere. Hearing that the Buddha Dharma was revered and flourishing in Mahācīna, he then took ship and journeyed east, arriving at the coastal corner. In the middle of the eighth year of Kaiyuan, he arrived in the capital. Thereupon, he broadly promoted the esoteric teachings and erected maṇḍalas; all that he established according to the Dharma evoked miraculous responses. The monk Yixing admired these esoteric teachings and repeatedly approached him to consult and inquire. Jingangzhi explained them one by one. Furthermore, he established a maṇḍala altar for him and conferred abhiṣeka. Yixing respectfully received this Dharma and requested him to translate and circulate it. In the eleventh year, guihai, at Zisheng Monastery, he translated the Vajraśekhara-yoga-saṃkṣepākṣarabhyāsa-vidhi in one work (four fascicles), and the Saptakoṭibuddhamātṛ-cundā-mahāvidyā-dhāraṇī-sūtra (one fascicle). Īśvara, a Brahmin grand chieftain of East India who was on duty in the Secretariat, served as interpreter, and the monk Wengu of Mount Song served as scribe. In the eighteenth year, gengwu, at the Great Jianfu Monastery, he also translated the Mañjuśrībodhisattva-pañcākṣarahṛdaya-dhāraṇī-paṭala of the Vajraśekhara-sūtra (one fascicle) and the Avalokiteśvara-cintāmaṇicakra-bodhisattva-yoga-vidhi (one fascicle). The monk Zhizang served as interpreter. In all, there are four works, combining to seven fascicles. Furthermore, he added new mantras into the old Pratisarā [sūtra]. Jingangzhi held the seals of dhāraṇī, and wherever he arrived, they always proved efficacious. The transmission of the esoteric teachings indeed rests upon this man! (What was recorded in the previous record followed the compilation of the old catalogue, and its discrepancies and divergences in between were never excised or supplemented. If one wishes to inscribe them upon a wall, please follow the Record of Śākyamuni’s Teachings Compiled in the Kaiyuan Era; with the exception of compilations produced in this land, the rest are authentic records.)