續古今譯經圖紀 1.7

1.7

The śramaṇa Puṇyodaya (in Tang: Fusheng) is, fully following the Sanskrit, Pu-ru-wu-fa-ye (Puṇyodaya). Because the syllables are cumbersome, it was corrupted and abbreviated here to Nati. He was originally a native of Central India. His spirit was vast and far-reaching, and his mind was set on propagating the Way. He traveled through many countries, devoting himself to educating beings. He was skilled in grammar and phonology (śabdavidyā) and proficient in glosses and commentaries; hearing of those who could be awakened, he did not shrink from distant barbarian lands. He once went to the country of Siṃhala, and further ascended Mount Laṅkā to the southeast; he traveled and transformed beings in accord with conditions throughout the countries of the Southern Sea. Having heard that the Great Vehicle was turning vigorously in the eastern country of China, and that the Buddha's Dharma flourished there the most in Jambudvīpa, he collected over five hundred bundles of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna sūtras, vinayas, and treatises, comprising over 1,500 works. In the sixth year of Yonghui under Heavenly Emperor [Gaozong], he arrived in the capital for the first time. An imperial decree ordered him to be accommodated at Cien [Monastery], with the appropriate bureau supplying his needs. In the first year of Xianqing [656], an imperial decree sent him to various Kunlun countries to collect rare medicines. When he arrived in the Southern Sea, the kings took refuge in him with reverence, and the breadth of his propagation doubled compared to before. In the third year of Longshuo [663], he returned to his former monastery. The sūtras he brought had all been taken north by Xuanzang, and though he wished to translate them, he had nothing to rely upon. He translated only the Shizi zhuangyan wang pusa qingwen jing (one fascicle, also called the Ba mantuluo jing), the Ligouhui pusa suowen lifo fa jing (one fascicle), and the Azhanazhi zhou jing (one fascicle)—three works in three fascicles in total. Concise and of the utmost excellence, they may be constantly practiced and studied. The śramaṇa Huize of Shanlin Monastery was the interpreter, and the śramaṇa Daoxuan of Fengde Monastery was the text editor and composed the preface.