[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [開元釋教錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154) › 3.7.6 # 開元釋教錄 3.7.6 開元釋教錄 3.7.6 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.7.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7.6) 右七部二十六卷（前五部一十二卷見在後二部一十四卷闕本）。 沙門釋法顯。本姓龔。平陽武陽人也。顯有三 兄。齠年次喪。其父恐懼。及顯數歲便放出家。 居數年病篤欲死。因送還寺信宿便差。不肯 復歸。母欲見之不能得。為立小屋於門外以 擬去來。十歲遭父憂。叔父以其母寡獨不立。 逼使還俗。顯曰。本不以有父而出家也。正欲 遠塵離俗故入道耳。叔父善其言乃止。頃之 母喪至性過人。葬事既畢仍即還寺。嘗與同 學數十人於田中刈稻。時有飢賊欲奪其穀。 諸沙彌悉奔走。唯顯獨留語賊曰。若欲須穀 隨意所取。但君等昔不布施故此生飢貧。今 復奪人。恐來世彌甚。貧道預為君憂故相語 耳。言訖即還。賊棄穀而去。眾僧數百人莫不 歎服。及受大戒志行明潔儀軌整肅。常慨經 律舛闕誓志尋求。以安帝隆安三年。與同學 慧景道整慧應慧嵬等發自長安。西度沙 河。上無飛鳥下無走獸。四顧茫茫莫測所之。 唯視日以准東西。人骨以標行路耳。屢有熱 風惡鬼。遇之必死。顯任緣委命直過險難。有 頃至葱嶺。嶺冬夏積雪。有惡龍吐毒風雨沙 礫。山路艱危壁立千仞。昔有人鑿石通路。傍 施梯道。凡度七百餘梯。又躡懸絙過河數十 餘處。皆漢時張騫甘父所不至也。次度小雪 山遇寒風暴起。慧景噤戰不能前。語顯云。 吾其死矣。卿可時去勿得俱殞。言絕而卒。顯 撫之泣曰。本圖不果命也奈何。復自力孤行 遂過山險。凡所經歷三十餘國。至北天竺次 往中國。未至王舍城三十餘里。有一寺逼暮 仍停。明旦顯欲詣耆闍崛山。寺僧諫曰。路甚 艱險且多黑師子。亟經噉人何由可至。顯曰。 遠涉數萬誓到靈鷲。身命不期出息非保豈 可使積年之誠既至而廢耶。雖有險難吾不 懼也。眾莫能止。乃遣兩僧送之。顯既至山中 日將曛夕。遂欲停宿。兩僧危懼捨之而還。顯 獨留山中燒香禮拜翹感舊跡如覩聖儀。至 夜有三黑師子來蹲顯前。舐脣搖尾。顯誦經 不輟一心念佛。師子乃低頭下尾伏顯足前。 顯以手摩之呪曰。汝若欲相害待我誦竟。若 見試者可便退去。師子良久乃去。明晨還 反路窮幽深。榛木荒梗禽獸交橫。正有一 徑通行而已。未至里餘忽逢一道人。年可九 十容服麁素。而神氣俊遠。顯雖覺其韻高。 而不悟是神人。須臾進前逢一年少道人。顯 問曰。向耆年是誰耶。答曰。頭陀弟子大迦 葉也。顯方惋慨良久。既至山前。有一大石 橫塞室口。遂不得入。顯乃流涕致敬而去 （今謂顯所陟者是雞足山大迦葉波入寂之所非佛舊居處鷲峯山也）又至迦施國。精舍 裏有白耳龍。每與眾僧約令國內豐熟。皆有 信效。沙門為起龍舍并設福食。每至夏坐訖 日。龍輒化作一小蛇。兩耳悉白。眾咸識是龍。 以銅盂盛酪置於其中。從上坐至下行之。似 若問訊。遍乃化去。年輒一出。顯亦親見此龍。 後却至中天竺。於摩竭提巴連弗邑阿育王 塔南天王寺。得摩訶僧祇律。又得薩婆多律 抄。雜阿毘曇心綖經。方等泥洹等經（此方等泥洹即六卷 大般泥洹經之梵本也准經後記名為方等大般泥洹經非謂三卷方等泥洹也）。 顯留三年。學梵書梵語躬自書寫。於是持經 像寄附商客。到師子國。顯同旅十餘或留或 亡。顧影唯己常懷悲慨。忽於玉像前見商人。 以晉地一白團扇供養。不覺悽然下淚。停二 年復得。彌沙塞律長雜二阿含。及雜藏本。並 漢土所無。其師子國中有佛齒。每年三月彼 之國王。預前十日莊嚴白象。遣一貴重辯說 智臣。著王衣裳象上擊鼓。大聲唱言。如來在 世四十五年。說法度人無量億數。眾生緣 盡乃般泥洹。自爾已來一千四百九十七載。 世間長昏眾生可愍。却後十日佛齒當出無 畏精舍。可辦香華各來供養。時正當晉義熙 元年。計從義熙元年太歲乙巳。至今開元十 八年歲次庚午。便成一千八百二十二載矣。 既而附商人大舶。循海東還。舶有二百許人。 > The above seven works comprise twenty-six fascicles (the first five works, in twelve fascicles, are extant; the latter two works, in fourteen fascicles, are lost). > Śramaṇa Shi Faxian, originally surnamed Gong, was a native of Wuyang in Pingyang. Faxian had three elder brothers, all of whom died in childhood one after another. His father was terrified and sent Faxian out \[to the monastery\] to become a monk when he was only a few years old. After staying there several years, he fell gravely ill and was near death; he was therefore sent back to the monastery, and after two nights he recovered. He was unwilling to return home again. His mother wished to see him but could not, so she built a small cottage outside the monastery gate to watch his comings and goings. At the age of ten, he suffered the loss of his father. His uncle, considering that his mother was a widow living alone and unable to support herself, pressured him to return to secular life. Faxian said: "I originally became a monk not on account of my father; it was solely because I wished to leave the dust behind and depart from worldly life that I entered the Way." His uncle considered his words good and desisted. Shortly thereafter his mother died; his innate devotion surpassed that of ordinary men, and as soon as the funeral was concluded, he returned immediately to the monastery. Once, together with several dozen fellow disciples, he was harvesting rice in the fields. At that time, hungry bandits arrived intending to steal their grain. The other novice monks all fled, but Faxian alone remained and addressed the bandits, saying: "If you need grain, take as much as you wish. It is only because in past lives you did not practice generosity that you suffer hunger and poverty in this life. If you now rob others again, I fear that in future lives it will be even worse. I, a poor monk, worry for you beforehand, which is why I tell you this." Having spoken, he turned back. The bandits abandoned the grain and departed; of the several hundred monks, none did not sigh in admiration. When he received the full precepts, his aspirational conduct was pure and spotless, and his deportment orderly and solemn. Often lamenting that the scriptures and vinayas were contradictory and incomplete, he vowed to seek them out. In the third year of the Long'an era of Emperor An, together with his fellow students Huijing, Daozheng, Huiying, Huiwei, and others, he set out from Chang'an and crossed the desert sands to the west. Above there were no flying birds, below no running beasts; gazing in all four directions, vast and boundless, none could tell where to go. They looked only to the sun to determine east and west, and to human skeletons to mark the path. Often there were scorchingly hot winds and evil spirits; those who encountered them inevitably died. Entrusting himself to conditions and resigning his life to fate, Faxian pressed straight through the perilous difficulties. After a while they reached the Congling (Pamir Mountains). In those mountains, snow accumulates in both winter and summer; there are venomous dragons that spit toxic winds, rain, sand, and gravel. The mountain paths were precipitous and hazardous, with sheer cliffs rising thousands of fathoms. In the past, people had chiseled into the rock to open a path and installed ladders along the sides. In all, they traversed more than seven hundred ladders, and crossed suspension ropes over rivers in several dozen places—all places that Zhang Qian and Gan Fu of the Han dynasty had never reached. Next they crossed the Little Snow Mountains, where a cold wind abruptly arose. Huijing trembled with cold and could go no further; he said to Faxian: "I am going to die. You must leave at once, lest we perish together." His words broke off and he died. Faxian stroked his body and wept, saying: "Our original aim is unfulfilled; it is fate, what can be done!" Again exerting his own strength, he journeyed alone and finally crossed the mountain perils. In all, he passed through more than thirty countries, reaching Northern India and then proceeding to the Central Realm. When he was more than thirty li from Rājagṛha, there was a monastery, and as evening approached he stayed there. The next morning Faxian wished to visit Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain. The monastery monks admonished him, saying: "The road is extremely steep and dangerous, and there are many black lions that frequently devour men; how could you possibly reach it?" Faxian said: "I have traveled tens of thousands of li from afar, vowing to reach Vulture Peak. Life and limb are not guaranteed, nor can the outgoing breath be assured; how could the sincere resolve accumulated over years be abandoned just when I have arrived? Though there be perils and hardships, I have no fear." None could stop him, so they sent two monks to escort him. When Faxian reached the mountain, the sun was about to set, and he wished to remain overnight. Fearful of the danger, the two monks abandoned him and returned. Faxian remained alone on the mountain, burning incense, prostrating, and gazing with emotion upon the ancient traces as if beholding the holy presence. In the night, three black lions came and squatted before Faxian, licking their lips and wagging their tails. Faxian recited scriptures without pause, single-mindedly mindful of the Buddha. The lions then lowered their heads, drooped their tails, and crouched before Faxian's feet. Faxian stroked them with his hand and said with a spell: "If you wish to harm me, wait until I finish reciting. If you have come to test me, you may withdraw at once." After a long while, the lions departed. The next morning he returned along the road, which was secluded and deep; tangled brush obstructed the way, and birds and beasts crossed back and forth, with only a single narrow path allowing passage. When he was not quite a li away, he suddenly encountered a practitioner of the Way, about ninety years of age, whose appearance and clothing were coarse and plain, yet whose spirit was noble and lofty. Although Faxian perceived his elevated demeanor, he did not realize he was a divine person. Shortly after proceeding forward, he met a young practitioner of the Way. Faxian asked: "Who was that elderly man just now?" He replied: "It was the disciple of dhūta practices, Mahākāśyapa." Faxian then sighed in regret for a long while. When he reached the front of the cave, there was a large boulder blocking the entrance, so he could not enter. Faxian thereupon shed tears, paid homage, and departed. (It is now considered that the mountain Faxian climbed was Cockfoot Mountain, the place where Mahākāśyapa entered into extinction, not Vulture Peak Mountain, the former dwelling place of the Buddha.) He also arrived in the country of Kāśī. Inside the monastery there was a white-eared dragon that always made an agreement with the monastic assembly to cause the crops in the realm to be abundant and ripe, and all of these had verifiable proof. The śramaṇas built a dragon shrine for it and made offerings of merit-food. Whenever the day of the conclusion of the summer retreat arrived, the dragon would transform into a small snake with both ears entirely white. The community all recognized it as the dragon, filled a bronze bowl with curds, and placed the snake inside, carrying it from the senior seat down through the ranks, as if paying respects; when this was completed, it transformed away. It appeared once every year, and Faxian personally saw this dragon. Later he returned to Central India. At the Devarāja Temple south of King Aśoka's stūpa in the city of Pāṭaliputra in Magadha, he obtained the Mahāsāṃghika-vinaya; he also obtained an extract of the Sarvāstivāda-vinaya, the \*Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-sūtra\*, the \*Vaipulya-nirvāṇa-sūtra\*, and other scriptures (this \*Vaipulya-nirvāṇa\* is the Sanskrit manuscript of the six-fascicle \*Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra\*; according to the colophon following the scripture, its title is \*Vaipulya-mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra\*, not meaning the three-fascicle \*Vaipulya-nirvāṇa\*). Faxian remained there for three years, learning the Sanskrit script and Sanskrit language, and copying manuscripts himself. Thereupon, taking the scriptures and images, he entrusted himself to merchants and reached the Lion Country (Siṃhala). Of Faxian's ten or so companions, some had remained behind and some had died; looking upon only his own shadow, he constantly harbored grief. Suddenly, before a jade image, he saw a merchant offering a white round fan from the land of Jin, and he could not help weeping sorrowfully. Staying for two years, he further obtained the Mahīśāsaka-vinaya, the Dīrgha-āgama and Saṃyukta-āgama, as well as a manuscript of the \*Kṣudrakapiṭaka\*, none of which were extant in the Han land. In that Lion Country was a tooth of the Buddha. Every year in the third month, the king of that country would adorn a white elephant ten days in advance and dispatch a noble, eloquent, and wise minister. Wearing the king's robes, mounted upon the elephant, he would beat a drum and proclaim in a loud voice: "The Tathāgata dwelt in the world for forty-five years, expounding the Dharma and delivering an immeasurable number of people; when his conditions with sentient beings were exhausted, he entered Parinirvāṇa. From that time until now, it has been one thousand four hundred and ninety-seven years. The world has long been darkened, and sentient beings are pitiable! Ten days from now, the tooth of the Buddha will be brought forth to the Abhayagiri Monastery; you may prepare incense and flowers and come to make offerings!" At that time it was the first year of the Yixi era of the Jin. Calculating from the first year of the Yixi era, the cyclical year yisi, until now, the eighteenth year of the Kaiyuan era, the cyclical year gengwu, it makes one thousand eight hundred and twenty-two years. Afterward, he boarded a large merchant ship and returned eastward along the sea; on the ship there were about two hundred people. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.7.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7.5) - [Next: 3.7.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7.7) - [Up: 3.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154~en-mt.3.7.6) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (4) - [歷代三寶紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2034.7.163) — Classical Chinese - [貞元新定釋教目錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.5.22.6) — 圓照, Classical Chinese - [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.2.10) — Classical Chinese - [古今譯經圖紀](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2151.2.23) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.3.7.6) · Pramāṇa