開元釋教錄 5.5.3

5.5.3

the elders, who all said, "He has dwelt in seclusion for many years and has never casually ventured out." [Liu] Hui then petitioned Emperor Wu of Song to invite him back to the capital, but none of them was willing to go. After repeated requests were made, the two monks urged [Zhi]yan to accompany him. Hui's devotion to the Way was fundamentally earnest, and he provided for his needs with great completeness. Upon returning to the capital, [Zhiyan] took up residence at Shixing Temple. By nature, Yan was tranquil and quiet, his resolve set on avoiding noise and dust. Hui thereupon established another vihāra on the outskirts of the eastern suburbs, which became Zhiyuan Temple. Earlier, when Yan returned from the Western Regions, he had not yet had the opportunity to translate the numerous Sanskrit texts he had obtained. In the fourth year of Yuanjia (dingmao) [427 CE], together with the śramaṇa Baoyun, he translated ten works, including the Akṣayamati-sūtra. While residing at the temple, Yan did not accept individual invitations, constantly sustaining himself by alms-begging (piṇḍapāta). Where his transformative influence reached, both the unseen and the visible bowed in admiration. Yan was pure, simple, and of few desires, giving away whatever he received. From his youth he travelled through distant lands, never clinging to anything. He was modest and retiring by nature and did not praise himself; thus, although he had many noble deeds, the world never fully chronicled them all. Long ago, before Yan left the household life, he had received the five precepts and committed an infraction against them. Later, upon entering the monastic path and receiving the full ordination, he constantly doubted whether he had obtained the precepts, always feeling fearful. For years he practiced dhyāna meditation but could not resolve this for himself. Consequently, he took ship again to return to Tianzhu to consult the wise and perceptive. Meeting an arhat bhikṣu, he inquired about the matter in detail. The arhat did not dare to pass judgment; instead, he entered samādhi on Yan's behalf and went to Tuṣita Palace to consult and inquire of Maitreya. Maitreya replied that he had indeed obtained the precepts. Yan leaped for great joy. He then journeyed back on foot. Arriving in Jibin, he passed away without illness at the age of seventy-eight. In that country, ordinary beings and sages were cremated in different locations. Although Yan's observance of the precepts was lofty and clear, his actual level of attainment had not yet been determined. When they first began to move the corpse toward the cemetery for ordinary monks, the corpse became so heavy it could not be lifted; when they redirected it toward the cemetery for sages, it became as light as air of itself. Yan's disciples Zhiyu and Zhiyuan, having traveled all the way from the west, brought back word of these auspicious signs, and both then returned abroad. Judging Yan by this, he was truly someone who had attained the Way, though it is merely unknown at which of the stages between the fruits and paths of attainment he stood, whether profound or shallow.
*Sūtra on the Karma of Subduing Sentient Beings* (Extracted from the *Mahāsaṃnipāta-sūtra*)
*Sūtra on Manifesting the True Dharma with a Single Voice* (Also titled *Sūtra on Expounding the True Dharma with a Single Voice*; extracted from the *Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka-sūtra*)
*Sūtra on the Good-Virtue Brahmin Inquiring of Devadatta* (Extracted from the *Mahāmegha-sūtra*)
*Vaira-samādhi-sūtra*, two fascicles (Noted as doubtful in [Seng]you's and other catalogues; listed as authentic in the Great Zhou Catalogue. Now, examining the text, the phrasing is crude and vulgar, and the doctrinal principles are slipshod and incomplete; hence it is entered in the doubtful section to weed out weeds and impurities.)
The four works in five fascicles above, including *Subduing Sentient Beings*, are all attributed to Yan's translation in Changfang's and other catalogues. Now, because the first three are extracted texts and the last one is doubtful and spurious, they are all removed here to maintain an authentic catalogue.
*Buddhacarita-sūtra*, seven fascicles (Also titled *Buddhacarita-stotra-kāvya*; produced at Liuheshansi Temple; some say five fascicles; see the catalogues of Sengyou, Baochang, and the Neidian; the *Biographies of Eminent Monks* calls it *Buddhacarita-stotra-sūtra*)
*New Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra*, two fascicles (Produced at Daochang Temple in the second year of Yongchu; one catalogue says produced at Liuheshansi Temple; the ninth translation; same original as the Sukhāvatīvyūha assembly of the *Ratnakūṭa*, etc.; see the catalogues of Daohui, Sengyou, and others)
*Śuddha-pāramitā-samādhi-sūtra*, two fascicles (Second translation; see Zhu Daozu's *Miscellaneous Catalogue*)
*Sūtra on the Transmission of the Piṭaka of the Dharma*, six fascicles (First translation; see Li Kuo's catalogue)
The four works in seventeen fascicles above (the first work in seven fascicles is extant; the latter three works in ten fascicles are lost).
The śramaṇa Śākya Baoyun was a native of Liangzhou. He left home in his youth and was diligent, possessing both learning and practice. His character and refinement were upright and pure, refusing to compromise with the world; thus from his youth he was renowned for his straightforwardness and dedicated pursuit. In seeking the Dharma, he was earnest and sincere, forgetting his own body and sacrificing his life for the Way, vowing to witness the sacred traces in person and broadly search for scriptures and teachings. Early in the Long'an era of the Jin dynasty, he went far to the Western Regions, following in succession with Faxian and Zhiyan. Treading the drifting sands and climbing over the snow-clad peaks, he did not consider the utmost toil and hardship to be difficult. He subsequently passed through various kingdoms such as Khotan and Tianzhu, seeing all of the sacred wonders. He traversed the wilderness of rākṣasas, heard the sounds of celestial drums, and paid reverence to many shadows and traces of Śākyamuni. While in foreign regions, Yun extensively studied Sanskrit texts and became completely versed in the sounds, characters, glosses, and meanings of the various kingdoms of Tianzhu. He later returned to Chang'an, where he studied under the dhyāna master Buddhabhadra, cultivating and studying the dhyāna gate with untiring diligence. When the dhyāna master was unjustly expelled by the Qin monks, Yun also fled. It happened that Master Yuan of Mount Lu resolved the matter of the expulsion, and they together returned to Yangdu, taking up residence at Daochang Temple. Seeing that Yun's will and determination were resolute and bold, and that he had propagated the Way to remote frontiers, none among the monastic community failed to open their hearts to consult him, receiving [his teachings] with veneration. At first, he translated various sūtras together with Zhiyan; after Yan passed away, Yun alone expounded and translated. During the Yuanjia era, he translated four works, including the *Buddhacarita-sūtra*. Yun held the Sanskrit texts in his hands and personally translated them orally. Proficient in both Chinese and non-Chinese languages, his phonetics and semantic glosses were precise and correct, and the assemblies all trusted and accepted what Yun determined. In earlier times, the śramaṇa Zhu Fonian of the Guanzhong region was skilled in expounding and translating, producing many sūtras during the Fu and Yao reigns. South of the Yangtze River, none surpassed Yun in familiarity with Sanskrit; hence he broadly disseminated the treasury of the Dharma between the Jin and Song eras. The śramaṇa Huiguan and others all befriended and praised him. Yun's nature was fond of seclusion, which he used to preserve his leisure and quietude; he subsequently went to Liuheshansi Temple. The mountain had many unruly people whose custom was to practice banditry. Yun preached the Dharma and guided them, so that many changed from their wickedness to pay reverence and provide offerings, amounting to nine out of ten households. Some time later, when Huiguan of Daochang [Temple] was on the point of death, he requested Yun to return to the capital to take charge of the temple's responsibilities. Unable to decline, Yun returned. After living at Daochang for about a year, he returned once more to Liuhe. In the twenty-sixth year of Yuanjia [449 CE], he died at the mountain temple at the age of seventy-four. Separate accounts and biographies record his travels in foreign kingdoms.
*Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra*, thirteen fascicles (Third translation; see the *Biographies of Eminent Monks* and Sengyou's catalogue; some say fourteen fascicles)
The one work in thirteen fascicles above is a lost text.
The śramaṇa Īśvara (in Song: Zizai) was a native of the Western Regions. He had a wondrous mastery of the tripiṭaka and clearly understood the four Āgamas. In the third year of Yuanjia (bingyin) [426 CE], he traveled to Pengcheng. For the Regional Inspector of North Xuzhou, Wang Zhongde of Taiyuan, he translated the *Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya-śāstra*. When the translation reached the chapter on Selection, obstacles arose and it was not finished, so it was halted; only ten fascicles were completed. The Regional Inspector personally took it down in writing. In the eighth year (xinwei) [431 CE], Guṇavarman was further requested to continue the translation, and it was entirely completed in thirteen fascicles.
*Bodhisattva-kuśalaśīla-sūtra*, nine fascicles (Also titled *Bodhisattvabhūmi*; some say ten fascicles; produced at Jetavana Temple; see the two catalogues of Zhu Daozu and Sengyou, as well as the *Biographies of Eminent Monks*; Changfang's and other catalogues all state that the *Kuśalaśīla-sūtra* is in twenty fascicles, and also state that his disciples further produced two chapters to make thirty fascicles, which are both incorrect)
*Bodhisattva-kuśalaśīla-sūtra*, one fascicle (Upāli's inquiry into the procedure for receiving the bodhisattva precepts; see Baochang's catalogue. If following Sengyou's record, this would be taken as the first fascicle, together with the preceding nine fascicles making ten fascicles in all. However, in the northern texts of the sūtra it has long been separated and cannot be merged; for now it follows the old determination.)
*Bodhisattva-antar-śīla-sūtra*, one fascicle (See Fashang's catalogue)