開元釋教錄 6.8.3

6.8.3

Central India. During the Datong reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang, the Palace Attendant Zhang Si and others were imperial-decreed to escort the Funan tribute envoys back to their country, and thereupon to travel as an envoy mission to the Magadha kingdom of Central Tianzhu, inviting an eminent and virtuous Tripiṭaka master and seeking Mahāyāna treatises, the Avataṃsaka-sūtra, and other works. Paramārtha had heard from afar of the transformative guidance and holy deportment [practised in China], and [the mission wished to] search out an eminent master to benefit the multitude. That kingdom then besought Paramārtha, along with the sūtras and śāstras he was to carry, to respectfully comply with the imperial order. As he had long cherished this wish in his mind, he joyfully listened to the mandate. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the twelfth year of Datong, he arrived at the Southern Sea. Having traversed peril and breadth, he was nonetheless delayed for two springs. It was only in the leap eighth month of the second year of Taiqing that he finally arrived at the capital. Emperor Wu greeted him in person with respectful salutations, accommodated him in the Baoyun Hall, and provided offerings with utter devotion. The Emperor wished to translate and transmit the scriptural teachings so as not to be surpassed by the Qin era, and to produce new texts surpassing the Qi period. But with the decline of the Way in the late Liang, the Jie raiders encroached, and the Dharma collapsed along with the times. Not succeeding in preaching and translating, he then walked into the eastern lands. He went on to Fuchun, where the magistrate Lu Yuanzhe first offered to consult him about the path and intended to undertake translation. Gathering outstanding figures—the śramaṇa Baoqiong and others, over twenty men—he translated the *Saptadaśabhūmi-śāstra*, completing only five fascicles. As the state's crisis was not yet pacified, he had to rely on others while spreading the teaching. By the Dabao reign, Hou Jing invited him back to the court to make offerings to him. At that time, warfare and famine occurred in succession, and the Dharma was on the verge of ruin. When Emperor Yuan established his lineage and the Chengsheng era brought pacification, [Paramārtha] stayed at Zhengguan Temple in Jinling. Together with Dhyāna Master Yuan and more than twenty others, he translated the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra*. In the second month of the third year, he returned to Yuzhang. He also went to Xinxu and Shixing. Furthermore, following Grand Protector Xiao, he crossed the mountain ranges and reached Nankang. Moving from place to place he translated, wandering with nowhere to settle. The sūtras and śāstras translated by Paramārtha during the Liang period totaled eleven works. At the end of the Liang he entered the Chen, where he translated further sūtras and śāstras as described below.
Catalogues such as [Fei] Changfang's and the *Neidian [lu]* list the *Samayabhedoparacanacakra-śāstra* in one fascicle, also saying it was translated by Paramārtha. Now, examining the phrasing, it was not Paramārtha's translation. Since it shares the same source as the *Nikāyabhedavibhaṅga-vyākhyāna*, it should not be listed again. It is now deleted here, as described in the *Classified Catalogue*. There are also six works in twenty-six fascicles, including the commentary on the *Suvarṇaprabhāsa*, which were all written by Paramārtha; they are also all deleted here. (The catalogues of Changfang, the *Neidian lu*, and others also say that in the fifteenth year of Tianjian, Mu Daoxian presented the *Uruvilvā-sūtra* in one fascicle; simply stating that it was presented without clarifying the details, it is temporarily compiled into the doubtful catalogue, and deleted and not recorded here.)
*Biographies of Eminent Monks* in fourteen fascicles (one fascicle of preface and catalogue, thirteen fascicles of biographies, making fourteen in all; compiled in the eighteenth year of Tianjian; seen in both Changfang's catalogue and the *Neidian lu*).
The above work of one work in fourteen fascicles is extant.
Śramaṇa Shi Huijiao, whose clan name is unknown, was a native of Shangyu in Kuaiji. He was learned in both internal and external [teachings] and broadly versed in sūtras and vinayas. He resided at Jiaxiang Temple, propagating the Dharma in spring and summer, and composing texts in autumn and winter. He authored commentaries on the meanings of the *Nirvāṇa-sūtra* and *Brahmajāla-sūtra*. Furthermore, because Master [Bao]chang's compilation *Biographies of Famous Monks* contained much superficial and redundant matter, he therefore established principles, expanded on them, and composed the *Biographies of Eminent Monks* in one work. It begins in the tenth year of the Yongping era of Emperor Ming of the Han and ends in the eighteenth year of the Tianjian era of the Liang, spanning 453 years and comprising 257 principal persons, with 239 persons mentioned supplementarily, totaling 496 persons altogether. Dividing their virtuous deeds, he formed ten major categories. His preface states in brief: "Earlier authors sometimes disliked the detailed breadth and abridged the facts, yet often omitted and discarded their extraordinary deeds of standing firm. Supposing that renunciants living under kings and rulers should not haughtily hold themselves aloof or soar high in isolation—yet looking into their renunciation of worldly glory and severance of emotional ties, their original intention was to inspire the worldly to become virtuous; if such things are not discussed, what indeed is there to record?" He also states: "Compilations of previous eras were mostly titled 'Famous Monks.' I privately deem that between 'famous' and 'eminent' there is an inequality. As for those who practice reality while concealing their light, they are eminent but not famous. Those of little virtue who suit the times are famous but not eminent. The famous but not eminent are originally not what should be recorded; the eminent but not famous are fully provided in this present record. Therefore, I omit the word 'famous' and replace it with the word 'eminent'." Carefully examining this work, its principles are clear and its prose graceful and concise; it can truly be transmitted without decay and serve forever as a mirror and guide.
Newly collected sūtras of lost translators:
*Marīcī-sūtra* in one fascicle (also called *Minor Marīcī-sūtra*; it is a slightly different translation of the *Marīcī-sūtra* at the beginning of the tenth fascicle of the *Dhāraṇī-saṃgraha*)
*Six-Syllable Divine Dhāraṇī King Sūtra* in one fascicle (the second translation; same text as the *Six-Syllable Dhāraṇī King Sūtra*)
*Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva's Questions to the Buddha* in one fascicle (also called *Sūtra of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva's Questions on the Seven Buddhas' Dhāraṇī-mantra*, also called *Seven Buddhas' Divine Dhāraṇī Sūtra*; the first translation; same text as the Sui translation *Tathāgata's Upāyakauśalya Dhāraṇī Sūtra*)
*Sūtra of the Names of the Three Thousand Buddhas of the Three Kalpas* in three fascicles (first fascicle: *Names of the Thousand Buddhas of the Past Glorious Kalpa*; middle fascicle: *Names of the Thousand Buddhas of the Present Bhadrakalpa*; lower fascicle: *Names of the Thousand Buddhas of the Future Constellation Kalpa*; seen in Changfang's catalogue of texts entered into the canon, where they are three separate sūtras, now combined into one work)
*Mūlamaṇḍala-dhāraṇī-sūtra* in one fascicle (sometimes without the word "sūtra")
*Sūtra on the Dhāraṇī Spoken to the Buddha by the Great Ghost and Spirit General Aṭavaka* in one fascicle (also directly called *Aṭavaka-dhāraṇī-sūtra*)
*Amitābha Drum-Sound King Dhāraṇī Sūtra* in one fascicle
*Great Samantabhadra Dhāraṇī Sūtra* in one fascicle
*Great Seven Treasures Dhāraṇī Sūtra* in one fascicle
*Great Six-Syllable Dhāraṇī Sūtra* in one fascicle
*Definitive Sūtra of the Elder's Daughter Āmradevī's Lion's Roar* in one fascicle
*Text of the Bodhisattva's Five Dharma Repentance* in one fascicle (also called *Bodhisattva's Five Dharma Repentance Sūtra*)
*Miscellaneous Collection of Dhāraṇīs* in ten fascicles
*Mahāyānapañcaskandhaka-śāstra* in one fascicle (composed by the Bodhisattva Vasubandhu; seen in the Chen dynasty Dacheng Temple catalogue; the first translation; same text as the Tang translation *Mahāyānapañcaskandha-śāstra*)
This śāstra is missing.
The above fourteen works in twenty-five fascicles: except for the *Pañcaskandhaka-śāstra*, all are included in the canon. In the catalogues of lost translators by [Fei] Changfang and others, they were omitted and unrecorded. Examining their phrasing, they are not of ancient antiquity; hence, they are arranged at the end of the Liang, deemed anonymous translations of the Liang period.