開元釋教錄 8.6.1

8.6.1

Ratnatārā-dhāraṇī-sūtra, ten fascicles (or eight fascicles; recorded in the Neidian Lu; translated at Xingshan Temple starting in the third month of the third year of Zhenguan and completed in the fourth month of the fourth year; preface composed by the śramaṇa Falin; the Buddha preached this sūtra again during a great assembly; it is the Ratnaketu section of the Mahāsaṃnipāta, and is not a retranslation).
Prajñāpradīpa-śāstra-ṭīkā, fifteen fascicles (root text by the Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna, commentary by the Bodhisattva Bhāviveka; recorded in the Neidian Lu; translated at Shengguang Temple beginning in the sixth month of the fourth year of Zhenguan and completed on the seventeenth day of the tenth month of the sixth year; preface composed by the śramaṇa Huize).
Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra-śāstra, thirteen fascicles (or fifteen fascicles; composed by the Bodhisattva Asaṅga; recorded in the Neidian Lu; translated at Shengguang Temple simultaneously with the Prajñāpradīpa in the summer of the fourth year of Zhenguan, and completed in the spring of the seventh year; by imperial order Li Baiyao, Right Mentor to the Crown Prince, composed the preface).
The above three works in thirty-eight fascicles are all extant.
The śramaṇa Prabhākaramitra, translated into Tang [Chinese] as "Zuoming Zhishi" (Light-maker Friend), abbreviated as "Pengyou" (Friend); also called Bopo, translated into Tang [Chinese] as "Guangzhi" (Luminous Wisdom); was a native of Central India. He was originally of kṣatriya royal stock, with the surname Kṣatriya. At the age of ten, he left home and studied following his master, reciting one lakṣa (roughly one hundred thousand verses) of Mahāyāna sūtras. After receiving full ordination, he immediately studied the Vinayapiṭaka. Having mastered the net of precepts, his mind delighted in dhyāna contemplation. Furthermore, following eminent and virtuous masters, he practiced the discipline of samādhi, continuing without abandonment for twelve years. Later, he traveled south to Nālandā Temple in Magadha, where he met the treatise master Śīlabhadra vigorously propagating the Treatise on the Seventeen Stages [the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra], and consequently listened to and learned it. Because this treatise also illuminates the Hīnayāna teachings, he additionally recited one lakṣa of verses from various Hīnayāna treatises. Bopo's intellect and discernment were penetrating and agile, and his capacity profound. He was thoroughly versed in both inner and outer disciplines, investigating the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna exhaustively. Transmitting the lamp and providing instruction, he was esteemed by his peers. Disciple followers receiving his transformation, such as Prajñāindravarman and others, excelled in their studies, established merits, and deeply comprehended the essential principles; they successively led followings to guide and convert people in their native land, and were revered by the king and ministers there. However, as an ordained disciple of the Śākya, he would not linger in one place, moving every six months and letting conditions follow their course without fixity. Hearing that the northern barbarians were greedy and fierce, not yet knowing moral principles, and that the Dharma relies upon people to be propagated, he boldly wished to travel and convert them. Thereupon, together with ten monks and laymen, he journeyed by stages to the north, arriving at the court of the Western Qaghan, the Yabghu. He instructed and admonished them with the Dharma. In less than ten days, the barbarian ruler came to revere and submit to him deeply, providing daily provisions for twenty people and attending on him morning and evening. His companions, both monastic and lay, all received rare favor, generating merit and increasing their respect daily to twice what it was before. In the ninth year of Wude, the Prince of Gaoping was sent as an envoy into barbarian territories and met him there; hearing of this influence and transformation, he planned to return east with him, but the Yabghu and his ministers were reluctant to let him go. The Prince immediately memorialized the throne, and an imperial decree summoned him to enter [the capital]. He thus came together with Gaoping to have an audience with the Emperor. On the twentieth day of the eleventh month of the first year of Zhenguan, the year Dinghai, he arrived at the capital, and an imperial decree ordered him to reside at Xingshan Temple. The eminent and accomplished of the Buddhist order all came to pay their respects. Whenever there were ancient teachings transmitted whose phrasing and import were not yet understood, he thoroughly analyzed their lineages, gathered their agreements and differences, and dispelled inner convictions and external attachments as clearly as pointing to his own palm. In fielding inquiries and answering, his explanations were free of obstruction. A memorial was presented to the throne, and he was granted an audience in the inner palace; presenting the principles of the Dharma in person, his responses matched the occasion without flaw. He was bestowed forty bolts of colored silk and one newly tailored robe from the palace, while the five monks he had brought were granted extra provisions. He was repeatedly comforted and inquired after, receiving extraordinary receptions. In the third month of the third year, the Emperor, considering that all existence is without joy and that self and phenomena are both empty, remarked that the true essentials do not surpass the Buddhist scriptures, and that in bringing them to full circulation, what could be better than translating them? He issued an edict ordering the relevant authorities to seek out and recommend nineteen eminent masters who were versed in the Three Teachings and fully qualified in the ten disciplines, to inaugurate translations at the Great Xingshan Temple. The śramaṇas Xuanmo, Saṅgha, and others translated the words, and the Tripiṭaka master's fellow-student, Vinaya Master Guptā, verified the translations. The śramaṇas Falin, Huiming, Huize, Huijing, and others recorded them with the brush; respectfully receiving the instructions, they meticulously reviewed them, verifying the names and meanings, and completing the text with full comprehension of the sense. The śramaṇas Huicheng, Fachang, Huilang, Tancang, Zhijie, Zhishou, Sengbian, Sengzhen, Daoyue, Lingjia, Wenshun, and others verified the meaning. An imperial edict also commissioned the Grand Pillar of State, Vice-Director of the Left of the Department of State Affairs, and Duke of Xingguo, Fang Xuanling; the Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and Supervisor of the Crown Prince's Household, Du Zhenglun; and the Minister of Rites and Prince of Zhaojun, Li Xiaogong, to assist in evaluating and determining [the text]. Xiao Jing, Grand Master for Splendid Happiness on the Right, Chamberlain for the National Treasury, and Baron of Lanling, held general oversight as monitor. The various offices supplied the four requisites in abundance and magnificence. In the fourth month of the fourth year, the translation of the Ratnatārā-sūtra was completed. Later, moving to Shengguang Temple, he further translated the Prajñāpradīpa-śāstra and the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra-śāstra. By the spring of the seventh year, the collation was complete and the copying was finished. The authorities read it in detail and presented a memorial to the throne. An imperial edict commanded that ten copies of each be transcribed and disseminated throughout the realm, and Bopo was granted one hundred bolts of silk, with varying bundles of silk awarded to the remaining translating monks. Bopo's intention lay solely in propagating the Dharma, with no other concern in mind. Yet contemporaries did not inquire closely, and some raised dissenting opinions, claiming: "Bopo seeks present fame through good fortune and aims to make a name for the future; therefore he gathers famous and eminent figures, abandoning the lecturing on sūtras and śāstras; this is not the way to propagate widely." At that time, there was a śramaṇa named Lingjia, outstanding and extraordinary, who possessed wonderful insight into opportune moments. Before the imperial supervisor-commissioner, he fully recounted the circumstances and rationale, saying: "Bopo has cast himself far into the eastern realm, his mind removed from fame and profit. He wishes to make the Dao flow for a thousand years, making its fame echo that of antiquity. In the past, during the two dynasties of Fu and Yao, the scholars translating scriptures numbered as many as three thousand. Now, the translators of the Great Tang do not exceed twenty. The aim is for illustrious virtues to testify jointly, ensuring that it is not mere empty talk, so that future generations will revere it with clear understanding and harbor no doubts as they do today." Those of discernment all agreed with this opinion, and the objections subsequently ceased. At that time, the Crown Prince fell ill, and various treatments proved ineffective. An imperial edict invited Bopo into the palace for more than one hundred days; his direct responses to royal inquiries did not fail the Emperor's expectations. Once the illness gradually subsided, he took his leave and departed back to his home temple, being bestowed sixty bolts of damask and silk along with ten sets of seasonal clothing. Bopo had vowed to transmit the Dharma transformation, fearless of hardships and perils. Crossing the Pamir River from afar, he arrived in China, traveling a journey extending over forty thousand li. Bearing Sanskrit texts in person, he hoped to translate them all. He had not anticipated that eminent scholars would fall short of the imperial decree; his great aspiration collapsed, and his refined feelings could find no vent. He consequently fell ill, and knowing he could not recover, he distributed his robes and funds to perform various pure deeds; sitting upright, contemplating the Buddha, he submitted a final memorial offering his body. An imperial edict specially granted permission. Soon thereafter, he died at Shengguang Temple at the age of sixty-nine. The Crown Prince's palace issued an order assigning twenty people to carry his corpse in a seated posture, conveying it to the mountain site. After the cremation was completed, the śramaṇa Xuanmo collected the remaining relics and erected a stūpa for him at Shengguang Temple, east of Master Cheng's stūpa, which took place on the sixth day of the fourth month of the seventh year of Zhenguan. Those of discernment lamented together: the wheel of the Dharma had halted its chariot, and living beings were left without a guide—how truly sorrowful! (The Neidian Lu states: At this time, the Sanskrit text of the Mahāsaṃnipāta was about to be broadly transmitted to nourish future generations; yet it is regrettable that, because the language was transformed into Tang [Chinese], the great masters did not proceed, with the result that the Sanskrit treasures had no way of being distributed. Thus, through ten years of translation, only three works showed merit—truly deeply lamentable! Now