大唐貞元續開元釋教錄 1.7.10

1.7.10

[Your Majesty] deeply reveres [the teachings] and specially decreed the translation. With diligent labor unceasing, the volumes are now completed. You have specially bestowed banners and flowers and commanded a further presentation. For this humble monk it is great good fortune; overwhelmed by this favor, he bows deeply. My family is from the Western Barbarians, yet we have come to dwell in the Central Realm. My name is listed among the imperial guards, bringing glory to my humble house. Father and son rejoice together, feeling truly unworthy before Heaven and Earth. What virtue does a monk possess to receive such gracious indulgence? With great gratitude, he vows to maintain his practice and dedicate its blessings to the imperial reign. For my abundant good fortune, I vow to repay your benevolence even unto death. Filled with joy and gladness, I am bounded by overflowing elation. Respectfully going to Guangshun Gate, I present this memorial to offer thanks and submit it to your hearing. Your subject [Luo] Haoxin, truly fearful and trembling, knocking his head repeatedly, respectfully speaks."

The Holy, Divine, Civil, and Martial Emperor's endorsement stated:
"Your cousin was early awakened to the Mahāyāna, and from far in the west he came to travel to the Supreme Realm, proclaiming the profound meaning of the six sense bases and expounding the subtle words of the Twin Trees. Now, as his pure sincerity deserves esteem, we ordered the translation so that it may circulate widely. You have long shown abundant loyalty and diligence, holding office in the imperial guard. Having examined your memorial, we fully perceive your sentiments; your thanks are acknowledged."

On the second day of the twelfth month, General Wang Xiqian proclaimed the imperial decree: "The courtyard of the monk Sihui of Liquan Temple should be arranged to accommodate the monk Prajñā of the kingdom of Kapiśa, who presented the Sanskrit text of the Six Pāramitās Sūtra."

Then on the twenty-third day, an imperial decree was proclaimed by Feng Guoqing, Court Eunuch Attendant and Judge of the Right Divine Strategy Army, bestowing upon the courtyard of the monk Prajñā from Kapiśa: three eight-foot couches, each with linings, mats, coarse woolen blankets, government silk padded mattresses, white felt rugs, two white hand towels, one copper water bottle, two iron cooking pots, one three-dou cauldron, ten white porcelain bowls, one tea jar, one cattail cushion, twenty strings of new tea, and one set of tea grinders. Moreover, on the day the scripture was presented, an imperial favor was received ordering him to translate again the mantras, mudrās, and doctrinal gates in the Six Pāramitās Sūtra, presenting them in parallel Chinese and Sanskrit. On the fourth day of the second month in the fifth year, the copying was completed, and together with the śramaṇa Liangxiu and others, he presented it to the throne. By imperial favor, thirty strings of tea were bestowed. After completing the translation of the Six Pāramitās Sūtra, he also translated one fascicle of the Sūtra of the Mahāvaipulya Elder Asking the Buddha about the Nārāyaṇa Strength, slightly over one sheet long. On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month of that year, the proofreading and copying were concluded, but it had not yet been presented. Now it is presented following the catalogue.

On the fourth day of the fifth month, the imperial preface to the Six Pāramitās Sūtra was completed and placed at the head of the scripture. An imperial decree was issued to Qianfu and Zhangjing Temples, bestowing on each one copy of the scripture to be recited and circulated. At that time, [the monks] Weiya and Zhirou of Zhangjing and Qianfu Temples drafted a memorial to express their thanks. The Emperor's endorsement stated:
"Ever since this scripture appeared in the world, it had not been transmitted to the Central Realm; it required the Sanskrit text to arrive from the West. Examining its doctrinal source, it truly accords with the meaning of enlightenment. We therefore ordered it translated so that it may circulate. You Masters have devoutly upheld the teachings and sustained them for a long time. We have ordered additional copies to be made and bestowed upon the monasteries, hoping that this true text will be preserved forever. Having examined your memorial, your expression of thanks is noted."

On the twenty-third day of the sixth month of the sixth year, the śramaṇa Prajñā presented two hundred and fifty mangoes from his courtyard. By imperial decree, ten bolts of silk were bestowed. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, fifty bolts of silk and five sets of winter garments were further bestowed. Furthermore, Prajñā was decreed to serve as an envoy to the kingdom of Kaśmīra in North India. On the seventeenth day, one set of spring garments was also bestowed, along with thirty bolts of silk and four sets of winter garments for each of his two disciples. On the twenty-second day, Prajñā was ushered through the Right Yintai Gate into the Three Halls for an audience, receiving the decree and official dispatch of the Secretariat-Chancellery. On the twenty-fourth day, he set out and lodged at the Changle Station. On the twenty-fifth day, an imperial decree further directed: "The śramaṇa Prajñā from Kapiśa, who presented the Sanskrit pothi of the Six Pāramitās, should be granted the title 'Tripiṭaka Master Prajñā', and further bestowed a purple robe." On the twenty-seventh day, an envoy was subsequently sent with this decree and diploma, along with ten catties of miscellaneous medicines, to be received upon arrival: "May the masters depart safely!" The next morning, he set out again, taking the route through the Uyghurs, Beiting, Zhenxi, the Arabs (Tāzī), and India. At that time, Tripiṭaka Master Prajñā was fifty-seven years old.

Furthermore, the Tripiṭaka Master complied with an imperial decree. Previously, the Great Virtue Zhirou of Qianfu Temple had requested a retranslation of the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra (Prajñāhṛdaya), but because he was dispatched as an envoy to the Western Barbarians, he did not have leisure to present it. On the eleventh day of the eighth month, it was submitted along with a memorial; the introductory section for circulating this scripture was complete. The text stated:
"The śramaṇa Zhirou says: I humbly consider that the sagely wisdom is vast and profound, relying upon extensive expounding to become ever wider; the marvelous peak of the true source depends on words and images before it can be transmitted. This sūtra is the teacher and source of all sages, the fundamental mother of all sūtras. In the past, the śramaṇa Xuanzang translated and circulated it; although its meaning was complete without omission, its text lacked the beginning and end. Recently, I met the monk Prajñā from Kapiśa and personally beheld the Sanskrit text. I therefore requested its transmission and translation, repeatedly celebrating and assisting it. Only then did I know that the retreat at Vulture Peak truly opened these golden words; those who recite it will dispel doubts, and the true influence will reach still further. I humbly consider that Your Majesty has personally received the Buddha's entrustment; there is no goodness you do not follow. Your Dao permeates living beings; there is no person you do not transform. Without measuring my own unworthiness and shallowness, I have ventured to offer my foolish sincerity, hoping to assist the imperial influence and wishing to bolster the imperial longevity. I humbly beg that Your Majesty deign to cast your heavenly gaze upon this golden text. If it is acceptable, I request that it be promulgated throughout the realm; then all deluded beings and this śramaṇa will be most fortunate. Unable to bear the utmost outpouring of my sincere devotion, I respectfully attach this memorial to present it to your hearing. The śramaṇa Zhirou, truly fearful and trembling, deserving of death, respectfully speaks."

The Holy, Divine, Civil, and Martial Emperor replied:
"The Heart of Wisdom Sūtra contains the secret tenets of the Mahāyāna. Formerly, what Xuanzang translated had words and meanings that were already complete, yet it may not have been fully comprehensive regarding its beginning and end. Recently, because the monk Prajñā from Kapiśa came to China and transmitted this remaining text, it is sufficient to assist and support it. What you, Master, have stated and requested is exceedingly agreeable and fitting. Now, in accordance with your submission, let it be used to broaden the true scripture."

At that time, Tripiṭaka Master Prajñā received the royal mandate and went on a mission to North India, taking the route through Taiyuan, passing through Zhenwu, and entering the Uyghur territory. Across desert wastes and foreign lands, traversing mountains and rivers, as summer passed and winter arrived, he served with loyalty and Dharma. After nearly two years, he returned to Taiyuan; this was the third month of the eighth year of Zhenyuan. Departing with official dispatches on the eighth day of the month, he returned to the Upper Capital in the first ten days of the fourth month. An imperial envoy conveyed solicitous greetings and bestowed a purple kāṣāya, directing him to return to his former courtyard at Liquan Temple to settle. What is recounted here merely outlines the background, which can be understood in detail; it is fully recorded in the Illustrated Record of Tripiṭaka Master Prajñā's Sequential Translations.

The Appraisal states: Since the eastward transmission of the Buddha's teaching, eminent monks have followed in close succession. All acknowledge that the enterprise of translation is of the highest order, followed by doctrinal interpretation, delving into the abstruse, and propagating commentaries and records. Now Tripiṭaka Master Prajñā is just such a person. It is said that he sought teachers in India, thoroughly mastered the five sciences, crossed the vast waves from afar, and circulated the Tripiṭaka. Going east, west, south, and north, he was not like a gourdvine fastened in one place. How could he merely be a true monk of the Śākya clan? He was also a superior man who responded to the court's mission!