貞元新定釋教目錄 10.28.7

10.28.7

王篤好大乘多所開悟。留引之心旦夕相造。
笈多係心東夏無志潛停。密將一僧間行至
焉耆國。在阿蘭拏寺講通前論。又經二年。
漸至高昌客遊諸寺。其國僧侶多學漢言。雖
停二年無所宣譯。又至伊吾便停一載。值難
避地。西南路純砂磧水草俱乏。同侶相須性
命莫投。乃以所齎經論權置道旁。越山求水
冀以存濟。求既不遂勞弊轉增。專誦觀世音
呪夜雨忽降。身心充悅尋還本途。四顧茫然
方道迷失。踟蹰進退乃任前行。遂達瓜州。
方知曲取北路之道也。笈多遠慕大國跋涉
積年。初契同徒。或有留歿。獨顧單景屆斯
勝地。靜言思之悲喜交集。尋蒙帝旨延入京
城。處之名寺供給豐渥。即開皇十年冬十月
也。至止未淹華言略悉。又奉別勅令就翻經。
移住興善執本對譯。允正定繁。所誦大小乘
論並是深要。至於宣解大弘微旨。此方舊學
頻遣積疑。然而慈恕立身柔和成性。心非道
外行在言前。戒地夷而靜智水幽而潔。經洞
字源論窮聲意。加以威容詳正勤節高猛。誦
響繼晨宵法言通內外。又性好端居簡絕情
務。寡薄嗜欲息杜希求。無倦誨人有踰利己。
曾不忤顏於賤品輕心於微類。遂使未覩者
傾風暫謁者欽敬。自居譯人之首惟存傳授。
所有覆疎務在綱領。煬帝定鼎東都敬重隆
厚。至於佛法彌增崇樹。乃下勅於洛水南濱
上林園內置翻經舘。搜舉翹秀永鎮傳法。登
即下徵笈多并諸學士並預集焉。四事供承
復恒常度。致使譯人不墜其緒成簡無替於
時。及隋綱云頹郊壘煙搆。梵本新經一時斯
斷。笈多蘊其深解遂闕陳弘。始於開皇中歲
屆于京師。即與崛多共參傳譯。于時崛多拱
權令望居最。傳度梵隋。時惟稱美。至於深義
莫不反啟斯人。而容範滔然無涉世路。所以
傳譯聲望抑己揚人。仁壽之末崛多以緣他
事流擯東越。笈多乘機專主傳譯。從大業初
年終大業末歲。譯大方等善住意等經九部。
並文義澄潔華質顯暢。沙門彥琮明則行矩
等筆受。至大唐武德三年終于洛汭。沙門彥
琮為之作傳。初笈多翻金剛斷割般若波羅
蜜經一卷及普樂經一十五卷。未及練覆值
偽鄭淪廢不暇重修。今卷部在京多明八相
等事。今謂大唐日照三藏翻方廣大莊嚴經
一十二卷。與舊普曜經梵本是同。於中亦明
八相等事。與此普樂經亦應梵本同也。

king was deeply fond of the Mahāyāna and attained many awakenings. His desire to retain and invite him arose morning and night. Dharmagupta, having his heart set on the Eastern Xia, had no intention of staying covertly. Taking one monk secretly with him, he traveled by secondary paths to the kingdom of Agni (Karashahr). Dwelling in an araṇya monastery, he lectured through the aforementioned treatises, which took another two years. Gradually reaching Gaochang, he traveled as a guest among the various monasteries. The monastics of that country mostly studied the Han language. Although he stayed for two years, he produced no translations. Next he reached Yiwu (Hami) and stayed for a year. Meeting with difficulties, he sought refuge from danger. The southwestern route was purely desert, devoid of both water and grass. The companions relied on each other, with nowhere to commit their lives. Thereupon they temporarily placed the scriptures and treatises they carried beside the road and crossed the mountains in search of water, hoping thereby to survive. As the search was unsuccessful, their fatigue and distress intensified. Devotedly reciting the Avalokiteśvara dhāraṇī, a sudden night rain fell. Reinvigorated in body and mind, they immediately returned to their original route. Looking around in all directions, the vast expanse was bewildered, and they lost their bearing. Hesitating whether to advance or retreat, they simply surrendered themselves to the forward journey, eventually reaching Guazhou. Only then did they realize they had taken a winding path along the northern route. Dharmagupta had longed from afar for the great country and traversed the terrain over many years. Of the companions with whom he originally pledged, some had stayed behind and some had died. Looking alone at his solitary shadow, he arrived at this superior land. Reflecting silently upon it, sorrow and joy mingled together. Soon he received an imperial decree inviting him into the capital, lodging him in a renowned monastery with abundant provisions; this was in the tenth month, winter, of the tenth year of Kaihuang [590 CE]. Not long after his arrival, he gained a general knowledge of the Chinese language. Furthermore, he received a special imperial decree commanding him to engage in scriptural translation. He relocated to Xingshan Monastery, holding the Indic original and translating against it, accurately verifying and eliminating redundancies. The Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna treatises he recited were all profound and essential; when he expounded and explained, he greatly illuminated subtle purports, repeatedly resolving accumulated doubts for the veteran scholars of this land. Moreover, he established himself with compassion and forbearance, and gentleness became his nature. His mind did not stray outside the Way, and his conduct preceded his words. The ground of his precepts was level and tranquil, and the waters of his wisdom were deep and pure. In sūtras he penetrated the origins of the words, and in treatises he exhausted phonetics and meaning. Furthermore, his dignified deportment was orderly and correct, and his diligent integrity was lofty and fierce. His chanting voices resonated through morning and night, and his Dharma discourses encompassed both Buddhist and non-Buddhist lore. In addition, by nature he loved dwelling in tranquility, severing emotional business, diminishing desires, and stopping all ambitions. Untiring in instructing others, he surpassed those who merely benefit themselves. Never did he show displeasure to the lowly or contempt to the humble, so that those who had not yet seen him were moved by his demeanor, and those who briefly met him felt reverence. From the time he occupied the head of the translators, he was dedicated solely to transmitting the teachings; all his collations and annotations were focused on the essentials. When Emperor Yang established his capital in the Eastern Capital, his respect was profound, and regarding the Buddha's Dharma, he elevated and planted it all the more. He then issued a decree to establish a Translation Hall on the southern bank of the Luo River within the Shanglin Garden, searching out and raising up eminent talents to permanently anchor the transmission of the Dharma. He immediately summoned Dharmagupta along with various scholars to assemble there, and their provisions of the four requisites were again maintained according to the standard rate. This enabled the translators to maintain their succession, and their completed tablets did not fall behind in their time. When the Sui dynastic order declined and the suburban ramparts were enveloped in smoke, the transmission of new Indic scriptures was interrupted for a time. Dharmagupta harbored his deep understanding and thus lacked the opportunity to set it forth and propagate it. When he first arrived in the capital in the middle of the Kaihuang era, he participated in translation alongside Jñānagupta. At that time, Jñānagupta held the preeminent authority and enjoyed the highest renown; when transmitting between Sanskrit and Sui, he was uniquely acclaimed by the era. Yet whenever it came to profound meanings, there was none who did not turn to Dharmagupta for clarification. Still, his demeanor was yielding and vast, uninvolved in worldly ways; hence in the prestige of translation, he humbled himself and elevated others. At the end of the Renshou era, Jñānagupta was exiled to Dongyue on account of another matter. Dharmagupta seized the opportunity to take sole charge of translation. From the early years of Daye to the final years of Daye, he translated nine works, including the Da fangdeng shanzhuyi jing, their texts and meanings clear and pure, elegant and substantial, lucid and fluent. The śramaṇas Yancong, Mingze, Xingju, and others recorded them brush in hand. In the third year of Wude of the Great Tang [620 CE], he passed away on the banks of the Luo River. The śramaṇa Yancong wrote a biography for him. Earlier, Dharmagupta translated the Jingang duange boreboluomi jing in one fascicle and the Pule jing in fifteen fascicles. Before they could be reviewed and finalized, they met with the collapse and usurpation of the pseudo-Zheng, leaving no leisure to revise them. At present, these fascicles and works reside in the capital; they mostly elucidate matters such as the eight aspects [of the Buddha's life]. I consider today that the twelve fascicles of the Fangguang dazhuangyan jing translated by the Tripiṭaka Master Divākara of the Great Tang share the same Indic original as the older Puyao jing, and in it the eight aspects are also explained; it should be the same Indic original as this Pule jing.