[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [貞元新定釋教目錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157) › 6.32.2 # 貞元新定釋教目錄 6.32.2 貞元新定釋教目錄 6.32.2 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [6.32.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32.2) 有經與可得見不。禪師即授以樹皮涅槃經 本。讖尋讀驚悟方自慚恨。以為坎井之識久 迷大方。於是集眾悔過。遂專業大乘。至年二 十所誦大小乘經二百餘萬言。讖從兄善能 調象騎。殺王所乘白耳大象。王怒誅之。令曰。 敢有視者及三族。親屬莫敢往。讖哭而葬 之。王怒欲誅讖。讖曰。王以法故殺之。我以親 而葬之。並不違大義。何為見怒。傍人為之寒 心。其神色自若王奇其志氣遂留供養。明解 呪術所向皆驗。西域號為大神呪師。後隨王 入山。王渴乏須水不能得。讖乃密呪石出水。 因讚曰。大王惠澤所感。遂使枯石生泉。隣國 聞者皆歎王德。于時雨澤甚調百姓稱詠。王 悅其道術深加優寵頃之王意稍歇待之漸 薄。讖怒曰。我當以甖水詣池呪龍入甖。令天 下大旱王必請呪。然後放龍降雨則見待何 如。持甖造龍。有密告之者。王怒捕讖。讖懼誅 乃齎大涅槃經本前分一夾菩薩戒經（地持經也）菩 薩戒本奔龜茲。龜茲國多小乘學不信涅槃。 遂至姑臧止於傳舍。慮失經本枕之而寢。有 人牽之在地。讖驚謂是盜者。如此三夕。聞空 中語曰。此是如來解脫之藏。何以枕之。讖乃 慚悟別置高處。夜有盜之者舉不能勝。乃數 過舉之遂不能動。明旦讖持經去不以為重。 盜者見之謂是聖人。悉來拜謝。河西王沮渠 蒙遜聞讖名。呼與相見接待甚厚。蒙遜素奉 大法志在弘通。請令出其經本。讖以未參土 言又無傳譯。恐言舛於理不許即翻。於是 學語三年。方譯初分十卷。是時沙門慧嵩道 朗獨步河西。值其宣出法藏。深相推重轉易 梵文。嵩公筆受。道俗數百人疑難縱橫。讖臨 機釋滯未嘗留礙。嵩朗等更請廣出餘經。謂 大集大雲悲華地持等。兼涅槃經總十九部。 讖以涅槃經本品數未足還國尋求。值其母 亡遂留歲餘。後於于闐更得經本。復還姑臧 續譯成四帙焉。讖以玄始三年甲寅創首翻 譯至十五年景寅都訖（房云玄始十年訖者此乃涅槃竟時非餘經也准優婆塞 戒經後記云景寅出此即十五年中猶出經也讖至義和三年癸酉三月方卒中間六載應更出經錄中不言故未詳也） 讖甞造遜云。有鬼入聚落必多災疫。遜不信 欲躬見為驗。讖即以術加遜。遜見而駭怖。讖 曰。宜潔誠齋戒神呪驅之。乃讀呪三日謂遜 曰鬼北去矣。既而北境之外疫死萬數。遜益 敬憚禮遇彌崇。會魏大武皇帝聞其道術遣 使迎請。且告遜曰。若不遣讖便即加兵。遜自 揆國弱難以拒命。兼慮讖多術或為魏謀已。 進退惶惑乃密計除之。初讖譯出涅槃卷數 已定。而外國沙門曇無發云。此經品未盡。 讖甞慨然誓必重尋。蒙遜因其行志乃偽資 發遣厚贈寶貨。未發數日乃流涕告日。讖業 對將至眾聖不能救矣。以本有心誓義不容 停。行四十里遜密遣刺客害之。時年四十九。 眾咸慟惜焉。既而遜左右常白日見鬼神以 劍擊遜。至四月寢疾而終（遜以義和三年三月害讖即於其年四月遇疾 而終信哉報應不虛如影之隨形也房云讖在茂䖍承和四年卒者非也其義和三年即魏延和二年歲在癸酉也）初 讖在姑臧。有張掖沙門道進。從讖受菩薩戒。 讖云。且悔過乃竭誠七日七夜。至第八日晨 詣讖求受。讖忽大怒。進更思惟但是我業障 未銷耳。乃勠力三年且禪且懺。即於定中見 釋迦文佛與諸大士授己戒法。其夕同止十 餘人皆感夢如進所見。進欲詣讖說之未至 十步。讖驚起唱言。善哉善哉。已感戒矣。吾當 為汝作證。次第於佛像前為說戒相。時沙門 道朗振譽關西。當進感戒之夕朗亦通夢。乃 自卑戒臘求為法弟。於是從進受者千有餘 人。傳授此法迄至于今。皆讖之遺則。有別記 云。菩薩地持經應是伊波勒菩薩傳來此土。 後果是讖傳譯。疑讖或非凡也。 菩薩戒經八卷（祐房等錄並云讖譯今以是地持之別名故不雙載也） 虛空藏經五卷（祐房等錄云亦讖譯今以即是大集虛空藏品折出別行今載別生錄中此不 復存也） > "\[Do you have any\] scriptures that could be shown to me?" The meditation master then handed him a birch-bark manuscript of the Nirvāṇa-sūtra. As Dharmakṣema read it through, he was startled into awakening and began to feel ashamed and regretful, considering that his knowledge had been like that of a frog in a well, long blind to the vast expanse. Thereupon he assembled the community to repent of his errors, and ultimately turned exclusively to the study of the Mahāyāna. By the age of twenty, he had recited over two million words of Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna scriptures. > > His paternal cousin was skilled at taming and riding elephants, but he killed the king's white-eared great elephant. Enraged, the king executed him and issued an order: "Whoever dares to look upon him shall have three clans exterminated!" None of the relatives dared go, but Dharmakṣema wept and buried him. Enraged, the king wished to execute Dharmakṣema. Dharmakṣema said: "Your Majesty killed him according to the law; I buried him out of kinship. Neither violates great righteousness. Why be angry with me?" The bystanders froze with fear for him, but his demeanor remained composed. The king, marveling at his courage, spared him and provided him with offerings. > > Dharmakṣema thoroughly understood spells and arts, which were efficacious wherever directed. In the Western Regions, he was called the "Great Spiritual Spell-Master." Later, he accompanied the king into the mountains. The king, parched with thirst, needed water but could find none. Dharmakṣema secretly incanted a stone and made water gush forth. He then praised the king, saying: "Moved by the great king's benevolence, a spring has emerged even from barren rock!" All who heard of it in neighboring states sighed in admiration at the king's virtue. At that time, the rains were well-timed and harmonious, and the common people sang praises. The king was delighted with his arts and favored him with deep respect. After a while, however, the king's regard gradually cooled, and he treated him more coldly. Resentful, Dharmakṣema said: "I shall take a jar of water, go to the dragon pool, incant the dragon into the jar, and cause a great drought throughout the land. The king will surely beg me to chant a spell; only then will I release the dragon to bring rain, and we shall see how I am treated then!" Carrying the jar, he went to the dragon. Someone secretly informed the king, who in rage sought to arrest Dharmakṣema. Fearing execution, Dharmakṣema fled to Kucha carrying the first section of the Mahānirvāṇa-sūtra in one pothi box, the Bodhisattva-śīla-sūtra (that is, the Bodhisattva-bhūmi), and the Bodhisattva Precept Manual. > > In the kingdom of Kucha, most people studied the Hīnayāna and did not believe in the Nirvāṇa\[-sūtra\]. He then proceeded to Guzang and lodged in an inn. Fearing the loss of the manuscript, he used it as a pillow to sleep on. Someone pulled him down to the ground. Startled, Dharmakṣema thought it was a thief. This happened for three nights. Then he heard a voice in the air say: "This is the treasury of the Tathāgata's liberation; why do you use it as a pillow?" Dharmakṣema, ashamed and enlightened, placed it separately in a high spot. That night, a thief came to steal it but could not lift it. Though he tried to lift it several times, he could not budge it. The next morning, Dharmakṣema took the scripture and left, not finding it heavy. Seeing this, the thief took him for a holy man and came to bow and apologize. > > Juqu Mengxun, King of Hexi, heard of Dharmakṣema's renown and summoned him for an audience, treating him with great generosity. Mengxun had long revered the Great Dharma and aimed to propagate it; he requested him to produce the translation of his manuscript. Because he was not yet versed in the local language and had no interpreter, Dharmakṣema feared that his words would deviate from the principle, and did not agree to translate immediately. Thereupon he studied the language for three years, and only then translated the first part in ten fascicles. At that time, the śramaṇas Huisong and Daolang were preeminent in Hexi. Encountering his propagation of the Dharma treasury, they esteemed him deeply; they translated the Indic text while Master Song served as scribe. Several hundred monks and laypersons raised complex difficulties and questions, but Dharmakṣema resolved the obscurities on the spot, never meeting an obstruction. Song, Lang, and others further requested him to translate other scriptures extensively—namely, the Mahāsaṃnipāta, Mahāmegha, Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka, Bodhisattva-bhūmi, and so forth, together with the Nirvāṇa-sūtra, totaling nineteen works. > > Because the number of chapters in the manuscript of the Nirvāṇa-sūtra was incomplete, Dharmakṣema returned to his home country to search for them. Encountering the death of his mother, he stayed there for over a year. Later, he obtained further manuscripts in Khotan and returned to Guzang, where he continued translating them into four cases. Dharmakṣema first began translating in the first month of the third year of Xuanshi (jiayin) and completed them all by the fifteenth year (bingyin). (Fei Changfang says that it was completed in the tenth year of Xuanshi, but that was when the Nirvāṇa-sūtra was finished, not the other scriptures. According to the colophon of the Upāsakaśīla-sūtra, it was produced in the year bingyin, meaning he was still translating scriptures in the fifteenth year. Dharmakṣema did not die until the third month of the third year of Yihe (guiyou); in the six intervening years he must have translated more scriptures, but since the catalogues do not mention them, the matter remains unclear.) > > Dharmakṣema once visited Mengxun and said: "Demons have entered the settlement; there will surely be many pestilences and disasters." Mengxun did not believe it and wished to see it for himself as proof. Dharmakṣema then cast an art upon Mengxun; Mengxun saw it and was terrified. Dharmakṣema said: "One should purify the mind with fasting and drive them away with spiritual spells." He recited spells for three days and then told Mengxun: "The demons have gone north." Soon after, tens of thousands died of pestilence beyond the northern border. Mengxun respected and feared him all the more, treating him with even higher honors. > > It happened that Emperor Taiwu of the Wei heard of his arts and dispatched envoys to welcome him, warning Mengxun: "If you do not send Dharmakṣema, we will immediately send troops." Mengxun considered his own state too weak to defy the command; furthermore, he worried that Dharmakṣema was full of arts and might plot against him for the Wei. Hesitant and panicking, he secretly plotted to eliminate him. Earlier, when Dharmakṣema's translation of the Nirvāṇa\[-sūtra\] was finished in its fascicle count, the foreign śramaṇa Dharmakāma said that the chapters of this scripture were not yet complete. Dharmakṣema had sighed and vowed to search for them again. Taking advantage of his intent to travel, Mengxun pretended to fund his departure and gave him generous gifts of valuables. A few days before setting out, Dharmakṣema wept and said: "My karmic retribution is about to arrive, and all the sages cannot save me. Yet because of my original vow, righteousness does not permit me to halt." After traveling forty li, Mengxun secretly dispatched an assassin to murder him. He was forty-nine years old at the time. The multitude lamented and mourned him. Subsequently, Mengxun's attendants frequently saw ghosts and spirits striking Mengxun with swords in broad daylight. In the fourth month, he fell ill and died. (Mengxun murdered Dharmakṣema in the third month of the third year of Yihe, and in the fourth month of that same year fell ill and died. Truly, karmic retribution is not in vain, following just as a shadow follows a form! Fei Changfang's claim that Dharmakṣema died in the fourth year of Chenghe under Maoqian is incorrect. The third year of Yihe was the second year of Yanhe of the Wei, the year guiyou.) > > Earlier, when Dharmakṣema was in Guzang, the śramaṇa Daojin from Zhangye wished to receive the bodhisattva precepts from him. Dharmakṣema said: "First repent your faults." Thereupon Daojin exerted his utmost sincerity for seven days and seven nights. On the morning of the eighth day, he went to Dharmakṣema seeking ordination, but Dharmakṣema suddenly flew into a great rage. Daojin reflected further: "It is only that my karmic obstacles have not yet been eliminated." He then exerted himself for three years, practicing both meditation and repentance. In the midst of absorption, he saw Śākyamuni Buddha together with the great beings conferring the precept methods upon him. That night, over ten people staying in the same quarters all had dreams matching what Daojin had seen. Daojin was about to go to Dharmakṣema to tell him; when he was still ten paces away, Dharmakṣema started up and exclaimed: "Excellent, excellent! You have already invoked the precepts. I shall witness it for you." He then explained the marks of the precepts before the Buddha image in succession. At that time, the śramaṇa Daolang was famed throughout the region west of the Pass. On the night Daojin invoked the precepts, Daolang also shared the dream; he humbly set aside his monastic seniority and asked to become his Dharma brother. Thereupon over a thousand people received the precepts from Daojin, and the transmission of this tradition down to the present day is entirely the legacy of Dharmakṣema. > > A separate record states: "The Bodhisattvabhūmi-sūtra was likely transmitted to this land by the Bodhisattva Evale." In the end, it was indeed translated by Dharmakṣema; one wonders whether Dharmakṣema was no ordinary mortal. > > Bodhisattva Precept Scripture, in eight fascicles. (The catalogues of Sengyou, Fei Changfang, and others all say this was translated by Dharmakṣema. Because it is another name for the Bodhisattva-bhūmi, it is not listed twice here.) > Ākāśagarbha-sūtra, in five fascicles. (The catalogues of Sengyou, Fei Changfang, and others say this was also translated by Dharmakṣema. Because it is an extract circulating separately from the Ākāśagarbha chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta, it is now included in the catalogue of separate offshoots and not retained here.) > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 6.32.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32.1) - [Next: 6.32.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32.3) - [Up: 6.32](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157~en-mt.6.32.2) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (4) - [高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2059.2.50) — 慧皎, Classical Chinese - [出三藏記集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2145.14.8) — 僧祐, Classical Chinese - [開元釋教錄](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2154.4.17.2) — 智昇, Classical Chinese - [神僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2064.3.2) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2157.6.32.2) · Pramāṇa