貞元新定釋教目錄 6.10.4

6.10.4

…way in order to benefit others and sacrifice oneself. If this can indeed cause the great transformation to spread, cleansing and awakening the unenlightened worldly people, though my own body should suffer the torments of the caldron and furnace, I shall have no regret." Thereupon he remained in Kucha, residing at the Wangxin Monastery. Having obtained the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, he began to read it. Māra came to obscure the text, so that he saw only blank tablets. Kumārajīva knew it was the work of Māra, and his resolve grew even firmer. Māra departed, the characters reappeared, and he continued to study and recite it. Later, while reading Mahāyāna sūtras at Quele Great Monastery, he suddenly heard a voice in the air saying: "You are a man of wisdom; why do you read this?" Kumārajīva said: "You are a petty māra; you should depart at once! My mind is like the earth, immovable." He stayed for three years, extensively reciting Mahāyāna sūtras and śāstras and thoroughly penetrating their secret profundities. The King of Kucha made a golden lion throne for him, covered it with a brocade cushion of Da Qin, and had Kumārajīva sit on it to expound the Dharma. Later, he went to Kashmīr and expounded in full the wondrous doctrine of the One Vehicle to his teacher Bandhudatta. His teacher was awakened and convinced in heart, and immediately bowed to Kumārajīva as his teacher, saying: "I was your master in the Hīnayāna, but you are my master in the Mahāyāna." The kingdoms of the Western Regions admired Kumārajīva's extraordinary talent and all looked up to him with reverence. Whenever he came to give lectures, the kings would kneel beside the throne, having Kumārajīva step on their knees to ascend it. Such was the reverence shown to him. Kumārajīva's reputation shook the Western Regions and his fame reached the Eastern Land. In the first month of the thirteenth year of the Jianyuan era of the Fu clan, a dingchou year, the Grand Astrologer memorialized: "A star has appeared in the sector of foreign kingdoms. A person of great virtue and wisdom is destined to enter and assist the Central Kingdom." Fu Jian had long heard of Kumārajīva's name, and realizing it, said: "We have heard that in the Western Regions there is Kumārajīva; could it not be he?" In the nineteenth year, Fu Jian dispatched General of Agile Cavalry Lü Guang and others, leading seventy thousand troops westward to attack Kucha, Karasahr, and other kingdoms. On the eve of departure, he said to Lü Guang: "We hear that they have Kumārajīva, who profoundly understands the marks of dharmas and is well versed in yin and yang, being the foremost authority of their learning. We deeply desire him. As soon as you conquer Kucha, dispatch an express courier to send Kumārajīva." Before Lü Guang's army arrived, Kumārajīva said to his king, Bai Chun: "The state's fortune is in decline; there will be a formidable enemy. Men from beneath the sun are coming from the east. You should respectfully receive them and not resist their spearhead." Bai Chun did not listen and fought; Lü Guang subsequently destroyed Kucha, killed Bai Chun, and captured Kumārajīva. Lü Guang was coarse and arrogant by nature, and did not fathom Kumārajīva's depth of wisdom. Seeing that he was still young, he treated him like an ordinary man and mocked him. Kumārajīva was forced to the utmost, and thus compromised his discipline. At times Lü Guang ordered him to ride an ox or a wild horse, wanting to make him fall off. Kumārajīva constantly harboured forbearance and never showed any sign of resentment. Lü Guang felt ashamed and ceased. On the return journey, Lü Guang stationed his army at the foot of a mountain. When the officers and soldiers were already resting, Kumārajīva said: "You cannot stay here; you will surely face disaster. The army should be moved up onto the ridge." Lü Guang did not heed him. When night came, it indeed rained, and a flash flood surged violently; the water reached several fathoms deep, and several thousand men died. Lü Guang respected him all the more as extraordinary. Kumārajīva said to Lü Guang: "This is a place of ominous ruin; you should not linger here. Calculating the numbers and observing fortune, you should quickly return. Midway there must be an auspicious land where you can dwell." Lü Guang followed his advice, and upon arriving in Liangzhou, heard that Fu Jian was already dead. He thereupon set up an independent regime in the land of Liang and exercised authority over that corner. Kumārajīva stayed in Liangzhou for many years. Several of his prognostications were fulfilled only later, but all came to pass as he said. Since Lü Guang and his son did not promote the Way, his scriptures and teachings remained stored away, with nowhere to propagate and transform. Fu Jian was already dead, so they never met after all. Yao Chang heard of his high reputation and sincerely invited him. The Lü clan, considering Kumārajīva full of wisdom, stratagems, and profound knowledge, feared he would devise plans for Yao and would not allow him to travel east. When Yao Chang died, his son Yao Xing succeeded to the throne with the posthumous title of Emperor Wenzu. He again sent envoys to earnestly invite him. In the third year of the Hongshi era, a xinchou year, in the third month, interlocking branches grew on trees in the ancestral temple courtyard, and scallions in the Xiaoyao Garden transformed into rue. Considering these auspicious omens, they said that a wise man was due to arrive. On the twentieth day of the twelfth month of that year, Kumārajīva arrived in Chang'an. Yao Xing treated him with the courtesy due to a National Preceptor and favoured him with deep affection and honour. When conversing and realizing truth together, they would linger for the entire day; probing subtlety and exhausting principles, they would pass years forgetting fatigue. Since the great Dharma was first transmitted east under Emperor Ming of the Han, and passed through the Wei and Jin dynasties, sūtras and śāstras gradually multiplied, but the translations produced by Lokakṣema and the Dharmarakṣa lineage mostly adhered rigidly to the text and matched concepts. From his youth, Yao Xing revered the Three Jewels and was keenly devoted to lectures and assemblies. Once Kumārajīva arrived, he invited him to enter the Ximing Pavilion and Xiaoyao Garden to translate various sūtras. Kumārajīva recited most texts from memory, penetrating them without exception. He rendered them into the Qin language, and his phonetic and semantic translations were fluent. Reviewing the old scriptures, he found many of their meanings to be erroneous and deviant, all because the earlier translators missed the purports and did not correspond to the Indic texts. Yao Xing ordered more than eight hundred śramaṇas, including Sengzhao, Sengqie, Sengmiao, and Sengrui, to receive instruction from Kumārajīva's purports, and further commissioned him to retranslate the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra. Kumārajīva held the Indic text, and Yao Xing held the old translation to collate against each other. Where the new text differed from the old, the meaning was thoroughly lucid in all respects. The assembly was completely satisfied and convinced, and everyone rejoiced and praised it. Yao Xing, regarding the Buddha's path as profound and solitary and its practice as purely good, trusted it as a bridge and ford out of suffering, and revered it as the great model of the world. Therefore, entrusting his intentions to the Nine Classics and turning his mind to the Twelve Divisions of the Canon, he composed the Treatise on Penetrating the Three Times to encourage and explain cause and effect. From the princes and dukes down, all admired and praised his standard. Yao Xing's kinsmen Duke Xian of Changshan and Marquis Song of Ancheng, both being devout believers in karmic conditions, repeatedly invited Kumārajīva to expound the new sūtras at the Great Monastery of Chang'an. From the fourth year of the Hongshi era, a renyin year, to the fourteenth year, a renzi year, Kumārajīva translated seventy-four works in more than three hundred and eighty fascicles, including the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā, the Aṣṭasāhasrikā, and the Diamond Sūtra. All brilliantly revealed the spiritual source and unfolded the subtle mysteries. At that time, śramaṇas of doctrinal study from the four quarters did not consider ten thousand li too far; eminent and prominent figures of virtue such as the two masters Sengcai and Sengchang, along with Daoheng, Sengbiao, Huirui, Sengdun, Sengbi, Sengzhao, and more than three thousand other monks, sought instruction, investigated deeply, and made every effort to fathom the profound purport. Huiyuan of Mount Lu, whose practice of the Way was profound and pure, sent messengers to enquire of him. Master of the Way Daosheng of Longguang, whose wisdom and understanding penetrated the subtle, also entered the Pass to consult and receive instruction. This grand enterprise was enduring and great, and remains a model of veneration to this day. Earlier, śramaṇa Huirui, whose talent and insight were lofty and clear, regularly accompanied Kumārajīva in transcribing. Kumārajīva often discussed the Western styles of composition with Huirui, assessing similarities and differences, saying: "The custom of India values literary ornament very highly. Its musical tone and rhythm are considered best when fitted to string instruments. Whenever one has an audience with a king, there must be verses praising his virtues; the rite of seeing the Buddha takes singing praises as most venerable. The verses and gāthās in the sūtras are all of this pattern. But when changing Sanskrit into the Qin language, the lush elegance is lost. Although the general meaning is grasped, the literary style is entirely separated; it is like chewing food to give to someone: not only is the flavour lost, it even causes one to vomit." Kumārajīva once composed a hymn presented to śramaṇa Fahe, which said: "The mountain of the mind nurtures the fragrance of virtue, / its floating perfume extending for ten thousand yojanas. / The sorrowing luan sings in the solitary tung tree, / its clear resonance penetrating the nine heavens." In total there were ten stanzas; the diction and metaphors were all of this kind. Kumārajīva was especially fond of the Mahāyāna and aimed at propagating it. He once sighed, saying: "If I were to take up the brush to compose a Mahāyāna abhidharma, Kātyāyanīputra would be no match for me. Now, in the land of Qin, those of deep insight are few. With my wings broken here, what is there to expound?" He then sadly desisted. He only composed the two-fascicle Treatise on the True Mark for Yao Xing. His spoken words immediately formed literary compositions without any need for deletion or correction. The diction and metaphors…