貞元新定釋教目錄 7.28.4

7.28.4

His mother said angrily, “Even if you incur sin, I will suffer it in your place.” On another day, while boiling oil, [Guṇa]varman accidentally spilled some on her finger, and thereupon said to his mother, “Endure the pain in my place.” His mother said, “The pain is in your own body; how could I bear it for you?” [Guṇa]varman said, “If you cannot even bear suffering that is right before your eyes, how much less could you bear the three evil destinies?” His mother then repented and had an awakening, and for the rest of her life abstained from killing. When he reached the age of eighteen, a physiognomist looked at him and said, “When you reach the age of thirty, you shall rule over a great kingdom, facing south as sovereign. If you take no pleasure in worldly glory, you will attain holy fruits.” When he reached the age of twenty, he left the household and received the precepts. He thoroughly understood the nine genres of scripture and was broadly versed in the four Āgamas. He recited more than a million words of sūtras, penetrated deeply into the vinaya divisions, and subtly entered into the essentials of meditation; at the time, people called him the Tripiṭaka Dharma Master. When he reached the age of thirty, the king of Kashmīr passed away without an heir. The populace all conferred, saying, “Varman is a scion of the imperial house, and furthermore his talents are brilliant and his virtue esteemed. We should invite him to return to lay life and succeed to the kingdom's throne.” Several hundred ministers repeatedly and firmly implored him, but Varman would not accept. He then took leave of his master, departed from the assembly, roosted in forests and drank from ravines, roaming alone through mountains and wilderness, hiding his traces from the mortal world. Later, he arrived in the Lion Country (Siṃhala), where he observed local customs and propagated the teaching. Those of the assembly who recognized the real all held that he had already attained the first fruit. His deportment moved all beings, and those who saw him brought forth the mind [of awakening]. Later he arrived in the country of Shepo (Java). The day before he arrived, the mother of the king of Shepo dreamt that she saw a Daoist practitioner flying on a ship into the kingdom. The next morning, it was indeed Varman who had arrived. The queen mother respectfully received him with holy rites and took the five precepts from him. The mother thereupon admonished the king, saying, “It is due to causes and conditions from past lives that we became mother and son. I have already received the precepts, yet you do not believe. I fear that the causes of future births will be severed forever from our present fruition.” Pressed by his mother's command, the king immediately obeyed and received the precepts. After prolonged practice, his single-minded dedication gradually deepened. Shortly thereafter, neighbouring troops invaded the borders. The king said to Varman, “The foreign bandits rely on their might and intend to encroach upon and mistreat us. If we do battle with them, injuries and killings will surely be numerous. If we do not resist them, danger and ruin will arrive immediately. Now I only take refuge in you, master; I do not know what plan to take.” Varman said, “When violent bandits attack, it is indeed proper to defend and resist. You need only arouse a mind of loving-kindness and compassion, and not give rise to harmful thoughts.” The king led the troops in person to confront them. As soon as the banners and drums engaged, the bandits scattered in retreat. The king was struck by a stray arrow, injuring his foot. Varman chanted incantations over water and washed it, and after two nights it was completely healed. The king’s reverence and faith became increasingly earnest, and he wished to leave the household to cultivate the Way. He thereupon announced to his ministers, “I wish to dwell personally within the Dharma gate; you gentlemen should choose another enlightened ruler.” The ministers all prostrated themselves, pleading with him: “If the King abandons the state, the common people will have nothing to rely upon. Furthermore, the hostile state is fierce and strong, relying on steep terrain to confront us. If we lose your compassionate protection, where will the black-haired people turn? With the Great King’s heavenly compassion, will you not pity our lives?” The king could not bear to firmly refuse them, and so he put three wishes to his ministers, stating that if they agreed, he would remain to govern the state: “First, I wish that all within the royal domain jointly venerate the upādhyāya. Second, I wish that within all my governance, killing be completely terminated. Third, I wish that all stored wealth be distributed to relieve the poor and the sick.” The ministers were joyful, and all respectfully agreed. Thereupon, the entire state took the precepts from him. Later, the king erected a monastery for Varman. While personally hauling timber, a log injured the king's toe. Varman again chanted incantations over it, and in a short while it was healed. The renown of his spiritual transformation spread near and far; hearing of his repute, neighbouring states all dispatched envoys to invite him. At that time, renowned and virtuous śramaṇas of the capital Yangdu, such as Huiguan and Huicong, having long admired his character from afar, wished to receive instruction from him. In the ninth month of the first year of the Yuanjia era, they personally petitioned Emperor Wen, requesting that Varman be invited. The Emperor immediately commanded the Regional Inspector of Jiaozhou to dispatch a ship to bring him, and Huiguan and the others also sent the śramaṇas Fachang, Daochong, Daojun, and others thither to entreat him, carrying letters to Varman and to King Po-duo-jia of Shepo, earnestly hoping that he would look favourably upon visiting the realm of the Song to propagate the Buddhist teachings. Since sacred transformation ought to be widespread, Varman did not shrink from travelling afar. He had already boarded the ship of the merchant Zhu Nandi intending to head to a small country; encountering a favourable wind, he happened to arrive in Guangzhou. Hence his post-mortem writings say: ‘Driven by the wind of karma and conduct, I ultimately came to the Song domain’—this refers to that. Emperor Wen learned that Varman had reached the Southern Seas, whereupon he again ordered the commanderies and prefectures to provide provisions to dispatch him to the capital. His route passed through Shixing, where he stayed for about a year. In Shixing there was Mount Huza; the mountain’s form was steep and craggy, its peaks loftily soaring. Varman regarded it as resembling Gṛdhrakūṭa, and so renamed it Vulture Peak (Lingjiu). Outside the mountain monastery, he established a separate meditation chamber, several li away from the monastery, where the sound of the stone chime could not be heard; yet whenever the wooden mallet was struck, Varman had already arrived. Sometimes when rain fell he did not get wet, or when walking through mud he was not soiled. At that time, the assembly of clergy and laity all became solemn and grew in reverence. In the monastery there was a Baoyue Hall. On the north wall of the hall, Varman personally painted images of Rāhula and the form of Dīpaṃkara and the young scholar spreading his hair; after the images were completed, they emitted light every night, ceasing only after a long time. Cai Maozhi, the Grand Administrator of Shixing, held him in deep reverence. Later, when Maozhi was about to die, Varman personally went to visit him, expounding the Dharma to comfort him. Later, his family dreamt that Maozhi was in the monastery expounding the Dharma with the monastic assembly; this was truly through the power of Varman's transformation and guidance. This mountain originally had many tiger perils. After Varman resided there, he walked about by day and night; sometimes, encountering a tiger, he pressed his staff upon its head, played with it, and went on his way. Thereupon, travellers in the mountains and on the waters came and went without obstruction. Those who were moved by his virtue and converted were seven or eight out of ten. Varman once entered meditation in a separate room and did not emerge for days on end. The monastery monks sent a novice to check on him; the novice saw a white lion standing leaning against a pillar, while blue lotus flowers grew filling the empty sky. The novice called out in great fright and went to chase the lion away, but in a sudden flash there was nothing to be seen. His limitless supernatural occurrences were mostly of this kind. Later, Emperor Wen again commanded Huiguan and the others to repeat their earnest invitation; Varman then sailed downstream to the capital, arriving in Jianye in the first month of the eighth year of the Yuanjia era. Emperor Wen granted him an audience and inquired after his welfare with solicitous warmth, and thereupon said, “I, your disciple, have always wished to observe the fasts and not kill, but pressed by my bodily duties to the world, I cannot attain my wish. Since the Dharma Master has not considered ten thousand li too far to come transform this land, how will you instruct me?” Varman said, “The Way lies in the mind, not in outer matters; the Dharma comes from oneself, not from others. Moreover, that which is cultivated by an emperor and by a common man are different. A common man’s status is humble and his fame lowly; his words and commands carry no majesty. If he does not discipline himself and subject his body to toil, by what means can he be of use? An emperor takes the four seas as his household and the ten thousand peoples as his children. If he utters a single fine word, men and women will all be pleased; if he spreads a single good policy, humans and spirits will be harmonized. When punishments do not cut short lives and corvée labours do not exhaust strength, then wind and rain will be timely and cold and heat will correspond to the seasons; the hundred grains will flourish abundantly and the mulberries and hemp will grow lush. Fulfilling the fast in this manner—such fasting is indeed grand! Not killing in this manner—those spared from death are also numerous! Would it really require skipping half a day's meal or sparing the life of a single fowl only then to be considered vast salvation?” The Emperor patted his armrest and sighed, saying, “Worldly people are deluded by distant principles, while śramaṇas are bogged down in literal teachings. Those deluded by distant principles make the ultimate Way into empty talk; those bogged down in literal teachings are bound by chapters and verses. As for someone like Varman—”