御請來目錄 1.2

1.2

入唐學法沙門空海言。空海以去延曆二十三年。銜命留學之末。問津萬里之外。其年臘月得到長安。二十四年二月十日。准勅配住西明寺。爰則周遊諸寺。訪擇師依。幸遇青龍寺灌頂阿闍梨法號惠果和尚。以為師主。其大德則大興善寺大廣智不空三藏之付法弟子也。弋鈎經律該通密藏。法之綱紀。國之所師。大師尚佛法之流布。歎生民之可拔。授我以發菩提心戒。許我以入灌頂道場。沐受明灌頂再三焉。受阿闍梨位一度也。肘行膝步學未學。稽首接足聞不聞。幸賴國家之大造大師之慈悲。學兩部之大法。習諸尊之瑜伽。斯法也則諸佛之肝心。成佛之徑路。於國城墎於人膏膄。是故薄命不聞名。重垢不能入。印度則輸婆三藏脫躧負扆振旦則玄宗皇帝景仰忘味。從爾已還。一人三公接武耽翫。四眾萬民稽首皷篋。密藏之宗自茲稱帝。半珠顯教靡旗面縛。夫以。鳳凰于飛必窺堯舜。佛法行藏逐時卷舒。今則一百餘部金剛乘教。兩部大曼荼羅海會請來見到。雖云波濤湲漠風雨漂舶。越彼鯨海平達聖境。是則聖力之所能也。伏惟皇帝陛下至德如天。佛日高轉。人之父佛之化。悲蒼生而濡足。鍾佛囑而垂衣。以陛下新御旋璣。新譯之經自遠新戾。以陛下慈育海內。海會之像過海而來也。恰似符契。非聖誰測矣。空海雖闕期之罪死而有餘。竊喜難得之法生而請來。不任一懼一喜之至。謹附判官正六位上行大宰大監高階真人遠成。奉表以聞。并請來新譯經等目錄一卷。且以奉進輕黷威嚴。伏增戰越。沙門空海誠恐誠惶謹言。

The śramaṇa Kūkai, who entered Tang to study the Dharma, states: In the twenty-third year of Enryaku, following the imperial command as the least among the students studying abroad, Kūkai set out on a journey of ten thousand leagues across the waters. In the twelfth month of that year, I arrived in Chang'an. On the tenth day of the second month of the twenty-fourth year, by imperial decree, I was assigned to reside at Ximingsi. Thereupon, I traveled around to various temples, seeking and choosing a teacher on whom to rely. Fortunately, I met the abhiṣeka ācārya of Qinglongsi, whose Dharma name is Master Huiguo, and took him as my principal master. This venerable one was indeed the Dharma-transmitting disciple of the Tripiṭaka master Mahāprājña Amoghavajra of Daxingshansi. Having thoroughly investigated the sūtras and vinaya, he was comprehensively versed in the Secret Piṭaka; he was the guiding principle of the Dharma and the teacher of the nation. The great master valued the propagation of the Buddha's teachings and lamented the suffering of living beings that could be delivered. He conferred upon me the bodhicitta precepts and permitted me to enter the abhiṣeka bodhimaṇḍa. I received the luminous abhiṣeka repeatedly, and the rank of ācārya once. Crawling on elbows and walking on knees, I studied what I had not yet studied; bowing my head and touching his feet, I heard what I had not yet heard. Fortunately relying on the vast blessings of the state and the compassion of the great master, I studied the great Dharma of the Two Realms and practiced the yoga of the various deities. This Dharma is indeed the liver and heart of all buddhas, the shortcut to attaining buddhahood; to the state it is a defensive wall, and to people it is rich marrow. Therefore, those of thin merit do not hear its name, and those of heavy defilements cannot enter it. In India, the Tripiṭaka master Śubhakarasiṃha threw off his sandals and turned his back on the throne; in Cīnasthāna, Emperor Xuanzong revered it so deeply that he forgot the taste of food. From then on, the Sovereign and the Three Excellencies followed in his footsteps and took delight in it; the fourfold assembly and the myriad people bowed their heads and opened their book-boxes. From this time, the school of the Secret Piṭaka was proclaimed supreme, while the exoteric teachings of the half-pearl folded their banners and surrendered. Now, when the phoenix flies, it must seek Yao and Shun; the appearance and concealment of the Buddha's Dharma expands and contracts according to the times. Now, over one hundred works of the Vajrayāna teachings and the ocean-like assemblies of the great maṇḍalas of the Two Realms have been brought back and have safely arrived. Although we encountered surging billows and drifting in wind and rain, we crossed that vast whale-inhabited ocean and peacefully reached the sacred realm; this is indeed accomplished through sacred power. I respectfully reflect that His Imperial Majesty's utmost virtue equals Heaven, and the Buddha-sun turns aloft; being the father of the people and a transformation of the Buddha, he pities the common folk and wades through water, cherishing the Buddha's entrustment with hanging robes. Because Your Majesty has newly ascended the jade-pivot throne, newly translated sūtras have arrived afresh from afar; because Your Majesty compassionately nurtures all within the seas, the ocean-assembly images have crossed the sea and arrived. This fits together just like tallies; if not for a sage, who could fathom it? Although Kūkai's crime of missing the scheduled term deserves more than death, I privately rejoice that while alive I have brought back this difficult-to-obtain Dharma. Unable to bear the extremity of my mixed fear and joy, I respectfully present this memorial through the Assistant Governor of Dazaifu, Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade, Takashina no Mahito Tōnari, to make this known, together with one fascicle of the catalogue of newly translated sūtras and other items brought back. In presenting this, I lightly trespass upon the august majesty, and am humbly seized with trembling all the more. The śramaṇa Kūkai states with true fear and true dread, respectfully spoken.