Jingde Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle 1

當坐菩提樹覺華而成已

he should sit beneath the bodhi tree, and the flower of awakening is already complete.

夜奢復說偈曰。

Yasas spoke a verse in turn:

師坐金色地常說真實義

The master sits on golden ground and always speaks the meaning of truth,

迴光而照我令入三摩諦

turn the light back to shine on me, and let me enter samadhi.

尊者知其意。即度出家復具戒品。乃告之曰。如來大法眼藏今付於汝。汝護念之。乃說偈言。

The Venerable knew his intention and then received him into the order, gave him full ordination, and told him: The treasury of the great Dharma eye of the Tathagata is now entrusted to you; cherish it. Then he spoke a verse:

真體自然真因真說有理

The true body is naturally true, it is because of truth that principle is spoken,

領得真真法無行亦無止

receive the Dharma of truth and truth, with no going and no stopping.

尊者付法已。即現神變而入涅槃。化火自焚。四眾各以衣裓(古得切)盛舍利。隨處興塔而供養之。即貞王二十二年己亥歲也(當作二十七年)。

When the Venerable had finished entrusting the Dharma, he displayed spiritual transformations and entered nirvana, burning himself with transformed fire. The four assemblies each used their robe-cloths (the gloss gives the reading of the word for robe-cloth) to hold the relics and built stupas everywhere to make offerings. That year was the twenty-second year of King Zhen of Zhou, year jihai (it should be the twenty-seventh year).

第十一祖富那夜奢。華氏國人也。姓瞿曇氏。父寶身。既得法於脇尊者。尋詣波羅柰國。有馬鳴大士迎而作禮。因問曰。我欲識佛。何者即是。師曰。汝欲識佛。不識者是。曰佛既不識焉知是乎。師曰。既不識佛焉知不是。曰此是鋸義。師曰。彼是木義。復問。鋸義者何。曰與師平出。又問。木義者何。師曰。汝被我解。馬鳴豁然惺悟。稽首歸依遂求剃度。師謂眾曰。此大士者。昔為毘舍離國王。其國有一類人如馬裸露。王運神力分身為蠶。彼乃得衣。王後復生中印度。馬人感戀悲鳴。因號馬鳴焉。如來記雲。吾滅度後六百年。當有賢者馬鳴。於波羅柰國摧伏異道。度人無量繼吾傳化。今正是時。即告之曰。如來大法眼藏今付於汝。即說偈曰。

The Eleventh Patriarch Punyayasas was a man of the country of Pataliputra. His clan was Gautama. His father was named Baoshen. Having already received the Dharma from the Venerable Ribs, he went to the country of Varanasi. The Great Being Asvaghosa came to meet him and bowed, and asked: I wish to know the Buddha; which one is he? The master said: If you wish to know the Buddha, the one who does not know is he. He asked: If the Buddha is not known, how do you know that it is he? The master said: Since you do not know the Buddha, how do you know that he is not? He asked: This is the meaning of the saw. The master said: That is the meaning of the wood. He asked further: What is the meaning of the saw? He said: It is level with the master. He asked further: What is the meaning of the wood? The master said: You have been cut open by me. Asvaghosa was suddenly awakened, bowed with his head to the ground and took refuge, and then asked to be ordained. The master said to the assembly: This Great Being was formerly the king of the country of Vaisali. In that country there was a kind of people who went naked like horses, and the king used spiritual power and divided his body to become silkworms, so that those people could obtain clothing. The king was later born again in Central India, and the horse people, longing for him, neighed sadly, and so he was called Asvaghosa. The Tathagata predicted: Six hundred years after my passing there will be a worthy man Asvaghosa who will subdue heretical ways in the country of Varanasi, liberate countless people, and continue my transmission. Now is exactly the time. He then told him: The treasury of the great Dharma eye of the Tathagata is now entrusted to you. And he spoke a verse:

迷悟如隱顯明暗不相離

Delusion and awakening are like the hidden and the manifest; light and darkness are not apart from each other,

今付隱顯法非一亦非二

and now I transmit this Dharma of the hidden and manifest, which is neither one nor two.

尊者付法已。即現神變湛然圓寂。眾興寶塔以閟全身。即安王十四年戊戌歲也(當作十九年)。

When the Venerable One had finished transmitting the Dharma, he at once displayed spiritual transformations and entered perfect stillness in tranquility. The assembly built a precious stupa to enshrine his whole body. That year was the wuxu year, the fourteenth year of King An of Zhou (it should be the nineteenth year).

第十二祖馬鳴大士者。波羅柰國人也。亦名功勝。以有作無作諸功德最為殊勝故名焉。既受法於夜奢尊者。後於華氏國轉妙法輪。忽有老人坐前仆地。師謂眾曰。此非庸流當有異相。言訖不見。俄從地踴出一金色人。復化為女子右手指師。而說偈曰。

The Twelfth Patriarch, the Great Being Asvaghosa, was a native of the country of Varanasi, also called Gongsheng (Victorious Merit), because his meritorious qualities of action and non-action were supremely excellent, and so he was given that name. Having received the Dharma from the Venerable Yasas, he later turned the wheel of the wondrous Dharma in the country of Pataliputra. Suddenly an old man sat down before him and fell flat on the ground. The master said to the assembly: This is no ordinary being; there must be something extraordinary about him. As he finished speaking, the man disappeared. Soon a golden person burst up from the ground and then turned into a woman, and pointing with her right hand at the master, she spoke a verse:

稽首長老尊當受如來記

I bow my head to the Venerable Elder, who should receive the Tathagata's prediction,

今於此地上宣通第一義

and now on this earth proclaim and spread the first principle.

說偈已瞥然不見。師曰。將有魔來與吾校力。有頃風雨暴至天地晦冥。師曰。魔之來信矣。吾當除之。即指空中現一大金龍。奮發威神震動山嶽。師儼然於坐魔事隨滅。經七日有一小蟲。大若蟭螟潛形坐下。師以手取之示眾曰。斯乃魔之所變。盜聽吾法耳。乃放之令去。魔不能動。師告之曰。汝但歸依三寶即得神通。遂復本形作禮懺悔。師問曰。汝名誰耶。眷屬多少。曰我名迦毘摩羅有三千眷屬。師。曰。汝盡神力變化若何。曰我化巨海極為小事。師曰。汝化性海得否。曰何謂性海。我未嘗知。師即為說性海雲。山河大地皆依建立。三昧六通(舊雲六神通依正宗記除神字)由茲發現。迦毘摩羅聞言遂發信心與徒眾三千俱求剃度。師乃召五百羅漢與授具戒。復告之曰。如來大法眼藏今當付汝。汝聽偈言。

When the verse was finished, she vanished in a blink. The master said: A demon is about to come to test its strength against mine. After a while, wind and rain burst forth and heaven and earth turned dark. The master said: The demon has come; it can be believed. I shall remove it. He then pointed into the air, and a great golden dragon appeared, unleashing its fierce spiritual power and shaking the mountains. The master sat solemnly in his seat without moving, and the demonic affair vanished. After seven days, a tiny insect, the size of a gnat's eye, hid beneath his seat. The master took it out with his hand and showed it to the assembly, saying: This is a transformation of the demon, come to eavesdrop on my Dharma. He then let it go. The demon could not move. The master told it: If you only take refuge in the Three Jewels, you will attain spiritual powers. The demon then returned to its original form, made obeisance and repented. The master asked: What is your name and how many followers do you have? He said: My name is Kapimala, and I have three thousand followers. The master said: Using all your spiritual power to transform, what can you do? He said: I can transform a great ocean, which is a very small matter. The master said: Can you transform the ocean of nature? He said: What is the ocean of nature? I have never known. The master then explained the ocean of nature to him: Mountains, rivers and the great earth all rely on it to be established, and samadhis and the six powers (the old text says "six spiritual powers"; following the Zhengzong Ji the word "spiritual" is dropped) are revealed from it. Hearing this, Kapimala gave rise to faith, and he and his three thousand followers all asked for ordination. The master then assembled five hundred arhats to give them full precepts, and told him: The treasury of the Tathagata's great Dharma eye should now be entrusted to you. Listen to the verse:

隱顯即本法明暗元不二

The hidden and the manifest are the original Dharma, and light and darkness are originally not two;

今付悟了法非取亦非離

now I transmit this Dharma of awakening, which is neither taking nor leaving.

付法已。即入龍奮迅三昧。挺身空中如日輪相。然後示滅。四眾以真體藏之龍龕。即顯王三十七年甲午歲也(當作四十二年)。

Having transmitted the Dharma, he entered the Dragon-Rousing Samadhi, stood upright in the air in the form of a sun disc, and then manifested extinction. The fourfold assembly enshrined his true body in a dragon casket. That year was the jiawu year, the thirty-seventh year of King Xian of Zhou (it should be the forty-second year).

第十三祖迦毘摩羅者。華氏國人也。初為外道有徒三千通諸異論。後於馬鳴尊者得法領徒至西印度。彼有太子。名雲自在。仰尊者名請於宮中供養尊者曰。如來有教沙門不得親近國王大臣權勢之家。太子曰。今我國城之北有大山焉。山中有一石窟。師可禪寂於此否。尊者曰諾。即入彼山行數裡逢一大蟒。尊者直進不顧。遂盤繞師身。師因與受三歸依。蟒聽訖而去。尊者將至石窟。復有一老人素服而出合掌問訊。尊者曰。汝何所止。答曰。我昔甞為比丘多樂寂靜。有初學比丘數來請益。而我煩於應答起瞋恨想。命終墮為蟒身。住是窟中今已千載。適遇尊者。獲聞戒法故來謝耳。尊者問曰。此山更有何人居止。曰北去十里有大樹蔭覆五百大龍。其樹王名龍樹。常為龍眾說法。我亦聽受耳。尊者遂與徒眾詣彼。龍樹出迎尊者曰。深山孤寂龍蟒所居。大德至尊何枉神足。師曰。吾非至尊來訪賢者。龍樹默唸曰。此師得決定性明道眼否。是大聖繼真乘否。師曰。汝雖心語吾已意知。但辦出家。何慮吾之不聖。龍樹聞已悔謝。尊者即與度脫。及五百龍眾俱受具戒。復告龍樹曰。今以如來大法眼藏付囑於汝。諦聽偈言。

The Thirteenth Patriarch, Kapimala, was a native of the country of Pataliputra. At first he was a non-Buddhist teacher with three thousand disciples and was versed in the different doctrines of various schools. Later he received the Dharma from the Venerable Asvaghosa and led his followers to western India. There was a prince there named Yunzizai (Cloud Sovereign), who admired the Venerable One's name and invited him into the palace to make offerings. The Venerable One said: The Tathagata has taught that a sramana must not be close to kings, ministers or powerful families. The prince said: In the north of our capital there is a great mountain, and in it a stone cave; may the master practice meditation there? The Venerable One said: Yes. He entered the mountain. After walking a few li, he met a great python. The Venerable One advanced without looking back, and the python coiled around his body. The master then gave it the three refuges, and the python left after hearing them. As the Venerable One was about to reach the cave, an old man in plain clothes came out, joined his palms and greeted him. The Venerable One said: Where do you live? He answered: I was once a bhiksu and liked quiet very much. Novice monks came many times to ask for instruction, and I grew weary of answering and gave rise to angry thoughts; when I died I fell into the body of a python and lived in this cave, and now it has been a thousand years. Having just met the Venerable One and heard the precepts, I have come to thank you. The Venerable One asked: Who else lives on this mountain? He said: Ten li to the north there is a great tree shading five hundred great dragons. The tree king is named Nagarjuna, and he often preaches the Dharma to the dragons; I also listen to it. The Venerable One then went there with his followers. Nagarjuna came out to meet him. The Venerable One said: This deep mountain is lonely and where dragons and pythons dwell; why has the Great Virtue, the Honored One, condescended to come? The master said: I am not the Honored One; I have come to visit a worthy. Nagarjuna thought silently: Has this teacher attained a decisive and clear eye of the Way? Is he a great sage who has inherited the true vehicle? The master said: Though you speak in your heart, I already know it in my mind. Just go forth as a renunciant; why worry whether I am a sage? Hearing this, Nagarjuna repented and thanked him. The Venerable One then ordained him, along with the five hundred dragons, all receiving full precepts. He then told Nagarjuna: Now I entrust the treasury of the Tathagata's great Dharma eye to you. Listen carefully to the verse:

非隱非顯法說是真實際

A Dharma that is neither hidden nor manifest is called the true limit of reality;

悟此隱顯法非愚亦非智

to awaken to this Dharma of hidden and manifest is neither foolish nor wise.

付法已。即現神變化火焚身。龍樹收五色舍利建塔瘞之。即𧹞王四十一年壬辰歲也(當作四十六年)。

Having transmitted the Dharma, he at once displayed spiritual transformations and burned his body with a fire he produced. Nagarjuna collected the five-colored relics and built a stupa to enshrine them. That year was the renchen year, the forty-first year of King Nan of Zhou (the base text writes the character for "Nan" in a variant form; it should be the forty-sixth year).

第十四祖龍樹尊者。西天竺國人也。亦名龍勝。始於毘羅尊者得法。後至南印度。彼國之人多信福業。聞尊者為說妙法遞相謂曰。人有福業世間第一。徒言佛信誰能覩之。尊者曰。汝欲見佛性先須除我慢。彼人曰。佛性大小。尊者曰。非大非小非廣非狹。無福無報不死不生。彼聞理勝悉迴初心。尊者復於座上現自在身如滿月輪。一切眾唯聞法音不覩師相。彼眾中有長者子。名迦那提婆。謂眾曰。識此相否。眾曰。目所未覩安能辨識。提婆曰。此是尊者現佛性體相以示我等。何以知之。蓋以。無相三昧形如滿月。佛性之義廓然虛明。言訖。輪相即隱復居本座。而說偈言。

The Fourteenth Patriarch, the Venerable Nagarjuna, was a native of the country of West India, also called Longsheng (Dragon Victory). At first he received the Dharma from the Venerable Vira and later went to South India. The people of that country mostly believed in meritorious karma, and hearing the Venerable One preach the wondrous Dharma to them, said to one another: People having meritorious karma is the first thing in the world. Speaking idly of Buddha-nature, who can see it? The Venerable One said: If you wish to see Buddha-nature, you must first remove arrogance. They asked: Is Buddha-nature great or small? The Venerable One said: It is neither great nor small, neither broad nor narrow; it has no merit, no retribution, does not die and is not born. Hearing that the principle surpassed their own, they all turned back from their initial intention. The Venerable One then manifested a body of freedom on his seat, like a full moon disc. The whole assembly heard only the sound of the Dharma and could not see the master's form. Among the crowd was the son of an elder, named Kanadeva, who said to the assembly: Do you recognize this form? They said: Our eyes have never seen it; how can we identify it? Deva said: This is the Venerable One manifesting the substance and characteristics of Buddha-nature to show us. How do I know? Because the formless samadhi is shaped like the full moon, and the meaning of Buddha-nature is open, empty and bright. When he finished speaking, the disc vanished and he returned to his seat and spoke a verse:

身現圓月相以表諸佛體

The body manifests the form of a full moon, to represent the substance of all the Buddhas;

說法無其形用辨非聲色

preaching the Dharma has no form, in order to distinguish that it is not sound or color.

彼眾聞偈頓悟無生。鹹願出家以求解脫。尊者即為剃髮命諸聖授具。其國先有外道五千餘人。作大幻術眾皆宗仰。尊者悉為化之令歸三寶。復造大智度論中論十二門論垂之於世。後告上首弟子迦那提婆曰。如來大法眼藏今當付汝。聽吾偈言。

When those people heard the verse, they immediately awakened to non-arising and all wished to leave home in search of liberation. The Venerable One shaved their heads and had the sages grant them full precepts. In that country there had originally been more than five thousand non-Buddhists who performed great magical illusions and were revered by all; the Venerable One transformed all of them and made them take refuge in the Three Jewels. He also composed the Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra (Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom), the Madhyamaka-sastra (Treatise on the Middle) and the Dvadasamukha-sastra (Treatise of the Twelve Gates), which are transmitted in the world. Later he told his chief disciple Kanadeva: The treasury of the Tathagata's great Dharma eye should now be entrusted to you. Listen to my verse:

為明隱顯法方說解脫理

In order to mark the Dharma of hidden and manifest, the principle of liberation is spoken;

於法心不證無瞋亦無喜

toward the Dharma the mind does not realize anything, and has neither anger nor joy.

付法訖入月輪三昧廣現神變。復就本座凝然禪寂。迦那提婆與諸四眾。共建寶塔以葬焉。即秦始皇三十五年己丑歲也。

Having transmitted the Dharma, he entered the Moon-Disc Samadhi, displayed spiritual transformations widely, and then sat in stillness in meditation on his seat. Kanadeva and the fourfold assembly together built a precious stupa to bury him. That year was the jichou year, the thirty-fifth year of Qin Shi Huang.