Jingde Chuandeng Lu (Record of the Transmission of the Lamp), Fascicle 1

入道不通理復身還信施

One who entered the Way but did not penetrate the principle must still repay the offerings of faith with his body;

汝年八十一此樹不生耳

when you reach the age of eighty-one, this tree will no longer produce ears.

長者聞偈彌加歎伏。且曰。弟子衰老不能事師。願捨次子隨師出家。尊者曰。昔如來記此子。當第二五百年為大教主。今之相遇蓋符宿因。即與剃髮執侍。至巴連弗城。聞諸外道慾障佛法計之既久。尊者乃執長旛入彼眾中。彼問尊者曰。汝何不前。尊者曰。汝何不後。又曰。汝似賤人。尊者曰汝似良人。又曰。汝解何法。尊者曰。汝百不解。又曰。我欲得佛。尊者曰。我酌然得佛。又曰。汝不合得。尊者曰。元道我得汝實不得。又曰。汝既不得云何言得。尊者曰。汝有我故所以不得。我無我我故自當得。彼詞既屈。乃問師曰。汝名何等。尊者曰。我名迦那提婆。彼既夙聞師名。乃悔過致謝。時眾中猶互興問難。尊者析以無礙之辯。由是歸伏。乃告上足羅睺羅多而付法眼。偈曰。

When the elder heard the verse, he admired him all the more and said: This disciple is old and decrepit and cannot serve the master; I wish to give my second son to follow the master and leave home. The Venerable One said: In the past the Tathagata predicted that this child would be the great teacher in the second five hundred years. Now that we meet, it exactly accords with his former cause. He then shaved his head and took him as attendant. When he reached the city of Pataliputra, he heard that various non-Buddhists wished to obstruct the Buddha's Dharma and had long been plotting. The Venerable One then took a long banner and went into their crowd. They asked the Venerable One: Why do you not move forward? The Venerable One said: Why do you not move back? They said: You are like a lowly person. The Venerable One said: You are like a good person. They said: What Dharma do you understand? The Venerable One said: You do not understand any of the hundred kinds. They said: I wish to attain Buddhahood. The Venerable One said: I attain Buddhahood freely. They said: You should not attain it. The Venerable One said: Originally you said that I attain it; truly you do not attain it. They said: If you do not attain it, how can you say you attain it? The Venerable One said: Because you have a self, you do not attain; because I have no self and no what belongs to self, naturally I should attain. Their words were exhausted, and only then did they ask the master: What is your name? The Venerable One said: My name is Kanadeva. Having long heard the master's name, they repented and thanked him. At that time, among the crowd, others raised difficult questions in turn, and the Venerable One analyzed them with unobstructed eloquence, and so they submitted. He then told his chief disciple Rahulata and entrusted him with the Dharma eye. The verse says:

本對傳法人為說解脫理

Originally, facing the person to whom the Dharma is transmitted, I speak the principle of liberation for him;

於法實無證無終亦無始

toward the Dharma there is truly nothing realized; there is no end and no beginning.

尊者說偈已。入奮迅定身放八光而歸寂滅。學眾興塔而供養之。即前漢文帝十九年庚辰歲也。

When the Venerable One finished the verse, he entered the Rousing Samadhi, emitted eight rays of light from his body and entered stillness. The assembly of students built a stupa to make offerings. That year was the gengchen year, the nineteenth year of Emperor Wen of the Former Han.

第十六祖羅睺羅多者。迦毘羅國人也行化至室羅筏城。有河名曰金水。其味殊美。中流復現五佛影。尊者告眾曰。此河之源凡五百里。有聖者僧伽難提居於彼處。佛誌一千年後當紹聖位。語已領諸學眾泝流而上。至彼見僧伽難提安坐入定。尊者與眾伺之。經三七日方從定起。尊者問曰。汝身定耶。心定耶。曰身心俱定。尊者曰。身心俱定何有出入。曰雖有出入不失定相。如金在井金體常寂。尊者曰。若金在井若金出井金無動靜何物出入。曰言金動靜何物出入。許金出入金非動靜。尊者曰。若金在井出者何金。若金出井在者何物。曰金若出井在者非金。金若在井出者非物。尊者曰。此義不然。曰彼理非著。尊者曰。此義當墮。曰彼義不成。尊者曰。彼義不成我義成矣。曰我義雖成法非我故。尊者曰。我義己成我無我故。曰我無我故復成何義。尊者曰。我無我故故成汝義。曰仁者。師於何聖得是無我。尊者曰。我師迦那提婆證是無我。曰稽首提婆師。而出於仁者。仁者無我故。我欲師仁者。尊者曰。我已無我故。汝須見我我。汝若師我故。知我非我我。難提心意豁然。即求度脫。尊者曰。汝心自在非我所繫。語已即以右手擎金缽舉至梵宮。取彼香飯將齋大眾。而大眾忽生厭惡之心。尊者曰。非我之咎汝等自業。即命僧伽難提分坐同食。眾復訝之。尊者曰汝不得食。皆由此故。當知與吾分坐者。即過去娑羅樹王如來也。愍物降跡。汝輩亦莊嚴劫中已至三果而未證無漏者也。眾曰我師神力斯可信矣。彼雲過去佛者即竊疑焉。僧伽難提知眾生慢。乃曰。世尊在日世界平正。無有丘陵江河溝洫。水悉甘美草木滋茂。國土豐盈無八苦行十善。自雙樹示滅八百餘年。世界丘墟樹木枯悴。人無至信正念輕微。不信真如唯愛神力。言訖。以右手漸展入地。至金剛輪際取甘露水。以瑠璃器持至會所。大眾見之即時欽慕悔過作禮。

The Sixteenth Patriarch, Rahulata, was a native of the country of Kapilavastu. He went teaching and reached the city of Sravasti, where there was a river named Golden Water whose taste was especially fine, and in its midst the reflection of five Buddhas appeared. The Venerable One told the assembly: The source of this river is about five hundred li away, and the holy man Sanghanandi lives there. The Buddha predicted that a thousand years later he would succeed to the holy position. When he finished speaking, he led his students upstream. When they arrived, they saw Sanghanandi sitting peacefully in concentration. The Venerable One and the assembly waited, and after twenty-one days he rose from concentration. The Venerable One asked: Is your body in concentration, or your mind? He said: Both body and mind are in concentration. The Venerable One said: If both body and mind are in concentration, how is there entering and emerging? He said: Though there is entering and emerging, the mark of concentration is not lost. It is like gold in a well, whose substance is always still. The Venerable One said: If you say the gold is in the well and the gold comes out of the well, and the gold has no movement or stillness, what is it that enters and emerges? He said: When you speak of the movement or stillness of gold, what is it that enters and emerges? If you allow gold to enter and emerge, gold is not movement or stillness. The Venerable One said: If gold is in the well, what is the gold that comes out? If gold comes out of the well, what is the thing that is in it? He said: If gold comes out of the well, what is in it is not gold; if gold is in the well, what comes out is not a thing. The Venerable One said: This meaning is not so. He said: That principle has no attachment. The Venerable One said: This meaning should fall. He said: That meaning is not established. The Venerable One said: If that meaning is not established, then my meaning is established. He said: Though my meaning is established, the Dharma is not mine. The Venerable One said: My meaning is already established, because I have no self. He said: Because I have no self, what meaning is established? The Venerable One said: Because I have no self, therefore your meaning is established. He said: Benevolent one, from which sage did the master obtain this no-self? The Venerable One said: My teacher Kanadeva realized this no-self. He said: I bow my head to Master Deva, who came from the benevolent one. Because the benevolent one has no self, I wish to take the benevolent one as my teacher. The Venerable One said: Since I have no self, you must see my self. If you take me as teacher, know that I am not the self of me. Nandi's mind opened up suddenly and he asked for ordination. The Venerable One said: Your mind is free and cannot be bound by me. When he finished speaking, he raised a golden bowl with his right hand to the Brahma palace, took fragrant rice from there and offered it to the assembly for their meal. But the assembly suddenly felt aversion. The Venerable One said: This is not my fault but your own karma. He then had Sanghanandi sit among them and eat together. The crowd was amazed again. The Venerable One said: You may not eat, all because of this. You should know that the one seated apart with me is the past Tathagata King of the Sala Tree, who descended out of pity for all beings. You also are those who in the Adorned Kalpa had already reached the third fruit but had not yet realized the undefiled. The assembly said: The spiritual power of our master can be believed. When he said he was a past Buddha, they privately doubted. Sanghanandi knew that beings were arrogant and said: When the World-Honored One was in the world, the world was level and even, without hills, rivers or ditches; the water was all sweet, plants and trees flourished, the land was abundant and had no eight sufferings, and people practiced the ten wholesome deeds. Since he displayed extinction between the twin trees more than eight hundred years ago, the world has become ruins, trees have withered, people lack deep faith, right mindfulness is slight, they do not believe in suchness and only love spiritual power. When he finished, he gradually stretched his right hand into the earth, reached the rim of the vajra wheel, took sweet-dew water, and brought it in a lapis lazuli vessel to the assembly. The assembly saw it and at once admired him, repented and made obeisance.

於是尊者命僧伽難提而付法眼。偈曰。

Then the Venerable One entrusted the Dharma eye to Sanghanandi. The verse says:

於法實無證不取亦不離

Toward the Dharma, there is truly nothing realized; neither taking nor leaving;

法非有無相內外云何起

the Dharma is not a mark of existence or non-existence; how could inside and outside arise?

尊者付法已。安坐歸寂。四眾建塔。此當前漢武帝二十八年戊辰歲也。

When the Venerable One finished transmitting the Dharma, he sat peacefully and entered stillness. The fourfold assembly built a stupa. This was the wuchen year, the twenty-eighth year of Emperor Wu of the Former Han.

第十七祖僧伽難提者。室羅閥城寶莊嚴王之子也。生而能言。常讚佛事。七歲即厭世樂。以偈告其父母曰。

The Seventeenth Patriarch, Sanghanandi, was the son of King Ratnavyuha (Precious Adornment) of the city of Sravasti. He could speak from birth and often praised the Buddha's work. At seven he grew weary of worldly pleasures and spoke a verse to his parents:

稽首大慈父和南骨血母

I bow my head to my father of great compassion and greet my mother of flesh and blood,

我今欲出家幸願哀愍故

now I wish to leave home, and hope for your pity and indulgence.

父母固止之。遂終日不食。乃許其在家。出家號僧伽難提。復命沙門禪利多為之師。積十九載未曾退倦。尊者每自念言。身居王宮胡為出家。一夕天光下屬。見一路坦平不覺徐行。約十里許至大巖前。有石窟焉。乃燕寂於中。父既失子。即擯禪利多出國。訪尋其子不知所在。經十年。尊者得法受記已。行化至摩提國。忽有涼風襲眾身心悅適非常。而不知其然。尊者曰。此道德之風也。當有聖者出世嗣續祖燈乎。言訖。以神力攝諸大眾遊歷山谷。食頃至一峰下謂眾曰。此峰頂有紫雲如蓋。聖人居此矣。即與大眾徘徊久之。見山舍一童子持圓鑑直造尊者前。尊者問。汝幾歲耶。曰百歲。尊者曰。汝年尚幼何言百歲。曰我不會理正百歲耳。尊者曰。汝善機耶。曰佛言若人生百歲。不會諸佛機。未若生一日。而得決了之。師曰。汝手中者當何所表。童曰。諸佛大圓鑑內外無瑕翳。兩人同得見心眼皆相似。彼父母聞子語。即捨令出家。尊者攜至本處。受具戒訖。名伽耶舍多。他時聞風吹殿銅鈴聲。尊者問師曰。鈴鳴耶風鳴耶。師曰。非風非鈴我心鳴耳。尊者曰。心復誰乎。師曰。俱寂靜故。尊者曰。善哉善哉。繼吾道者非子而誰。即付法偈曰。

His parents firmly forbade it, so he stopped eating for whole days, and only then did they allow him to leave home while remaining at home, with the name Sanghanandi, and appointed the sramana Chanlita as his teacher. He accumulated nineteen years without ever tiring. The Venerable One often thought to himself: Living in a royal palace, what counts as leaving home? One night light shone down from heaven, and he saw a level road, and without realizing it walked slowly along it; after about ten li he came before a great cliff with a stone cave, and he rested in stillness inside. His father, having lost his son, expelled Chanlita from the country and searched for his son without knowing where he was. After ten years, when the Venerable One had received the Dharma and the prediction, he went teaching in the country of Magadha. Suddenly a cool breeze came and the bodies and minds of the people were extraordinarily pleased, though they did not know why. The Venerable One said: This is the wind of the Way and its virtue. A holy man must be about to appear in the world and continue the lamp of the patriarchs. When he finished speaking, he used spiritual power to gather the great assembly and travel through the mountain valleys, and in the time of a single meal reached the foot of a peak. He said to the assembly: On top of this peak there is a purple cloud like a canopy, and a holy man lives here. He lingered a long time with the assembly and saw in a mountain hut a boy holding a round mirror, who walked straight up to the Venerable One. The Venerable One asked: How old are you? He said: A hundred. The Venerable One said: You are still young; how can you say a hundred? He said: I do not understand reason; it just happens to be a hundred. The Venerable One said: Are you good at sharp repartee? He said: The Buddha said, If a person lives a hundred years and does not understand the mechanism of the Buddhas, it is better to live one day and be able to resolve it. The master said: What does the thing in your hand represent? The boy said: The great round mirror of all Buddhas, without flaw or shadow inside or outside. The two saw each other, and their hearts and eyes were alike. His parents, hearing their son's words, allowed him to leave home. The Venerable One took him to his own place, and when he finished giving full precepts, he was named Gayasata. Later he heard the sound of the bronze bell on the hall blown by the wind. The Venerable One asked the master: Is the bell ringing or is the wind ringing? The master said: It is neither the wind nor the bell; it is my mind ringing. The Venerable One said: And whose is the mind? The master said: Because both are still. The Venerable One said: Excellent, excellent. Who else but you would inherit my Way? He then transmitted the Dharma. The verse says:

心地本無生因地從緣起

The mind-ground originally has no arising; the causal ground arises from conditions,

緣種不相妨華果亦復爾

conditions and seeds do not hinder each other, and so it is with flowers and fruit.

尊者付法已。右手攀樹而化。大眾議曰。尊者樹下歸寂。其垂蔭後裔乎。將奉全身於高原建塔。眾力不能舉。即就樹下起塔。當前漢昭帝十三年丁未歲也。

When the Venerable One finished transmitting the Dharma, he held onto a tree with his right hand and passed away. The assembly discussed: The Venerable One entered stillness under the tree; does it mean he wishes to shade his descendants? They meant to carry the whole body to a high plateau to build a stupa, but the crowd could not lift it even with all their strength, and so they raised the stupa under the tree. This was the dingwei year, the thirteenth year of Emperor Zhao of the Former Han.

第十八祖伽耶舍多者。摩提國人也。姓欝頭藍。父天蓋。母方聖。嘗夢大神持鑑因而有娠。凡七日而誕。肌體瑩如瑠璃未嘗洗沐自然香潔。幼好閑靜語非常童。持鑑出遊遇難提尊者得度。領徒至大月氏國。見一婆羅門舍有異氣。尊者將入彼舍。舍主鳩摩羅多問曰。是何徒眾。曰是佛弟子。彼聞佛號心神竦然。即時閉戶。尊者良久自扣其門。羅多曰。此舍無人。尊者曰。答無者誰。羅多聞語知是異人。遽開關延接。尊者曰。昔世尊記曰。吾滅後一千年有大士。出現於月氏國。紹隆玄化。今汝值吾應斯嘉運。於是鳩摩羅多發宿命智。投誠出家受具訖付法。偈曰。

The Eighteenth Patriarch, Gayasata, was a native of the country of Magadha. His surname was Yutoulan. His father was named Tiangai (Heaven's Canopy) and his mother Fangsheng (Directional Sage). She once dreamed of a great spirit holding a mirror, and so became pregnant, and he was born after seven days in all. His body was bright and clear like lapis lazuli; he was never washed yet was naturally fragrant and clean. In childhood he liked quiet, and his speech was unlike that of ordinary children. He went out holding the mirror and met the Venerable Nandi, who ordained him. He led his followers to the country of the Yuezhi and saw that a brahmin's house gave off an unusual aura. As the Venerable One was about to enter the house, the owner Kumarata asked: What kind of followers are you? He said: Disciples of the Buddha. Hearing the Buddha's name, his spirit was startled and he immediately closed the door. After a long time, the Venerable One knocked at the door himself. Kumarata said: There is no one in this house. The Venerable One said: Who is it that answers "no one"? Hearing this, Kumarata knew he was an extraordinary person and at once opened the bar and received him. The Venerable One said: In the past the World-Honored One predicted: A thousand years after my extinction a great being will appear in the country of the Yuezhi to continue and enhance the profound transformation. Now that you meet me, it exactly accords with this auspicious fortune. Then Kumarata awakened his knowledge of past lives, sincerely left home, and when he had received full precepts, received the Dharma. The verse says:

有種有心地因緣能發萌

There is a seed, there is a mind-ground, and causes and conditions can make it sprout;

於緣不相礙當生生不生

toward conditions there is no obstruction; when it should be born, it is born and yet is not born.

尊者付法已。踴身虛空現十八種神變。化火光三昧自焚其身。眾以舍利起塔。當前漢成帝二十年戊申歲也。

When the Venerable One finished transmitting the Dharma, he leapt into the sky and displayed eighteen kinds of spiritual transformation, and in the fire-light samadhi cremated his own body. The assembly built a stupa with the relics. This was the wushen year, the twentieth year of Emperor Cheng of the Former Han.

第十九祖鳩摩羅多者。大月氏國婆羅門之子也。昔為自在天人(欲界第六天)見菩薩瓔珞。忽起愛心墮生忉利(欲界第二天)聞憍屍迦說般若波羅蜜多。以法勝故升於梵天(色界)以根利故善說法要。諸天尊為導師以繼祖。時至遂降月氏。後至中天竺國。有大士名闍夜多。問曰。我家父母素信三寶而嘗縈疾瘵。凡所營作皆不如意。而我隣家久為旃陀羅行。而身常勇健所作和合。彼何幸而我何辜。尊者曰。何足疑乎。且善惡之報有三時焉。凡人恆見仁夭暴壽逆吉義兇。便謂亡因果虛罪福。殊不知影響相隨毫釐靡忒。縱經百千萬劫亦不磨滅。時闍夜多聞是語已。頓釋所疑。尊者曰。汝雖已信三業。而未明業從惑生。惑因識有。識依不覺。不覺依心。心本清淨無生滅無造作。無報應無勝負。寂寂然靈靈然。汝若入此法門可與諸佛同矣。一切善惡有為無為皆如夢幻。闍夜多承言領旨。即發宿慧懇求出家。既受具。尊者告曰。吾今寂滅時至。汝當紹行化跡。乃付法眼。偈曰。

The Nineteenth Patriarch, Kumarata, was the son of a brahmin of the country of the Great Yuezhi. In the past he had been a god of the Paranirmitavasavartin heaven (the sixth heaven of the desire realm); seeing a Bodhisattva's necklaces, he suddenly felt attachment and fell to be born in Trayastrimsa (the second heaven of the desire realm). Hearing Kausika speak of prajnaparamita (meaning "reaching the other shore," that is, crossing from the shore of birth and death to the shore of liberation), because the Dharma was excellent he rose to the Brahma heaven (form realm); because his faculties were sharp he was good at explaining the essentials of the Dharma, and the gods honored him as a guide. When the time came to succeed the patriarchs, he was born in the country of the Yuezhi. Later he went to the country of Central India. There was a great being named Jayata, who asked: My parents have always believed in the Three Jewels yet are constantly entangled in illness, and in all they undertake nothing goes as they wish; while my neighbor's family has long followed the trade of candala, yet his body is always strong and healthy and what he does comes together. How fortunate he is, and how ungrateful am I! The Venerable One said: What is there to doubt? Moreover, the retribution for good and evil comes in three periods. Ordinary people often see the benevolent die young and the violent live long, the perverse prosper and the righteous suffer misfortune, and so think there is no cause and effect and that crime and merit are empty, not knowing that shadow and echo follow along, not a hair's breadth in error, and that even after hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas they are not worn away. Then Jayata, hearing this, immediately dissolved his doubts. The Venerable One said: Though you now believe in the three karmas, you do not yet understand that karma arises from delusion, delusion exists because of consciousness, consciousness depends on non-awakening, and non-awakening depends on the mind. The mind is originally pure, without arising or ceasing, without creation, without retribution, without victory or defeat, quiet and luminous. If you enter this Dharma gate, you can be the same as all Buddhas. All good and evil, conditioned and unconditioned, are like dreams and illusions. Jayata received the words and grasped the meaning, awakened his past wisdom, and earnestly asked to leave home. Having received full precepts, the Venerable One told him: The time of my extinction has come now; you should continue the work of teaching. He then entrusted the Dharma eye. The verse says:

性上本無生為對求人說

In nature there is originally no arising; I speak it for the sake of those who seek;

於法既無得何懷決不決

since there is nothing to be attained in the Dharma, why hold on to decisive or undecisive?

師曰。此是妙音如來見性清淨之句。汝宜傳布後學。言訖。即於坐上以指爪𠢐面如紅蓮開。出大光明照耀四眾而人寂滅。闍夜多起塔。當新室十四年壬午歲也。

The master said: These are the words of the pure seeing of nature of Tathagata Wondrous Sound; you should spread them to later learners. When he finished speaking, he split open his face with his fingernails on his seat (the base text writes this character in a variant form; the sense is splitting with fingernails), like a red lotus opening, emitted great light that shone on the fourfold assembly and entered stillness. Jayata built a stupa. This was the renwu year, the fourteenth year of the Xin dynasty.

第二十祖闍夜多者。北天竺國人也。智慧淵沖化導無量。後至羅閱城敷揚頓教。彼有學眾唯尚辯論。為之首者名婆修盤頭(此雲遍行)常一食不臥六時禮佛。清淨無欲為眾所歸。尊者將欲度之。先問彼眾曰。此遍行頭陀能修梵行可得佛道乎。眾曰。我師精進何故不可。尊者曰。汝師與道遠矣。設苦行歷於塵劫皆虛妄之本也。眾曰。尊者蘊何德行而譏我師。尊者曰。我不求道亦不顛倒。我不禮佛亦不輕慢。我不長坐亦不懈怠。我不一食亦不雜食。我不知足亦不貪欲。心無所希名之曰道。時遍行聞已發無漏智歡喜讚歎。尊者又語彼眾曰。會吾語否。吾所以然者。為其求道心切。夫弦急即斷故吾不贊。令其住安樂地入諸佛智。復告遍行曰吾適對眾抑挫仁者得無惱於衷乎。曰我憶念七劫前。生常安樂國。師於智者月淨。記我非久當證斯陀含果。時有大光明菩薩出世。我以老故策杖禮謁。師叱我曰。重子輕父一何鄙哉。時我自謂無過請師示之師曰。汝禮大光明菩薩。以杖倚壁畫佛面。以此過慢遂失二果。我責躬悔過以來。聞諸惡言如風如響。況今獲飲無上甘露而反生熱惱邪。惟願大慈以妙道垂誨。尊者曰。汝久植眾德當繼吾宗。聽吾偈曰。

The Twentieth Patriarch, Jayata, was a native of North India. His wisdom was deep and empty, and his teaching reached immeasurable beings. Later he went to the city of Rajagrha to proclaim the sudden teaching. There was a group of students there who only valued debate, and their leader was named Vasubandhu (here translated as Pervasive Practice), who always ate one meal and did not lie down, worshiped the Buddha six times a day, was pure and without desire, and was the refuge of the crowd. The Venerable One was about to ordain him, and first asked those people: Can this ascetic Pervasive Practice, who can practice pure conduct, attain the Buddha's Way? They said: Our master is diligent; why not? The Venerable One said: Your master is far from the Way. Even if austerity lasts through dust-like kalpas, it is all the root of delusion. They said: What virtue does the Venerable One hold that he mocks our master? The Venerable One said: I do not seek the Way, nor am I inverted; I do not worship the Buddha, nor am I disrespectful; I do not sit for long, nor am I lazy; I do not eat one meal, nor do I eat mixed meals; I am not content, nor am I greedy. When the mind has nothing it hopes for, it is called the Way. Then Pervasive Practice, hearing this, gave rise to undefiled wisdom and praised it with joy. The Venerable One again said to the crowd: Do you understand my words? The reason I did this is that his mind seeking the Way was too urgent. If a string is too taut it will snap, so I did not praise him, so that he might live in a place of peace and bliss and enter the wisdom of all Buddhas. He also told Pervasive Practice: I just now put you down before the crowd; surely you have no vexation in your heart? He said: I recall that seven kalpas ago I was born in the Land of Constant Bliss, and under my teacher the wise Moonpure I was predicted soon to realize the fruit of a once-returner. At that time the Bodhisattva Great Light appeared in the world, and because I was old I went to pay respects leaning on a staff. My teacher scolded me, saying: To value the son and look down on the father, how base! At that time I thought I had no fault and asked the master to explain. The master said: In worshiping the Bodhisattva Great Light, you leaned your staff against the wall on the face of the painted Buddha, and because of this excessive pride you lost the second fruit. Since I blamed myself and repented, I have heard all manner of evil words as if wind or echo. How much more now that I have been able to drink the supreme sweet dew, would I give rise to heated vexation? I only wish that great compassion will instruct me with the wondrous Way. The Venerable One said: You have long cultivated many virtues and should inherit my lineage. Listen to my verse:

言下合無生同於法界性

At the words, one accords with non-arising, the same as the nature of the Dharma realm;

若能如是解通達事理竟

if one can understand in this way, one has thoroughly penetrated phenomena and principle.

尊者付法已。不起於坐奄然歸寂。闍維收舍利建塔。當後漢明帝十七年甲戌歲也。

When the Venerable One finished transmitting the Dharma, he did not rise from his seat and quietly entered stillness. After cremation, the relics were collected and a stupa was built. This was the jiaxu year, the seventeenth year of Emperor Ming of the Later Han.

第二十一祖婆修盤頭者。羅閱城人也。姓毘舍佉。父光蓋。母嚴一。家富而無子。父母禱於佛塔而求嗣焉。一夕母夢吞明暗二珠。覺而有孕。經七日有一羅漢。名賢眾。至其家。光蓋設禮。賢眾端坐受之。嚴一齣拜。賢眾避席雲。迴禮法身大士。光蓋罔測其由。遂取一寶珠跪獻賢眾試其真偽。賢眾即受之殊無遜謝。光蓋不能忍。問曰。我是丈夫致禮不顧。我妻何德尊者避之。賢眾曰。我受禮納珠貴福汝耳。汝婦懷聖子。生當為世燈慧日故吾避之。非重女人也。賢眾又曰汝婦當生二子。一名婆修盤頭。則吾所尊者也。二名芻尼(此雲野鵲子)昔如來在雪山修道。芻尼巢於頂上。佛既成道芻尼受報。為那提國王。佛記雲。汝至第二五百年生羅閱城毘舍佉家與聖同胞。今無爽矣。後一月果產子。尊者婆修盤頭年至十五禮光度羅漢出家。感毘婆訶菩薩與之授戒。行化至那提國。彼王名常自在。有二子。一名摩訶羅。次名摩拏羅。王問尊者曰。羅閱城土風與此同(舊本作何)異。尊者曰。彼土曾三佛出世。今王國有二師化導。曰二師者誰。尊者曰。佛記第二五百年有一神力大士出家繼聖。即王之次子摩拏羅是其一也。吾雖德薄敢當其一。王曰。誠如尊者所言。當捨此子作沙門。尊者曰。善哉大王。能遵佛旨。即與受具。付法偈曰。

The Twenty-first Patriarch, Vasubandhu, was a native of the city of Rajagrha. His surname was Visakha. His father was named Guanggai (Light Canopy) and his mother Yanyi (Stern Unity). The family was wealthy but had no son. The parents prayed at a Buddha stupa for an heir. One night the mother dreamed of swallowing two pearls, one bright and one dark, and upon waking was pregnant. After seven days, an arhat named Xianzhong (Worthy Multitude) came to the house. Guanggai performed the rites, and Xianzhong sat upright and received them. Yanyi came out and bowed, and Xianzhong left his seat and said: I return the rite to the great Dharma-body being. Guanggai could not fathom the reason, and took a precious pearl and knelt to offer it to Xianzhong, to test whether he was genuine. Xianzhong accepted it without any modesty or thanks. Guanggai could not bear it and asked: I am the husband and he did not even look at my greeting; what virtue does my wife have that the Venerable One avoids her? Xianzhong said: I accepted the rite and the pearl to add blessings to you. Your wife carries a holy son who, when born, will be a lamp and a wisdom-sun of the world, and so I stepped aside; it is not that I value women. Xianzhong said further: Your wife will bear two sons. One is named Vasubandhu, whom I honor. The second is named Churni (here translated as Magpie's Son). In the past when the Tathagata was cultivating the Way in the Snow Mountains, a magpie made a nest on his head. When the Buddha attained the Way, the magpie received its reward as King of the country of Nadi. The Buddha predicted: In the second five hundred years you will be born in the Visakha family of Rajagrha, born as a brother of a holy man. Now there is no error. A month later a son was born as he said. When the Venerable Vasubandhu reached fifteen, he bowed to the arhat Guangdu (Light Deliverance) and left home, and the Bodhisattva Vivaha responded and gave him precepts. He went teaching in the country of Nadi. The king there was named Changzizai (Constantly Free) and had two sons: the elder was named Mahara and the second Manora. The king asked the Venerable One: How does the local custom of Rajagrha compare with (the old text says "differ from") that here? The Venerable One said: Three Buddhas have appeared in the world in that place; now in the king's country two teachers will guide. He asked: Who are the two teachers? The Venerable One said: The Buddha predicted that in the second five hundred years a great being of spiritual power will leave home and continue the sage's work, which is the king's second son Manora, and he is one of them. Though my virtue is slight, I dare to be the other. The king said: If it is truly as the Venerable One says, I should give this son to be a sramana. The Venerable One said: Excellent, great king, to follow the Buddha's intent. He then gave him full precepts. The verse for the transmission says:

泡幻同無礙如何不了悟

Bubbles and illusions are equally without obstruction; how could one fail to awaken?

達法在其中非今亦非古

To penetrate the Dharma is right within it, neither now nor of old.

尊者付法已。踴身高半由旬屹然而住。四眾仰瞻虔請復坐跏趺而逝。荼毘得舍利建塔。當後漢殤帝十二年丁巳歲也(當作安帝十一年蓋殤帝在位止一年耳)。

When the Venerable One finished transmitting the Dharma, he leapt up half a yojana and stood there steadfastly. The fourfold assembly looked up and begged sincerely, and he sat down again in the lotus posture and passed away. After cremation, the relics were obtained and a stupa built. This was the dingsi year, the twelfth year of Emperor Shang of the Later Han (it should be the eleventh year of Emperor An, since Emperor Shang reigned only one year).

第二十二祖摩拏羅者。那提國常自在王之子也。年三十遇婆修祖師出家傳法。至西印度。彼國王名得度。即瞿曇種族。歸依佛乘勤行精進。一日於行道處現一小塔。欲取供養眾莫能舉。王即大會梵行禪觀呪術等三眾。欲問所疑。時尊者亦赴此會。是三眾皆莫能辯。尊者即為王廣說塔之所因(阿育王造塔此不繁錄)今之出現王福力之所致也。王聞是說乃曰。至聖難逢世樂非久。即傳位太子投祖出家。七日而證四果。尊者深加慰誨曰。汝居此國善自度人。今異域有大法器。吾當化令得度。曰師應跡十方動念當至。寧勞往邪。尊者曰。然。於是焚香遙語月氏國鶴勒那比丘曰。汝在彼國教導鶴眾。道果將證宜自知之。時鶴勒那為彼國王寶印說修多羅偈。忽覩異香成穗。王曰。是何祥也。曰此是西印度傳佛心印祖師摩拏羅將至。先降信香耳。曰此師神力何如。答曰。此師遠承佛記。當於此土廣宣玄化。時王與鶴勒那俱遙作禮。尊者知已。即辭得度比丘。往月氏國。受王與鶴勒那供養。後鶴勒那問尊者曰。我止林間已經九白(印度以一年為一白)有弟子龍子者。幼而聰慧。我於三世推窮莫知其本。尊者曰。此子於第五劫中。生妙喜國婆羅門家。曾以旃檀施於佛宇。作槌撞鐘。受報聰敏為眾欽仰。又問。我有何緣而感鶴眾。尊者曰。汝第四劫中嘗為比丘。當赴會龍宮。汝諸弟子鹹欲隨從。汝觀五百眾中。無有一人堪任妙供。時諸子曰。師常說法。於食等者於法亦等。今既不然何聖之有汝即令赴會。自汝捨生趣生轉化諸國。其五百弟子以福微德薄生於羽族。今感汝之惠故為鶴眾相隨。鶴勒那聞語曰。以何方便令彼解脫。尊者曰。我有無上法寶。汝當聽受化未來際。而說偈曰。

The Twenty-second Patriarch, Manorhita, was the son of King Changzizai of the country of Nadi. At thirty he met the Patriarch Vasubandhu, left home and received the Dharma, and went to western India. The king of that country was named Dedu (Obtaining Deliverance), of the Gautama clan, who took refuge in the Buddha vehicle and practiced diligently. One day a small stupa appeared in the place where he practiced, and he wished to take it for offerings, but the crowd could not lift it. The king then held a great assembly of the three groups of those who practiced pure conduct, meditation and contemplation, and spells and arts, wishing to ask about his doubts. At that time the Venerable One also attended this assembly. These three groups could not explain it. The Venerable One then explained to the king at length the causes of the stupa (it was built by King Asoka, which is not recorded in detail here), saying that its present appearance came from the power of the king's merit. Hearing this, the king said: A supreme sage is hard to meet and worldly pleasures cannot last. He then passed the throne to the crown prince and followed the patriarch to leave home. In seven days he realized the four fruits. The Venerable One consoled and instructed him deeply, saying: You live in this country; may you save people yourself. Now in a foreign land there is a great vessel of the Dharma, and I should teach and ordain him. He said: Master, you respond in the ten directions; as soon as you think of it, you will be there; why trouble to go? The Venerable One said: So. He then burned incense and, facing the country of the Yuezhi from afar, said to the bhiksu Haklenayasas: You are teaching the crane assembly in that country, and the fruit of the Way is about to be realized; you should know this yourself. At that time Haklenayasas was reciting a sutra verse for King Baoyin (Precious Seal) of that country, and suddenly saw unusual fragrance form into ears. The king said: What auspicious sign is this? He said: This is the Patriarch Manorhita of western India, who transmits the Buddha's mind-seal, about to arrive, and he has first sent down a fragrance of faith. He asked: How great is this teacher's spiritual power? He answered: This teacher has received the Buddha's prediction from afar and will widely proclaim the profound transformation in this place. At that time the king and Haklenayasas both made obeisance from afar. The Venerable One knew this, bade farewell to the bhiksu Dedu, and went to the country of the Yuezhi, accepting offerings from the king and Haklenayasas. Later Haklenayasas asked the Venerable One: I have lived in the forest for nine years (in India a year is called a "white"), and have a disciple, Longzi, who was clever from childhood; I have searched through the three times and do not know his origin. The Venerable One said: This child in the fifth kalpa was born into a brahmin family in the country of Miaoxi (Wondrous Joy) and once gave sandalwood to a Buddha shrine to make a mallet to strike the bell, and received the reward of intelligence and was admired by all. He asked again: What cause and condition made me attract the crane assembly? The Venerable One said: In the fourth kalpa you were a bhiksu. You were to attend an assembly in the dragon palace, and all your disciples wished to follow. You examined the five hundred and found not one who was fit to receive the wondrous offerings. At that time the disciples said: The master often says that one who is equal in food is equal in the Dharma; now it is not so; what holiness is there? You then let them attend the assembly. Since you gave up one life and went to another, transforming various countries, those five hundred disciples, because of slight merit and thin virtue, were born as birds. Now they are moved by your kindness, and so follow you as the crane assembly. Haklenayasas, hearing this, said: By what expedient can they be liberated? The Venerable One said: I have the supreme Dharma treasure, which you should hear and receive and use to teach until the end of time. He then spoke a verse:

心隨萬境轉轉處實能幽

The mind turns with the myriad objects, and where it turns it is truly able to be subtle;