實叉難陀

《宋高僧傳》卷二本傳所記，八十卷《華嚴》非一人之力：「天后明揚佛日，崇重大乘」〔T50n2061 0718c21〕，遠求梵本於于闐並請譯人；譯場既開，「南印度沙門菩提流志、沙門義淨同宣梵本，後付沙門復禮、法藏等於佛授記寺譯成八十卷」〔T50n2061 0718c26〕。其後「又於京師清禪寺及東都佛授記寺譯《文殊授記》等經，前後總出一十九部」〔T50n2061 0719a01〕。

As his Life in the second scroll of the Song Lives of Eminent Monks records it, the eighty-scroll Huayan was not one man's doing: "The Empress raised up the Buddha's sun and held the Great Vehicle in honour" 〔T50n2061 0718c21〕, sending afar to Khotan for the Sanskrit text and for a translator. Once the translation hall was opened, "the South Indian monk Bodhiruci and the monk Yijing together declaimed the Sanskrit, and it was then handed to the monks Fuli, Fazang and the rest, who at the Foshouji Monastery brought it to completion in eighty scrolls" 〔T50n2061 0718c26〕. Afterwards "at Qingchan Monastery in the capital and at Foshouji Monastery in the eastern capital he further translated the Prophecy of Mañjuśrī and other scriptures, bringing out nineteen works in all" 〔T50n2061 0719a01〕.

長安四年，「叉以母氏衰老，思歸慰覲，表書再上，方俞，勅御史霍嗣光送至于闐」〔T50n2061 0719a05〕。表上兩次方許，此去乃為省母。中宗復位，復有詔徵之：「暨和帝龍興，有勅再徵。景龍二年，達于京輦。帝屈萬乘之尊，親迎於開遠門外」〔T50n2061 0719a07〕，「仍飾青象令乘之入城，勅於大薦福寺安置」〔T50n2061 0719a09〕。

In the fourth year of Chang'an, "Śikṣānanda, his mother being old and failing, longed to go home and comfort her with a visit; twice he sent up a memorial, and only then was it granted, and by edict the censor Huo Siguang escorted him back to Khotan" 〔T50n2061 0719a05〕. Two memorials before leave was given — and the journey was to see his mother. When Zhongzong was restored, an edict called him back: "When Emperor Zhongzong's reign arose, there was an edict summoning him a second time. In the second year of Jinglong he reached the capital. The emperor bent the dignity of his ten thousand chariots and met him in person outside the Kaiyuan gate" 〔T50n2061 0719a07〕; "a dark elephant was moreover caparisoned for him to ride into the city, and by edict he was lodged at the great Jianfu Monastery" 〔T50n2061 0719a09〕.

迎之如此，而事不遂。本傳一句而止：「未遑翻譯，遘疾彌留」〔T50n2061 0719a10〕。所出遂止於前之一十九部。歿後「有詔聽依外國法葬」〔T50n2061 0719a12〕，焚於開遠門外古然燈臺，「薪盡火滅，其舌猶存」〔T50n2061 0719a14〕。飾象入城之榮不曾再開一卷；而本傳所記，火盡而舌不壞。

So he was received; and the thing did not come about. The Life stops in a single clause: "Before he could set about translating, he fell ill and lingered" 〔T50n2061 0719a10〕. What he brought out therefore ended with the nineteen works of the earlier time. After his death "an edict allowed him to be buried after the manner of his own country" 〔T50n2061 0719a12〕; he was burned at the old lamp terrace outside the Kaiyuan gate, and "when the firewood was spent and the flames died, his tongue remained" 〔T50n2061 0719a14〕. The honour of the caparisoned elephant never opened another scroll; and, as the Life has it, when the fire was spent the tongue was not destroyed.