Statue of Kumarajiva
The story of Kumarajiva begins with his parents.
His father's name is Kumarayan , and he is the son of Dado, the prime minister of India (i.e. India), who is less than one person and more than ten thousand people. He has no interest in fame and wealth since he was a child. When he becomes an adult, he stays away from his hometown and travels across mountains and rivers. When he arrived at the Kingdom of Kucha in the Western Regions (i.e. Kuqa in Xinjiang), the King of Kucha saw that he was handsome and from a famous family, so he immediately decided to betroth his sister Qipo to him.
Portrait of a Grandma
Kumarajiva has repeatedly stated that he has already converted to Buddhism and will no longer marry a wife. However, under the king's coercion, Kumarajiva had no choice but to marry Qi Po, became the consort of Kucha Kingdom, and later became the national advisor of Kucha Kingdom.
Not long after, the old lady was pregnant and could read a Buddhist scripture on her own. What was even more amazing was that she was able to communicate with her husband in Tianzhu language without any teacher.
But after the child was born, the elderly woman could no longer communicate with her husband in Tianzhu language. Some elders at that time said that children born with extraordinary abilities would affect the mother when she was pregnant.
This child who was born extraordinary was Kumarajiva.
Kumarāshi as a child
When Kumarajiva was only one and a half years old, people were surprised to find that he could speak and converse fluently with adults. When he was three years old, he had already begun to study Buddhist scriptures and was able to explain Buddhist scriptures to adults.
The little Kumarajiva has become famous in Qiuci Kingdom. When Kumarajiva was seven years old, his mother took him and together he was ordained and became a monk.
Stills of "Live Up to the Tathagata, Live Up to Your Majesty" stills
The old lady took her son to travel around the Western Regions, not afraid of wind, frost, rain and snow, visiting eminent monks, and after years of hard training, she finally became a famous master in the Western Regions.
Whenever he opened the forum to lecture, monks and people from the Western Regions gathered in Qiuci from thousands of miles away to listen to his teachings devoutly. Kumarajiva's name gradually spread to the mainland of the Central Plains. People who admired him, From the emperor to the common people, many people were eager to see this eminent monk.
At that time, the land of the Central Plains was divided by heroes and there were many political powers. All the political powers wanted to invite this eminent monk to their own country to show their glorious virtues. Therefore, Kumarajiva has become a golden sign that is more attractive than treasure.
Therefore, the former Qin Emperor Fu Jian sent his general Lu Guang with 70,000 troops to attack Qiuci in the Western Regions, and repeatedly told him to bring Kumarajiva back to Chang'an.
When Lu Guang's army reached Yanqi, King Yanqi knew that he was no match, so he quickly surrendered to Lu Guang. But King Qiuci did not buy Lu Guang's account. He gathered Wensu, Weitou and other countries, raised an army, built fortresses, and tried to defeat Lu Guang's army. Lu Guang first set up an ambush, defeated Zhuohu's reinforcements, and then stormed Qiuci. city. King Bochun of Qiuci couldn't hold on anymore, so he quickly packed up the palace treasures and fled west to Gumo.
Later, Lü Guang established Bo Zhen, Bo Chun's younger brother, as King of Qiuci. All the vassal states in the Western Region surrendered one after another, and Lü Guang won a great victory.
Lu Guang used etiquette to invite Master Kumarajiva out, and then used 20,000 camels loaded with rare treasures and seven horses to escort Master Kumarajiva back east.
At this time, Fu Jian had just defeated Feishui and fled back to Chang'an in embarrassment. However, when he heard that Lu Guang had captured Qiuci and was escorting Kumarajiva back to Chang'an, he was very happy and immediately sealed the deal. Lu Guang was envoy Chijie, Sanqi Changshi, Anxi General, and was waiting for the arrival of a generation of eminent monks.
However, Fu Jian never expected that his trusted general Yao Chang would take advantage of his defeat in the Battle of Feishui to unite the ancient Qiang and the wealthy Xizhou clan, call himself a general, and establish the Later Qin Dynasty. In 385 AD, the regime sent troops to besiege Fu Jian. Fu Jian was defeated and captured. Yao Chang beheaded Fu Jian in Xinping Temple. In 386 AD, Yao Chang invaded Chang'an and officially proclaimed himself emperor.
Yao Chang
After Lu Guang heard the news that Fu Jian was killed and Yao Chang was proclaimed emperor, he led the army to eliminate the Liangzhou governorLiang Xi, occupied Guzang, and gradually unified Hexi. In 396 AD, he called himself The king of heaven, whose country name is "Great Liang ", led his troops to fight in all directions and became a powerful overlord in the northwest.
Lu Guang
Let us turn the topic to Master Kumarajiva again.
As a martial artist, Lu Guang naturally had no respect for Kumarajiva. In order to shake Kumarajiva's Buddhist faith, he forced Roche to marry the daughter of King Kucha. Roche refused, so Lu Guang decided to marry him. After getting him drunk and having someone carry him into the princess's room, Luo Shi was confused and broke his precepts.
Lu Guang's admiration for Kumarajiva was due to a march. When Lu Guang's army set up camp, Kumarajiva told him that this is not a place to camp, and it will be rained tonight. Lu Guang ignored it at all. However, in the middle of the night, it rained heavily, and Lu Guang's military camp was in a depression and was completely submerged by floods...
From then on, Lu Guang began to respect Luo Shi.
Due to Lu Guang's separatist rule, Kumarajiva was forced to stay in Liangzhou for 18 years. Here, he studied Chinese more systematically, carefully collected various Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures, and studied the meaning of Buddhist scriptures. These seemingly ordinary Buddhist activities made preliminary preparations for him to later enter the Later Qin Dynasty and engage in large-scale translation of Buddhist scriptures.
Wuwei Luoshi Temple
After the death of Yao Chang, the leader of the Later Qin State, his son Yao Xing succeeded. Yao Xing highly respected Buddhism . He did not forget Master Kumarajiva who was detained in Liangzhou by Lu Guang.
In 401 AD, Yao Xing sent a general with 60,000 troops to attack Houliang in the west. Houliang was defeated. Yao Xing proposed to invite Master Luo Shi to Chang'an. The leader of Houliang did not dare to neglect and handed Master Luo Shi back to Later Qin. .
On December 20, 401 AD, Kumarajiva was finally grandly welcomed to Chang'an. At that time, Master Luo Shi was already fifty-eight years old. From Lu Guang's invasion of Qiuci to Luo Shi's final entry into Chang'an, eighteen long years had passed!
Yao Xing respected Master Luo Shi very much and regarded him as the master of the Later Qin Dynasty. He also gave a royal manor to Master Luo Shi to live in. This is the predecessor of Caotang Temple in Xi'an today.
Xi'an Caotang Temple Sutra Library
During Master Luo Shi's stay at Caotang Temple, Yao Xing summoned more than 800 virtuous ascetics in the country to learn Dharma from Luo Shi and help Luo Shi translate Buddhist scriptures. From the fourth to the fifteenth year of Hongshi, , in twelve years, a total of 98 Buddhist scriptures were translated, totaling more than 390 volumes. Among them, the most widely circulated classics include the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakīrti Sutra, and the Amitabha Sutra. In terms of laws and commentaries, there are the Ten Recitations, the Lotus Sutra, and the Amitabha Sutra. Great Wisdom Theory ", "Zhonglun", etc. The translation of these sutras, laws and treatises had a major impact on the development of Chinese Buddhism and was of milestone significance.
Yao Xing, who did not understand Buddhism, naively believed that a person as wise as Master Luo Shi should be allowed to leave offspring, so he specially selected ten beauties from the palace and gave them to Master Luo Shi. In order to continue When translating Buddhist scriptures, I had no choice but to accept Yao Xing's "kind intention". It is said that a palace maid gave birth to two sons for Luo Shi.
Kumarajiva's disciples were very puzzled by their master's breaking of the precepts by taking concubines, and they started talking among themselves.
Once, when Master Luo Shi was preparing lunch, he served a bowl of noodles for each of his disciples. When the disciples were about to eat, they saw that the bowl was not noodles at all, but a bowl of needles. Master Luo Shi swallowed his bowl of needles in public, and then said: Whoever can swallow all the needles in the bowl like him can also marry and take concubines. The disciples were all impressed!
In the fifteenth year of Hongshi, Luo Shi was already seventy years old. On April 13 of that year, he died peacefully in Chang'an Temple.
Before his death, he called his disciples to him and said: "I now make an oath in front of all of you: If there are no errors in the scriptures I translate, my tongue will not be burnt after my body is burned.”
After he passed away, the disciples worshiped him according to the Buddha's rituals, and the whole body was completely dissolved. Sure enough, his tongue was not burnt and was intact as before...
Although the eminent monk of this generation has passed away long ago, his legend has been passed down from generation to generation!
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