Chinese Translation...On Time as Promised!
讚唄之由
T. 54, no. 2126, 242b2-23
讚唄原始。案十誦律中。俱胝耳(即億耳也)作三契聲以讚佛。其人善唄易了解。阿含中。善和羅作善諷誦。令影勝大王象馬不行。此土則康僧會傳泥洹讚唄。支謙製連句梵唄。又開士法勝善阿毘曇心。別撰二百五偈以為要解。號曰心。
This is the origin and beginning of hymns of praise. According to the contents of the Sarvastivadan vinaya (monastic regulations), Sronakotivimsa composed three tunes in order to praise the Buddha. These persons who excelled at chanting with ease understood them completely. In the Agama (orally transmitted teachings), Pravarana (person? unclear) composed and excelled at chants and incantations. It made King Bimbisara’s elephants and horses stop walking. In this land, King Senghui propagated hymns of praise for nirvana. Zhi Qian made linked verses of Sanskrit hymns. Furthermore, the bodhisattva Faxiang excelled at the Abhidharmahrdaya. He separately composed 250 gathas (verses) to serve as essential explanations. They called it the heart.
其頌聲也撰象天樂。若靈籥自發儀刑群品。觸物有寄。一吟一詠狀鳥步獸行也。一弄一引類乎物情也。情與類遷。則聲隨九變而成歌。氣與數合。則五音協律而俱作。附之金石。則百獸率舞。奏之管絃。則人神同感。斯乃窮音聲之妙會也。
The sounds of its song were composed to imitate heaven’s music just like the numinous bellows (Dao de jing reference) produces itself a model to all kinds of sentient beings, and in contact with things a meaning is conveyed. Each verse and each line resembles the birds’ steps and animals walking. Each section and each verse resembles substance and sentiment. When the sentiment and type move, then the sound, according to the nine changes, becomes song. When the air and the measure come together, then the five sounds harmonize (follow the rules) and all work. When applied to bells and chimestone, then all the animals are led to dance. When performed with wood and string instruments, then the people and spirits together are moved. This reached the limit of the marvelous joining together of sound and voice.
魏子建嘗游魚山而感音。翻其曲折同合沙門之唄焉。南齊竟陵王子良將經中偈契消息。調音曲盡其妙。著讚梵唄偈文一卷。又帛法橋者尤善梵唄。高僧傳中其人頗多。此不具錄。後趙石勒建平年中。有神降于安邑廳事。諷詠經音。七日方絕。僧有摹寫為梵唄焉.
Wei Zhi Jian once traveled to Yushan (aka Fish Mountain) and was moved by its sounds. He noted the contours of its score and matched it with the hymns of monks therein. Southern Qi King of Jingling Zi Bian took the gathas within the sutras, the score of rising and falling, and transferred the melodies, exhausting their marvelousness. He composed praising Sanskrit hymns and gathas in one fascicle of writing. Further, Bo fa qiao (person) in particular excelled at Sanskrit hymns. Within the biographies of eminent monks people like these are especially many, and in this I do not record them all. In the reign period of the later Zhao Shi le, there was an affair of the gods that descended to the halls of the An’I and recited songs and sutras in sounds for seven days then they stopped. There were monks who copied the writings and made Buddhist hymns with them.
或曰。梵唄之聲此何益也。通曰。一者佛道法樂也。此音韻雖哀不傷。雖樂不淫。折中中和故為法樂也。二者諸天鬼神聞皆歡喜故。三者諸佛常法。十方剎土何莫由斯樂也。」
Someone said: “Sanskrit hymns, what benefit have these?” A reply: “Firstly, the Buddha’s way of teaching is joy. These rhythms even when sad are harmless, even when happy not licentious (e.g. Buddhist music does not cause excessive reactions). They take the middle position and are at core harmonious, thus they become teachings of joy. Secondly, when various gods, ghosts, and spirits hear it all are delighted. Thirdly, because of the constant teaching of all Buddhas, how could those in the lands of the ten directions not follow this music?”
Copyright: Lindsey E. DeWitt (2010)
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