Chapter 11 Eight, snow mountain natural danger

Not far away, seeing a towering mountain peak, the snow-capped Daxue Mountain lay in front of it, as if seeing a white tiger lying in front of it, Xuanzang and the others gasped... Xuanzang and his entourage left a small country, Fuheguo (south of present-day Afghanistan), and traveled southward for a while. Xuanzang and his entourage came to Daxue Mountain (now Iraqi Siqi Mountain in the Hindu Kush Mountains).From a distance, they saw a towering mountain peak, and the snow-capped Daxueshan was lying in front of them, as if seeing an eye-catching white tiger lying in front of them, Xuanzang and the others gasped.

Although the Snow Mountain is covered with snow all the year round, it is called Black Ridge by the local people because of the high mountain and the clouds, and the thousands of rocks and ravines where it is difficult to see the sun.It looks like a snow-capped mountain, but it is called the Black Ridge. One can imagine the danger in it. The guide said: "This snow mountain is full of ice and snow all year round. When the wind blows, the snow can be lifted several feet high. The most dangerous thing is that the snow is covered with ice. The mountain road is not obvious and extremely slippery, so there is a possibility of falling into the ice ravine and snow valley at any time. "

The guide said that avalanches are prone to occur when the wind is strong, and if you are under the pressure, you will not be able to climb out.He also asked Xuanzang: "This snow mountain is not only full of wind and snow, but also ghosts and robbers. Master, are you afraid?" Xuanzang said without fear: "In order to learn the true meaning of Buddhism in Tianzhu, even if you go up the knife mountain, why are you afraid of a snow mountain!" After hearing this, the guide pulled up his leather cap and said admiringly: "The mage is probably the Buddha who came down to earth! Otherwise, how could he have such courage."

Xuanzang looked through the bag of grain to see if it was damaged, and replied, "I'm just a poor monk. How could a Buddha come down to earth! Do you think the grain is enough to climb mountains?" The guide counted more than ten people, and said, "It's enough, but the firewood needs to be picked dry, and it is easy to get wet in the snow." As he spoke, he picked firewood together with other monks.They picked out the firewood, tied it up, and put it on the horse's back. They threw away the firewood that was not too dry, so that the horse could be lightly loaded.

The horses were also fed, and after everything was ready, they began to advance towards the Snow Mountain. The Great Snow Mountain really lived up to its reputation, the whole mountain was covered with thick white snow, and when the mountain wind blew, the snowflakes rolled up were so high that a person could be buried immediately. As expected of a snow mountain, as soon as you enter the valley, you will see the sky full of haze, the sky is dark, the ground is capped, the mountain and the foot of the mountain are covered with silver, and there are ice caves everywhere. Giant teeth, creepy.If you slide in, it's like falling into a bottomless ice abyss, and you will never get out alive, so everyone is pulling each other and moving carefully...

In the afternoon, everyone was sleepy and tired, afraid of accidents, so the pace slowed down, but they still walked and crawled... At dusk, they found a shelter from the wind, nailed stakes and pulled up the tent, then lit a fire to cook, and after eating, they huddled next to each other and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, suddenly a gust of wind came and swept away their tents. Everyone was awakened, and they desperately grabbed a little property in the wind.After the blizzard, Xuanzang counted the number of people, and one old monk was missing.Xuanzang cried out in anxiety: "Quick, quick, you don't need anything, but the old monk must find it!"

They lit torches and looked around for the old monk, shouting: "Brother, where are you?" "Brother..." The wind on the snow-capped mountains is like this. When the storm comes, it is like overwhelming the sea, and when the storm passes, it is calm and silent. At this moment, everyone's calls echoed clearly on the rocks. "Ah, tent!" exclaimed a companion. Xuanzang and others looked in the direction of his finger, and saw a corner of a snow-covered tent on a cliff, so Xuanzang crawled and rolled to the cliff, pulling the tent desperately. I thought the old monk might be under the tent.

"Master! It's dangerous, you'll die if you roll down!" The guide who came from behind shouted loudly. Xuanzang didn't seem to hear it. At this moment, he only had that poor old monk in his heart, and his own life was already at the top of his mind. He dug his hands hard, and finally saw one of the old monk's feet. He turned his head and shouted: "The old monk was buried here by the snow, come and save him!" The guide and all the monks had climbed up to the snow slope one by one. After clearing the snow and pulling up the tent, Xuanzang hugged the old monk and called out:

"Brother, wake up..." "Brother..." But no matter how everyone called, the old monk never cried again... Xuanzang wept bitterly. They held a solemn snow burial for the old monk, and rolled his body down the snow slope where he was buried.Xuanzang wept, and chanted sutras in a sad voice to save him, and the old monk disappeared in a blink of an eye... Xuanzang watched him weeping and prayed for him: "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, please save this noble soul!" Seeing Xuanzang crying so sadly, the other monks came to persuade him. Xuanzang stood up slowly, put on a blanket, and took firm steps towards the snow mountain.

The death of the old monk greatly stimulated Xuanzang. From then on, he loved his disciples very much all his life, especially in his later years when he was translating scriptures, he loved his disciples even more. They all had a deep relationship with him, which laid the foundation for the successful completion of the huge translation work. This trip over the snow-capped mountains brought serious damage to Xuanzang's body, resulting in cold lungs and cold bones, which had an extremely adverse effect on his work in translating scriptures in his later years. On this day, Xuanzang and his party came to another snow-capped mountain. This mountain was very slippery because of the shade, and it was extremely cold. There were ice ravines everywhere, and there would be wind blowing at any time. Was swept away by the wind.

"Ah! Then what should we do? Is there another way?" Xuanzang asked urgently. The guide brought them to a cave. Everyone saw that the cave was so dark that they couldn't see anything. They all looked at the guide with wide eyes. The guide said to Xuanzang, "Master, this cave is called Xiadi Cave. On the other side of the mountain, we have to climb the mountain through this tunnel, otherwise the mountain is too slippery to climb over." Everyone stretched their heads into the cave, only feeling gloomy, with gusts of cold air coming in, and they all began to suffer, only to see Xuanzang firmly said: "Old guide, you take the lead, I'll leave behind, let's go in. " Some of the entourage hesitated and wanted to turn back. Seeing this, Xuanzang said to them, "King Qu Wentai sent you to send me here. The man cave is very dangerous now. How about this, I can go back if I feel reluctant." Turning his back to them, he said, "Those who don't want to go, I am also grateful to you, I don't force you, please go back! May the Buddha bless you." The few who had already turned around were so ashamed when they heard this, they knelt down one by one, and said, "Master, we were wrong, we were too afraid of death, we are so moved by how good the Master is, and we would like to go with the Master, Even going up the mountain of swords is not afraid." Xuanzang gratefully helped them up and said, "Okay, I thank you all, then let's prepare for the piercing." So they lit the torches, tied up their belongings, and led one by one into the cave. They bowed and walked carefully for a while. Be careful, don't fall." Everyone shrank when they heard this, and moved carefully step by step, for fear of falling into the deep pool.Xuanzang walked at the end, and he silently recited: "Namo Amitabha, bless the disciples." While walking carefully, he supported the cave wall. Suddenly, with a plop, a horse fell into a deep pool, and a companion was going to pull it, but the guide shouted: "Be careful, it's too dangerous, let it go!" So everyone became more careful, and walked quietly. . A gust of dark wind came, the torches were blown out, and everyone screamed, Xuanzang hurriedly said: "Everyone, don't be afraid, hold hands tightly, follow the guide, don't fall behind." We had no choice but to hold each other's hands, leaning our bodies against the cave wall and moving slowly. Fortunately, the cave gradually widened. "Ah, I saw the light." Everyone shouted excitedly. Finally, they climbed out of the hole, and a burst of dazzling sunlight pierced them. When they looked up from the garden, the iceberg was already behind them, and everyone was happy that no one fell into the pool. After leaving the Great Snow Mountain, Xuanzang and his entourage arrived at Luolan City, the capital of the Vatican Kingdom. The king of the Vatican Kingdom led his ministers, monks and lay people to greet him outside the city gate after learning about it. The king held a fast banquet in honor of Xuanzang and his party.The country's famous monks, envoys and holy soldiers all attended the banquet. During the dinner, the king asked Xuanzang how he got here.So Xuanzang told everyone about the hardships and dangers he encountered on the way. Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard this, and the two famous monks were even more amazed when they heard it. Fanyana country is located on a high plateau, most of the land is snowy. The people of the country are very convinced of Buddhism. Although there are not many people in this country, there are thousands of monks, which shows the status of Buddhism in this country. Chuwan Xuanzang and others followed the holy envoys and holy soldiers to stay in the temples of the country. The next day, Xuanzang set off again, and the king of Fanyana led his subjects to send the mage out of the city. Afterwards, the holy envoys, the holy army and many monks accompanied Xuanzang to visit the Buddhist monuments outside the northeast of the city. After leaving the city, they led Xuanzang and his party to the northeast, talking and laughing along the way, very friendly. They first visited the famous Fanyana Stone Buddha, which is a huge stone Buddha statue on the cliff. The stone Buddha is fifteen feet high and has a solemn and solemn expression.When Xuanzang and his party saw this, they bowed down and worshiped.After worshiping, I went to the monastery in the east, where I received the courtesy of the resident monks. They asked Xuanzang, Shengshi, Shengjun and others to drink water and rest inside. The monks led Xuanzang to see the bronze statue of Sakyamuni. The envoy pointed to the bronze statue and said: "Master, please look, this bronze statue is ten feet high!" Xuanzang raised his head and looked up, seeing the golden light of this huge Buddha statue, solemn and sacred, Xuanzang hurriedly bowed down, and after he finished, he sighed: "I didn't expect your country to have such a magnificent Buddha statue. It's amazing." The Holy Army heard this and said: "There is a Temple of the Reclining Buddha in front, and the Reclining Buddha in the temple is also very solemn. The Master must be happy to see it." Xuanzang hurriedly said: "Let's go pay our respects." So the monks led the master and others to visit the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. After walking for a while, I saw a monastery in the forest, and a huge Nirvana reclining Buddha was carved in the main hall of the monastery.The old monk of the temple told: "This Buddha is hundreds of feet long, and both the reclining Buddha and the bronze statue are the largest Buddha sculptures in the world." Xuanzang was amazed when he saw it! Xuanzang and all the monks bowed down to the reclining statue of Sakyamuni who had attained supreme Nirvana.Xuanzang couldn't get up for a long time, he silently said in his heart: "Buddha, disciple Xuanzang is honored to pay homage to your giant statue, please protect the disciple to learn scriptures without hindrance." After paying homage, the envoys and soldiers bid farewell to Xuanzang and returned home, and Xuanzang and his party continued to march towards Tianzhu. Although he left this Fanyana country, Xuanzang still looked back and gazed at him many times while riding on his horse, lamenting that this mountain country is small but has such magnificent buildings, it is really unforgettable! Looking at the snow-capped mountains and white clouds in the distance, I am even more admiring of the sanctity of Brahmayana. exactly: Xuanzang and his entourage arrived in the country of Kapisha (north of the capital of Afghanistan today, this is the last stop before going to the ancient country of India), and were warmly welcomed by the king and monks. Xuanzang also did something earth-shattering for this country. It turned out that there was a Hinayana temple here, and the monks in the temple said that this temple was built by Zizhi, the emperor of the Han Dynasty.At that time, he hid countless treasures under the statues in the Buddhist temple, and prepared to be dug by later generations.Unexpectedly, as soon as they dug under the statue's feet, the ground suddenly tilted and shook, and the parrot on the statue's head fluttered its wings and let out a shrill cry. The evil king passed out on the ground in an instant, and the rest of them fled in fright.Later, the statue of the temple was dilapidated, and the monks in the temple wanted to dig out the treasures to repair it, but as long as the ground of the temple was touched, the earth would roar. Now when the monks in this country see Master Xuanzang, they ask him for help. Although Xuanzang was eager to go to Tianzhu to learn Buddhist scriptures, he agreed to do so because he thought that the purpose of Buddhist practice was to save suffering and help all living beings. So he knelt in front of the statue, holding incense and saying: "I ask the Buddha to help me to tell the statue. The poor monks and sentient beings are just to restore the temple. There is absolutely no evil. Please restrain the power of the god. If allowed, Xuanzang will personally supervise the collection, weigh the treasures publicly, and then hand them over to the management People who build monasteries will never waste it, and hope that the gods will see their sincerity." After saying that, he dug together with the monks, and the result was safe and sound.After digging seven or eight feet, a large bronze vessel was obtained, containing hundreds of catties of gold and dozens of pearls. The people of the country were very happy, and they were all grateful for Xuanzang's help. It also coincided with the rainy season, Xuanzang was left to spend the hot summer with them, and gave them lectures, and it took a while before he set off.