Gautama Saṃghadeva
Saṃghadeva (Sengjiatipo 僧伽提婆) means Deity of the Community. Sometimes his name (i.e. deva) is written as tihe 提和 but this is the result of a phonetic corruption. His original surname was Gautama (Jutan 瞿曇), and he was a native of Kashmir (罽賓 Jibin). When he became a monk and began his training, he sought out eminent teachers from afar. He thoroughly studied the Tripiṭaka and was especially knowledgeable in the Abhidharmasāra (Apitanxin 阿毘曇心), having penetrated it to its most subtle nuances. He often recited the Tridharmaka 三法度, relishing it day and night, and thinking that he had discovered the treasury of the Teaching. As a person, he was handsome, bright and highly insightful, whereas in terms of his appearance and behavior, he was kind and respectful. He devoted his efforts at teaching others, doing this tiredlessly and with utmost sincerity.
In the Jianyuan reign (365–385) of Fu Jian, Saṃghadeva came to Chang’an to propagate and teach the dharma. At first Saṃghabhadra translated the Vasumitra (poxumi) 婆須蜜 and Dharmanandin translated texts amounting to more than a million words, including the two Āgamas 阿含, Abhidharma 阿毘曇, Guangshuo (Expanded Teaching) 廣說 and Tridharmaka 三法度. This was the time of Murong Chong’s rebellion, when armed enemy troops brought chaos to the region, so both translators worked under time pressure and did not do a thorough job. As a consequence, both the meaning and the written style of the text are often unsatisfactory. The Venerable Daoan, because of his sudden death, could not make the corrections either. Afterwards, the Shandong 山東 region quietened down and thereupon Saṃghadeva, together with śramaṇa Fahe 法和 from Jizhou 冀州, came to Luoyang. He spent four or five years on studying and preaching the above scriptures. After his years of living in China have accumulated, his command of Chinese became excellent and this is when he realized that the translations of these scriptures had some flaws and errors. Fahe was disappointed at them being imperfect and thus asked Saṃghadeva to translate the Abhidharma 阿毘曇 and Guangshuo 廣說 sutras.
Soon after Yao Xing 姚興 (r. 394–416) rose to the throne of the Latter Qin dynasty. As he was greatly devoted to serving the dharma, Fahe went to Guanzhong, whereas Saṃghadeva crossed the Yangzi River. From before, Master Huiyuan 慧遠 at Mount Lu 廬山 had been a keenly fond of the marvelous scriptures and had already amassed a large collection of sutras. Humble and modest, he always welcomed visitors from distant places. Having heard of Saṃghadeva’s arrival, he invited him to visit Mount Lu. During the Taiyuan 太元 reign (376–396) of the Jin dynasty, he asked Saṃghadeva to translate the Abhidharmasāra 阿毘曇心 and Tridharmaka 三法度 sutras.
Saṃghadeva sat on the Prajñā Terrace, holding in his hand the Indian text and orally expounded it in Chinese. He sacrificed stylistic elegance for the sake of substance, aiming to exhaustively capture the original meaning. The translations in use today are the ones completed by him.
In the first year of the Long’an 隆安 reign (397) Saṃghadeva travelled to the capital. The nobility of the Jin court, the distinguished scholars and other celebrities all welcomed him with great deference. At the time Wang Xun 王珣 (349–400) from Langye 瑯瑘, Marquis of Dongting 衛軍東亭侯, was a man of highest excellence and possessed deep faith. He supported the true dharma and built a vihāra, inviting learned monks from everywhere. When Saṃghadeva arrived, Wang Xun extended an invitation to him and so he lectured on the Adhidharma in his vihāra, while all of the famous monks gathered around. Saṃghadeva’s exposition was superb as his words were clear and expressed the inherent meaning of the teaching. Everyone in the audience was delighted and understood his meaning. At the time Wang Mi 王彌 was also among the listeners and afterwards he gave a lecture himself in a different building. Wang Xun asked the monk Fagang 法綱: “How did it work out for our dear Wang Mi?” Fagang replied: “The general ideas were accurate but smaller details have not been substantiated in a sophisticated manner.” This is how inspiring the clarity and accessibility of his expositions were.
That winter Wang Xun gathered more than forty exegetes in the capital, including śramaṇa Shi Huichi 釋慧持. He also asked Saṃghadeva to translate once again the Madhyama-Āgama 中阿含 and other texts. Śramaṇa Saṃgharakṣa (Sengjialuocha 僧伽羅叉) from Kashmir (Jibin 罽賓) held the Indian text, and Saṃghadeva translated it into Chinese. They only finished the following summer. The texts Saṃghadeva translated in the Jiangluo 江洛 region amounted to over a million words.
Saṃghadeva travelled throughout China and the barbarian lands, becoming well acquainted with local customs. He was easy-going but vigilant, and was good at both talking and laughing. There wasn’t anyone who did not hear of his spreading the teaching. Nothing is known about his death.
