Sŏk Ado 續阿道[308] is said to have been a native of India. Some say he came from Wu, while others hold that he went first to Wei from Koguryŏ and returned to Silla. We do not know which is correct.[309]
He was distinguished in manner and appearance, and his miracles were most strange.[310] He held it his duty to travel and convert, and wondrous flowers rained from Heaven whenever he preached. At first, during the reign of King Nulchi 訥祗王 (417-458) of Silla, Hŭkhoja 黑胡子[311] arrived in Ilsŏn County from Koguryŏ to enlighten those who had the appropriate karma. Morye 毛禮,[312] a resident of the county, prepared a secret chamber[313] in his home to receive him. At that time, [the state of] Liang (502-557) dispatched an envoy with gifts of garments and incense;[314] but neither the king nor his officials knew the name or use of the incense. The king’s messenger [therefore] was sent out with the incense to make inquiries [concerning it] both inside and outside the country. Once [Hŭk] hoja saw it, he disclosed its name, saying, “When burnt, it emits a sweet fragrance [1018a] which will carry one’s devotion to the gods and spirits. The title ‘sacred’[315] belongs to nothing other than the Three Jewels (triratna)—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Order. If one burns this incense and makes a vow, a response is sure to follow.” At that time the illness of the king’s daughter took a turn for the worse, and the king ordered [Hŭk] hoja to burn the incense and make a vow. The princess soon recovered. The king rejoiced and rewarded him amply. [Hŭk] hoja returned to Morye, and, after giving him all that he had received from the king, said, “I have a place to go; hence I wish to bid you farewell.” After that no one knew where he went.[316]
In the time of King Pich‘ŏ (479-500),[317] Master (Upādhyāya) Ado, together with three attendants, also came to the house of Morye. His appearance was similar to that of [Hŭk] hoja. After several years, he died a natural death. The three attendants remained reciting sūtra and vinaya, and occasionally some became converted and practiced the faith.
Yet, according to the old records, on the eleventh day of the third month of the first year of the era ta-t‘ung of Liang, Ado came to Ilsŏn County,[318] and both Heaven and Earth trembled. The master, holding a metal staff‘ with gold rings in his left hand and uplifting a jade vessel of supreme response[319] in his right, wearing a colorful cassock, and reciting a revealed truth,[320] came to the believer Morye’s house. [Mo]rye, surprised and fearful, went out to meet him and said, “Formerly, when the Ko[gu]ryŏ monk Chŏngbang[321] 正方 came to our country, the king and officials regarded his advent as an evil omen and killed him. Another [monk], named Myŏlgubi, 滅垢玭,[322] came after him, and he too was killed. What are you seeking that you should come here? Please come in quickly, lest you be seen by the neighbors.” He then took the monk to a secret room and served him with diligence. It happened, then, that an envoy from the Wu presented five kinds of incense to King Wŏnjong 原宗王 (514-540).[323] The king did not know their use, and asked the people in the country. When the messenger came to the master, the master told him that they were things to be burned to serve the Buddha. Afterward he went to the capital with the messenger, and the king asked him to meet the [Wu] envoy. The envoy paid him great respect, saying, “Eminent monks are no strangers in this remote country after all.” The king learned through this that the Buddha and his order were to be venerated, and issued a decree permitting the propagation [of Buddhism].
According to the Sisa 詩史[324] by Ko Tŭk-sang 高得相 , the Liang sent an envoy, Yüan-piao 元表,[325] who presented rosewood incense,[326] scriptures, and images of Buddha. Because no one knew their use, the king made inquiries in all four directions, and Ado took the opportunity to point out the Law. [Ko Tŭk-]sang comments that Ado twice encountered danger of death, but that thanks to his supernatural power (abhijñā) he did not die but took refuge in the home of Morye. Thus, whether the envoy came from Liang or Wu cannot be ascertained. The life of Ado was, morever, similar to that of Hŭkhoja. But why is this so? A span of some 410 years separates the era yung-p‘ing 永平 from the year chŏngmi 丁未 of the era ta-t‘ung (527). Bud¬dhism had been in existence in Koguryŏ for more than 150 years, and in Paekche for more than 140 years.
According to another story, in the Sui chŏn 殊異傳[327] by Pak Il-lyang 朴寅亮 (1047-1096),[328] the master’s father was a native of Wei, named Kulma 崛摩, and his mother a native of Ko[gu]ryŏ, named Ko To-nyŏng 高道寧. During Kulma’s stay in Koguryŏ in an official capacity, he had an affair [with Ko To-nyŏng]. Later he returned to Wei, leaving her pregnant. When the master reached the age of five, he had a wondrous appearance. [1018b] His mother told him, “You are an unfavored orphan, so you had better become a monk.” The master followed her advice, and on that very day shaved his head. At sixteen, he went to Wei to visit Kulma and there studied under the master (Upādhyāya) Hsüan-chang 玄彰.[329] Nineteen years after ordination,[330] he returned to his mother, who told him: “It is very difficult to promote the Law in this country, for conditions are not yet ripe. Although at this moment there is no oral transmission of the doctrine in that land of Silla, three thousand months from now[331] an enlightened king, a protector of the Law, shall hold sway and greatly advance the Buddha’s cause. In the capital, there are seven places where the Law shall abide: Ch‘ŏn‘gyŏngnim 天鏡林 (“Forest of the Heavenly Mirror”), east of Kŭmgyo 金橋 (the present Hŭngnyun monastery 興輪寺);[332] Samch‘ŏn‘gi 三川岥 (the present Yŏnghŭng monastery 永興寺;[333] south of the Dragon Palace 龍宮南 (the present Hwangnyong monastery 皇龍寺;[334] north of the Dragon Palace (the present Punhwang monastery 芬皇寺);[335] Sinyu Forest 神遊林 (the present Ch‘ŏnwang monastery 天王寺);[336] Sach‘ŏnmi 沙川尾 (the present Yŏngmyo monastery 靈妙寺);[337] and the Sŏch‘ŏng Field 婿請田 (the present Tamŏm monastery 曇嚴寺.[338] At these places are ruins of monasteries (sanghārāma) built during the time of the former Buddha, which escaped earlier destruction. You should go there, proclaim the mysterious doctrine, and become the founder of Buddhism. Would that not be wonderful?”
In the second year, kyemi 癸未 (263), of King Mich‘u (262-284),[339] the master, obeying his mother’s instructions, went to live in Silla, west of the palace (the present Ǒmjang monastery 嚴莊寺). When he asked permission to preach, some thought it strange because this [practice] was hitherto unknown, and some even attempted to kill him. He therefore escaped to the village of Sok 續村. the present Sŏnju 善州,[340] and hid in the house of Morok for three years. It happened then that Princess Sŏngguk 成國公主 was ill, and the king sent out messengers everywhere for a healer. The master answered the call, went to the palace, and cured the princess’ illness. Overjoyed, the king asked him what he desired. The master replied, “If you will build a monastery in the Forest of the Heavenly Mirror, I shall be well content.” The king complied. But the age was crude, the people were stubborn, and it was difficult to make converts. The master at this time used a humble hut as his monastery. Only after seven years were there some who desired to be ordained as monks. Morok’s sister, Sashi 史侍,[341] became a nun. Therefore, the Yŏnghŭng monastery was erected at Samch‘ŏn‘gi where she stayed. After King Mich‘u died, his successor did not respect Buddhism and wanted to proscribe it. The master returned to the village of Sok and made a grave for himself. He entered the grave, closed the slab over himself, and died. The sacred religion, therefore, was not practiced in Silla 斯盧.[342] Two hundred years later, King Wŏnjong finally propagated Buddhism.[343] This happened just as To-nyŏng had predicted. But from King Mich‘u to King Pŏphŭng there were eleven kings. What a discrepancy concerning the dates of Ado’s life! Old records must be scrutinized carefully. If Buddhism was practiced under King Mich‘u, the master must have been a contemporary of Sundo.[344] In that case, the faith underwent a decline and revived during the era ta-t‘ung of Liang. Hŭkhoja and Yüan-piao, by this reckoning, appeared together, and therefore their careers are described here for the reader’s inspection.
[1018c] The eulogy says: When Buddhism spread eastward, although the fight between the faithful and blasphemous never ceased, the beginning was auspicious and each generation had its promoters. Take, for example, Ado and Hŭkhoja. They hid and appeared at will, possessing the characterless (alaksana) Dharma-body (Dharmakāya). One before and one after, they seemed to be two different persons;[345] but one cannot decide everything about their Lives, for one cannot catch the wind or grasp a reflection.[346] But both tried their plans first before carrying out the work of propagation. In the biginning they met dangers, but escaped them and finally achieved success. Even Li-fang of Ch‘in or [Kāśyapa] Mātariga of Han could not surpass them. The Book of Changes says: “[The superior man] contains the means in his own person. He bides his time and then acts.”[347] This is a good footnote to Ado.