the accounts of milbon, hyet’ong and myÖngnang 285
Sanzang [ ].^50 Hyet’ong asked him to be instructed in
Buddhism. [San]zang said: “How can a man from a barbarian tribe
in the east be capable of being a vessel of the dharma?” After all, he
did not reveal the teaching. Hyet’ong could not bear to leave empty-
handed easily. Although he served [the master] for three years, he was
not allowed [to become his disciple]. He then angrily [went into] the
garden and put a re-pot on his head. A little later, the crown of his
head burst with a thundering sound. When [San]zang heard this, he
came out and saw [what was going on]. He took away the brazier and
touched the crack [in Hyet’ong’s head] with his ngers. He pronounced
a spell and the wound healed. It left a scar shaped like the character
wang. Because of this, he was called Preceptor Wang. From then
on [Sanzang] considered [Hyet’ong] as a monk with a great capability
and granted him the sealed transmission.
Then, at the Tang court a princess took ill.^51 Emperor Gaozong
asked Sanzang to save her.^52 But he proposed that Hyet’ong [should go]
in his place. Hyet’ong received the imperial order and went to another
place. [There] he lled a silver vessel with one mal 53 of white beans
and pronounced a spell. [Thereupon the beans] changed into divine
warriors clad in white armour. They [tried] to exorcise the demon of
ill health, but were unable to expel it. Then he lled a gold vessel with
one mal of black beans and pronounced a spell. [Thereupon the beans]
changed into divine warriors clad in black armor. He ordered [the war-
riors of ] the two colours to expel [the demon] together. All of sudden,
a dragon^54 ran away, and the princess was cured of her illness. [But]
the dragon was angry with Hyet’ong at being expelled and came over
[from Tang] to the Muning forest^55 in Hyet’ongs native country.
There it killed people and caused considerable damage.
(^50) ubhakarasiha (637–735). Born into a noble family in Orissa, he renounced his
status and became a Buddhist monk. Eventually he became the rst notable propagator
of esoteric Buddhism in China, where he arrived in 716.
(^51) This paragraph is also included in Grayson 2001, pp. 224–225. See also Inoue
1989, pp. 63–64.
(^52) This is impossible because ubhkarasiha arrived in the Tang capital Chang’an
only in 716. Emperor Gaozong reigned from 650 to 683. See below.
(^53) A dry measure, 5.944 litres in Tang. See table in Ogawa 1989, p. 1224.
(^54) Chin. jiaolong. A scaly dragon that lives in rivers. For this form of dragon,
see Visser 1913, pp. 76–81. 55
Location unknown.