結為兄弟 Sworn Brothers; The Vow
唐王果是十分賢德，就去那寺裡佛前，與玄奘拜了四拜，口稱「御弟聖僧」。玄奘感謝不盡道：「陛下，貧僧有何德何能，敢蒙天恩眷顧如此？我這一去，定要捐軀努力，直至西天；如不到西天，不得真經，即死也不敢回國，永墮沉淪地獄。」隨在佛前拈香，以此為誓。唐王甚喜，即命回鑾，待選良利日辰，發牒出行，遂此駕回各散。唐王果是十分贤德，就去那寺里佛前，与玄奘拜了四拜，口称「御弟圣僧」。玄奘感谢不尽道：「陛下，贫僧有何德何能，敢蒙天恩眷顾如此？我这一去，定要捐躯努力，直至西天；如不到西天，不得真经，即死也不敢回国，永堕沉沦地狱。」随在佛前拈香，以此为誓。唐王甚喜，即命回銮，待选良利日辰，发牒出行，遂此驾回各散。
逐句解 Line by line
The Tang king was indeed most worthy and virtuous: he went there before the Buddha in the temple, made four bows with Xuanzang, and called him 'Imperial Brother, Holy Monk.'
御弟聖僧, Imperial Brother, Holy Monk, is the title Xuanzang carries from here to the end of the book. The four bows are made in front of the Buddha, and that is what seals the brotherhood: the emperor swears before the one witness he cannot outrank. 那 is the pointing nà; 佛前 takes the global 佛 fó.
Xuanzang, thanking him without end, said: 'Your Majesty, what virtue or ability has your poor monk, that he should dare receive such heavenly grace and favor?'
盡 in 感謝不盡, thanking without end, is jìn. His answer to being made a sovereign's brother is to ask what he has ever done to deserve it.
'This journey of mine — I am resolved to give my very body and strive with all my might, straight to the Western Heaven; and if I do not reach the Western Heaven, or fail to obtain the true scriptures, then even in death I dare not return to my country, but shall fall forever into the hell of perdition.'
得 in 不得真經, fail to obtain the true scriptures, is dé; 捐軀 is to lay down the body. The vow repays slow reading — not merely that he will try, but that if he fails he will not come home even dead, and will take everlasting hell instead. This is the commitment the rest of the novel exists to test.
And there before the Buddha he offered incense, taking this as his oath.
為 in 以此為誓, taking this as his oath, is wéi; 佛前 takes the global fó. Incense lit before the Buddha is the most binding form the oath could take.
The Tang king was greatly pleased, and at once ordered the imperial carriage to return, to await the choosing of a fair and auspicious day when the travel-document would be issued and the journey begun; and thereupon the carriage returned and all dispersed.
甚 in 甚喜 is the intensifier shèn; 行 in 出行, to set out, is xíng; 散 in 各散, all dispersed, is sàn. The great assembly ends not with a ceremony but with everybody going home to wait for a lucky day.
The chapter's action closes on the forging of the bond and the making of the vow. Taizong's four bows before the Buddha and his bestowal of the title Imperial Brother, Holy Monk raise Xuanzang to kinship with the throne — the origin of his standing as the Tang Monk, sent west not merely as a cleric but as the emperor's own brother and envoy.
Xuanzang answers with the vow that will govern the entire pilgrimage: to press on to the Western Heaven though it cost his body, and, failing, to accept death and eternal perdition rather than return empty-handed. Sworn before the Buddha over incense, it is the strongest oath the novel can frame, and it fixes the moral stakes of the journey. With the auspicious day yet to be chosen and the travel-document yet to be issued, the chapter stands poised on the threshold of the road itself.