大唐三藏法师义净译
Translated into Chinese by I-ching
Translated into English by Charles Patton
如是我闻。一时薄伽梵。在室罗伐城逝多林给孤独园。
Thus have I heard. One time, the Bhagavat was staying in the Jetàvana grove near the city of Sràvasti.
尔时世尊于大众中。告胜光王曰。大王。我今为王略说譬喻。诸有生死味着过患。王今谛听。善思念之。
At that time, the World Honored One was among a great congregation and addressed the King named Brilliance, "Great king, I will now for his majesty briefly discuss a parable about the beings of sa§sàra who [suffer] feelings, clingings, mistakes, and troubles. Your majesty should now listen closely, and well think about it.
乃往过去。于无量劫。时有一人。游于旷野为恶象所逐。怖走无依。
"Going back in the past an immeasurable aeon (kalpa), there was a person who went into the wilderness and was chased by an evil elephant. Fearfully, he fled without any refuge.
见一空井。傍有树根。即寻根下。潜身井中。有黑白二鼠。互啮树根。于井四边有四毒蛇。欲螫其人。下有毒龙。
Then he saw an empty well. And dangling into it was a tree's root.
Thereupon, he quickly went down the root and hid himself inside the well. There were two rats, dark and light, that together gnawed on tree root above him. And in the well, its four sides had four poisonous snakes that desired to bite that person. And below there was a poisonous serpent.
心畏龙蛇恐树根断。树根蜂蜜。五滴堕口。树摇蜂散。下螫斯人。野火复来。烧然此树。
His mind was terrified by the snakes and serpent, and he was apprehensive about tree root breaking. The tree roots had in them the honey of bees, five drops of which fell into his mouth. When the tree shook, bees swarmed down to sting the person. And brush fires came repeatedly to burn the tree."
王曰。是人云何。受无量苦。贪彼少味。
The king said, "How is it that this person should undergo such endless distress, craving so little feeling?"
尔时世尊告言。大王。旷野者喻于无明长夜旷远。言彼人者。喻于异生。象喻无常。井喻生死。险岸树根喻命。黑白二鼠以喻昼夜。
At that time, the World Honored One addressed the great king, "The wilderness is a metaphor for that long night under ignorance that is vast and distant. The words 'that person' is a metaphor for a being in yet another life. The elephant is a metaphor for impermanence. The well is a metaphor for sa§sàra. The dangerous crossing of the tree roots is a metaphor for life. The dark and light pair of rats is a metaphor for day and night.
啮树根者。喻念念灭。其四毒蛇。喻于四大。蜜喻五欲。蜂喻邪思。火喻老病。毒龙喻死。
Them gnawing the tree root is a metaphor for thoughts begetting thoughts until death. Those four snakes are a metaphor for being in the four elements. The honey is a metaphor for the five desires and the bees are a metaphor for false thinking. The fire is a metaphor for old age and illness. And the poisonous serpent is a metaphor for death.
是故大王。当知生老病死。甚可怖畏。常应思念。勿被五欲之所吞迫。
"This is why, great king, you should know that birth, old age, illness, and death are quite terrible. Always should you think and be mindful of them. Do not make yourself subject to the slavery of the five desires."
尔时世尊重说颂曰
Thereupon, the World Honored One gravely spoke in verse,
旷野无明路 人走喻凡夫
"The wilderness is the path of ignorance,
The person fleeing is a metaphor for the ordinary man,
大象比无常 井喻生死岸
The great elephant is a simile for impermanence,
And the well is a metaphor for the shore of sa§sàra.
树根喻于命 二鼠昼夜同
The tree roots are a metaphor for being in this life,
The two rats are the same as night and day,
啮根念念衰 四蛇同四大
The gnawed root is the decay of thought upon thought,
And the four snakes are the same as the four elements.
蜜滴喻五欲 蜂螫比邪思
The dripping honey is a metaphor for the five desires,
The bee stings a simile for false thinking,
火同于老病 毒龙方死苦
The fire is the same as having old age and illness,
And the poisonous serpent is the way to the suffering of death.
智者观斯事 象可厌生津
The wise regard these matters thus:
The elephant can weary a being's crossing,
五欲心无著 方名解脱人
The five desires can lead the mind to detachment,
And the way is called the liberated person.
镇处无明海 常为死王驱
An oppressive place is the ocean of ignorance,
Always is death the ruler chasing us.
宁知恋声色 不乐离凡夫
One must know that the love of sound and form
Is not pleasant when they leave the ordinary man."
尔时胜光大王闻佛为说生死过患。得未曾有。深生厌离。
At that time, the great king Brilliance heard the Buddha give this talk on birth and death being a passage through troubles and attained an unprecedentedly deep birth of disillusionment [with the world].
合掌恭敬。一心瞻仰。白佛言。世尊。如来大慈。为说如是微妙法义。我今顶戴。
With his palms together reverently and single-mindedly gazing respectfully, he said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, it is greatly compassionate for the Tathàgata to give a talk on such a subtle and wondrous meaning of the Dharma. I now am crowned."
佛言。善哉善哉。大王。当如说行。勿为放逸。
The Buddha said, "Excellent, excellent. Great king, you should practice as it has been propounded and not go about unrestrained."
时胜光王及诸大众。皆悉欢喜。信受奉行
Then King Brilliance and those of the great congregation were all elated. They faithfully received, transmitted, and upheld it.
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