譬喻大师乔达摩|Gotama the Master of Similes (1)

读尼柯耶看到很多好玩的比喻……零散记录一些,可能(hopefully)会有后续。
Came across many interesting similes when reading the nikayas…jotted down some of them. Hopefully there will be follow-ups.

  • DhP.3.2(34):法句经·心品|Dhammapada·Mind
    心 – 鱼|mind – fish
    就象把鱼从水栖处取出,掷于干地上(会跳动)一般,此心会甚至这样颤抖不安。因此应该避免诸情欲的境界。(禅世界译)
    Like a fish thrown up on dry land, pulled out from its watery home, the mind is agitated, one ought to throw off the sway of Māra. (Bhikkhu Ānandajoti)
  • MN10:念处经|Satipatthana Sutta
    身体 – 谷袋|body – sack
    犹如两边有开口的袋子放置满满的种种谷物,即:山米、红米、绿豆,豌豆,胡麻,白米,有眼的男子倒出它后能观察:“这些是山米,这些是红米,这些是绿豆,这些是豌豆,这些是胡麻,这些是白米。”同样的,比丘们!比丘观察此身从脚掌底往上,发梢往下,皮肤所包覆充满种种不净的:“此身有头发、体毛、指甲、牙齿、皮肤、肌肉、筋腱、骨骼、骨髓、肾脏、心脏、肝脏、肋膜、脾脏、肺脏、肠子、肠间膜、胃、粪便、胆汁、痰、脓、血、汗、脂肪、眼泪、油脂、唾液、鼻涕、关节液、尿。”(庄春江译)
    “… just as if a sack with openings at both ends were full of various kinds of grain—wheat, rice, mung beans, kidney beans, sesame seeds, husked rice—and a man with good eyesight, pouring it out, were to reflect, ‘This is wheat. This is rice. These are mung beans. These are kidney beans. These are sesame seeds. This is husked rice,’ in the same way, the monk reflects on this very body from the soles of the feet on up, from the crown of the head on down, surrounded by skin and full of various kinds of unclean things: ‘In this body there are head hairs, body hairs, nails, teeth, skin, flesh, tendons, bones, bone marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, pleura, spleen, lungs, large intestines, small intestines, gorge, feces, bile, phlegm, pus, blood, sweat, fat, tears, skin-oil, saliva, mucus, fluid in the joints, urine.’” (Bhikkhu Thanissaro)
  • MN63:摩伦迦小经|Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta
    本体论纠结|ontological struggles
    “摩伦迦子,如果有人这样说: ‘如果世尊不为我解说 “世间是常” 、 “世间是断” 、 “世间有边” 、 “世间没有边” 、 “生命和身体是同一样东西” 、 “生命是一样东西,身体是另一样东西” 、 “如来死后还存在” 、 “如来死后不存在” 、 “如来死后既存在也不存在” 、 “如来死后既不存在也不是不存在” ,我便不会在世尊座下修习梵行。’ 摩伦迦子,这人将会直至命终,如来也不会为他解说这些问题。
    “Malunkyaputta, if anyone were to say, ‘I won’t live the holy life under the Blessed One as long as he does not declare to me that “The cosmos is eternal,” or “The cosmos is not eternal,” or “The cosmos is finite,” or “The cosmos is infinite,” or “The soul & the body are the same,” or “The soul is one thing and the body another,” or “After death a Tathagata exists,” or “After death a Tathagata does not exist,” or “After death a Tathagata both exists & does not exist,” or “After death a Tathagata neither exists nor does not exist,”’ the man would die and those things would still remain undeclared by the Tathagata.

    “摩伦迦子,就正如一个中了箭的人,那支箭涂上了剧毒,他的亲友找来一位医生为他治疗箭伤。但他这样说:‘如果我不知道射伤我的人是刹帝利、婆罗门、吠舍还是首陀罗……是什么姓名、什么种族……是高、是矮还是中等身材……是黑肤色、棕肤色还是黄肤色……住在哪个村落、哪个市镇、哪个都城,我便不会把箭拔出来。’‘如果我不知道用来射伤我的武器是弩还是弓……弓弦是植物所造还是筋腱所造……箭身是芦苇还是其他植物……箭尾是鹫、鹭、鹰、孔雀还是鹳的羽毛……箭身用母牛筋、水牛筋、鹿筋还是猴筋来缠绕……箭头是石、铁、木、兽角还是兽齿,我便不会把箭拔出来。‘摩伦迦子,这人将会直至命终,也不会知道这些答案。”(萧式球译)
    “It’s just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, ‘I won’t have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a brahman, a merchant, or a worker…the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me…whether he was tall, medium, or short…whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored…his home village, town, or city…whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow…whether the bowstring was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark…whether the shaft was wild or cultivated… whether the feathers of the shaft were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird…whether the shaft was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey…whether the shaft was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.’ The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him.” (Bhikkhu Thanissaro)

  • MN39:马城大经|Maha-Assapura Sutta
    五盖 – 债|five hindrances – debt, sickness, prison, slavery, road through desolate country
    他…内心清除了贪欲……瞋恚……昏睡……掉悔……对善法的疑惑。
    He cleanses his mind of covetousness…of ill will and anger…of sloth and drowsiness…of restlessness and anxiety…of uncertainty.

    比丘们,就正如一个贷款营商而得到成功的人,清还所有债款后还有余钱来养家。当他想起这件事情时,内心便会得到欢悦、得到快乐。
    “Suppose that a man, taking a loan, invests it in his business affairs. His business affairs succeed. He repays his old debts and has extra left over for maintaining his wife. The thought would occur to him, ‘Before, taking a loan, I invested it in my business affairs. Now my business affairs have succeeded. I have repaid my old debts and have extra left over for maintaining my wife.’ Because of that he would gain joy & experience happiness.

    比丘们,又正如一个有病的人,身体有病痛,没有胃口,没有体力,过了一些时候他康复了,有胃口,有体力。当他想起这件事情时,内心便会得到欢悦、得到快乐。
    “Now suppose that a man falls sick — in pain & seriously ill. He does not enjoy his meals and has no measure of strength in his body. At a later time he is released from that sickness. He enjoys his meals and has a measure of strength in his body. The thought would occur to him, ‘Before, I was sick… Now I am released from that sickness. I enjoy my meals and have a measure of strength in my body.’ Because of that he would gain joy & experience happiness.

    比丘们,又正如一个被囚禁在牢房的人,过了一些时候他获释了,得到安乐,没有困苦,财物没有损失。当他想起这件事情时,内心便会得到欢悦、得到快乐。
    “Now suppose that a man is bound in prison. At a later time he is released from that bondage, safe & sound, with no loss of property. The thought would occur to him, ‘Before, I was bound in prison. Now I am released from that bondage, safe & sound, with no loss of my property.’ Because of that he would gain joy & experience happiness.

    比丘们,又正如一个奴仆,没有自由,受人支配,不能随心所欲到处走,过了一些时候他恢复自由身,重获自由,不受人支配,可以随心所欲到处走。当他想起这件事情时,内心便会得到欢悦、得到快乐。
    “Now suppose that a man, subject to others, not subject to himself, unable to go where he likes. At a later time he is released from that slavery, subject to himself, not subject to others, freed, able to go where he likes. The thought would occur to him, ‘Before, I was a slave… Now I am released from that slavery, subject to myself, not subject to others, freed, able to go where I like.’ Because of that he would gain joy & experience happiness.

    比丘们,又正如一个带著财物的人,要穿过一个辽阔的荒野,过了一些时候他平安地穿过了那个荒野,没有任何财物损失。当他想起这件事情时,内心便会得到欢悦、得到快乐。
    “Now suppose that a man, carrying money & goods, is traveling by a road through desolate country. At a later time he emerges from that desolate country, safe & sound, with no loss of property. The thought would occur to him, ‘Before, carrying money & goods, I was traveling by a road through desolate country. Now I have emerged from that desolate country, safe & sound, with no loss of my property.’ Because of that he would gain joy & experience happiness.

    一位比丘如果不舍弃五盖的话,他就被视为欠债、患病、囚犯、奴仆、穿越荒野那样。一位比丘如果舍弃五盖的话,他就被视为没有债项、健康、出狱、得自由身、抵达安稳之地那样。(萧式球译)
    In the same way, when these five hindrances are not abandoned in himself, the monk regards it as a debt, a sickness, a prison, slavery, a road through desolate country. But when these five hindrances are abandoned in himself, he regards it as unindebtedness, good health, release from prison, freedom, a place of security. (Bhikkhu Thanissaro)
  • MN19:二种寻经| Dvedhavitakka Sutta
    牛 – 法|cow – mental qualities
    正如在雨季最后一个月,秋收的时候,牧牛人看守牛只时,要用棒杖不停来打牛,阻止、阻隔、阻截牛只闯进农田。这是什么原因呢?因为牧牛人知道,如果让牛只闯进农田破坏农作物的话,以此为因缘,自己会受到鞭打、收绑、赔钱、责骂等惩罚。比丘们,同样地,我知道不善法的过患、退堕、染污,知道善法的出离、利益、清净。(萧式球译)
    “Just as in the last month of the Rains, in the autumn season when the crops are ripening, a cowherd would look after his cows: He would tap & poke & check & curb them with a stick on this side & that. Why is that? Because he foresees flogging or imprisonment or a fine or public censure arising from that [if he let his cows wander into the crops]. In the same way I foresaw in unskillful qualities drawbacks, degradation, & defilement, and I foresaw in skillful qualities rewards related to renunciation & promoting cleansing. (Bhikkhu Thanissaro)