Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
134. There it was put in motion for the first time ; now, a second time, is it turned here, O Lord. Today, O Master, thou hast preached this law, which is hard to be received with faith". 35. Many laws have we heard near the Lord of the world, but never before did we hear a law like this. 36. We receive with gratitude, O great hero, the mysterious speech of the great Sages, such as this prediction regarding the self-possessed Arya Sariputra. 37. May we also become such incomparable Buddhas in the world, who by mysterious speech announce supreme Buddha-enlightenment. 38. May we also, by the good we have done in this world and in the next, and by our having 1 Duhsraddheyo yas te ’yam, var. lect. duksraddheyo 'yan tesham. It may be remarked that sraddh4 not only means faith, belief, but also liking, approval. Cf. the passage in Mahavagga I, 5, 2 8q.; the verses in Lalita-vistara, p. 515. Ti. A PARABLE. 71 propitiated the Buddha, be allowed to make a vow for Buddhaship. Thereupon the venerable S4riputra thus spoke to the Lord: My doubt is gone, O Lord, my uncertainty is at an end on hearing from the mouth of the Lord my destiny to supreme enlightenment. But these twelve hundred self-controlled (disciples), O Lord, who have been placed by thee on the stage of Saikshas', have been thus admonished and instructed : ‘My preaching of the law, O monks, comes to this, that deliverance from birth, decrepitude, disease, and death is inseparably connected with Nirvana ;’ and these two thousand monks, O Lord, thy disciples, both those who are still under training and adepts, who all of them are free from false views about the soul, false views about existence, false views about cessation of existence, free, in short, from all false views, who are fancying themselves to have reached the stage of Nirvdza, these have fallen into uncertainty by hearing from the mouth of the Lord this law which they had not heard before. Therefore, O Lord, please speak to these monks, to dispel their uneasiness, so that the four classes of the audience, O Lord, may be relieved from their doubt and perplexity. On this speech of the venerable S4riputra the Lord 1 J.e. of those who are under training, Pali sekho. The term is applied to the first seven degrees of persons striving for sanctification, the eighth, or Arhat, being Asaiksha (Asekha). It implies that they still have a remainder of human passion to eradicate, still duties to perform, still a probation to be passed through; see Childers, Pali Dict. p. 472. The seven degrees of Saiksha answer to the sevenfold preparatory wisdom in the Yoga system ; see YogasAstra 2, 27. 72 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. ITT.
2p. 472. The seven degrees of Saiksha answer to the sevenfold preparatory wisdom in the Yoga system ; see YogasAstra 2, 27. 72 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. ITT. said to him the following: Have I not told thee before, Sariputra, that the Tathagata, &c., preaches the law by able devices, varying directions and indications, fundamental ideas, interpretations, with due regard to the different dispositions and inclinations of creatures whose temperaments! are so various ? All his preachings of the law have no other end but supreme and perfect enlightenment, for which he is rousing beings to the Bodhisattva-course. But, Sariputra, to elucidate this matter more at large, I will tell thee a parable, for men of good understanding will generally readily enough catch the meaning of what is taught under the shape of a parable. Let us suppose the following case, S4riputra. In a certain village, town, borough, province, kingdom, or capital, there was a certain housekeeper, old, aged, decrepit, very advanced in years, rich, wealthy, opulent; he had a great house, high, spacious, built a long time ago and old, inhabited by some two, three, four, or five hundred living beings. The house had but one door, and a thatch; its terraces were tottering, the bases of its pillars rotten, the coverings? and plaster of the walls loose. On a sudden the whole house was from every side put in conflagration by a mass of fire. Let us suppose that the man had many little boys, say five, or ten, or even twenty, and that he himself had come out of the house. Now, Sariputra, that man, on seeing the house from every side wrapt in a blaze by a great mass of * Dhatvasaya, properly the disposition of the constitutive elements of the body. 2 Or, boards. TIT. A PARABLE. 73 fire, got afraid, frightened, anxious in his mind, and made the following reflection: I myself am able to come out from the burning house through the door, quickly and safely, without being touched or scorched by that great mass of fire; but my children, those young boys, are staying in the burning house, playing, amusing, and diverting themselves with all sorts of sports. They do not perceive, nor know, nor understand, nor mind that the house is on fire, and do not get afraid. Though scorched by that great mass of fire, and affected with such a mass of pain, they do not mind the pain, nor do they conceive the idea of escaping.
3They do not perceive, nor know, nor understand, nor mind that the house is on fire, and do not get afraid. Though scorched by that great mass of fire, and affected with such a mass of pain, they do not mind the pain, nor do they conceive the idea of escaping. The man, Sariputra, is strong, has powerful arms, and(so) he makes this reflection: I am strong,and have powerful arms; why, let me gather all my little boys and take them to my breast to effect their escape from the house. A second reflection then presented itself to his mind: This house has but one opening ; the door is shut; and those boys, fickle, unsteady, and childlike as they are, will, it is to be feared, run hither and thither, and come to grief and disaster in this mass of fire. Therefore I will warn them. So resolved, he calls to the boys: Come, my children; the house is burning with a mass of fire; come, lest ye be burnt in that mass of fire, and come to grief and disaster. But the ignorant boys do not heed the words of him who is their well-wisher; they are not afraid, not alarmed, and feel no misgiving; they do not care, nor fly, nor even know nor understand the purport of the word ‘burning ;’ on the contrary, they run hither and thither, walk about, and repeatedly look at their father ; all, because they are so ignorant. 74 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. III. Then the man is going to reflect thus: The house is burning, is blazing by a mass of fire. It is to be feared that myself as well as my children will come to grief and disaster. Let me therefore by some skilful means get the boys out of the house. The man knows the disposition of the boys, and has a clear perception of their inclinations. Now these boys happen to have many and manifold toys to play with, pretty, nice, pleasant, dear, amusing, and precious. The man, knowing the disposition of the boys, says to them: My children, your toys, which are so pretty, precious, and admirable, which you are so loth to miss, which are so various and multifarious, (such as) bullock-carts, goat-carts, deer-carts, which are so pretty, nice, dear, and precious to you, have all been put by me outside the house-door for you to play with. Come, run out, leave the house; to each of you I shall give what he wants. Come soon; come out for the sake of these toys. And the boys, on hearing the names mentioned of such playthings as they like and desire, so agreeable to their taste, so pretty, dear, and delightful, quickly rush out from the burning house, with eager effort and great alacrity, one having no time to wait for the other, and pushing each other on with the cry of ‘Who shall arrive first, the very first ?’
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
134. There it was put in motion for the first time ; now, a second time, is it turned here, O Lord. Today, O Master, thou hast preached this law, which is hard to be received with faith". 35. Many laws have we heard near the Lord of the world, but never before did we hear a law like this. 36. We receive with gratitude, O great hero, the mysterious speech of the great Sages, such as this prediction regarding the self-possessed Arya Sariputra. 37. May we also become such incomparable Buddhas in the world, who by mysterious speech announce supreme Buddha-enlightenment. 38. May we also, by the good we have done in this world and in the next, and by our having 1 Duhsraddheyo yas te ’yam, var. lect. duksraddheyo 'yan tesham. It may be remarked that sraddh4 not only means faith, belief, but also liking, approval. Cf. the passage in Mahavagga I, 5, 2 8q.; the verses in Lalita-vistara, p. 515. Ti. A PARABLE. 71 propitiated the Buddha, be allowed to make a vow for Buddhaship. Thereupon the venerable S4riputra thus spoke to the Lord: My doubt is gone, O Lord, my uncertainty is at an end on hearing from the mouth of the Lord my destiny to supreme enlightenment. But these twelve hundred self-controlled (disciples), O Lord, who have been placed by thee on the stage of Saikshas', have been thus admonished and instructed : ‘My preaching of the law, O monks, comes to this, that deliverance from birth, decrepitude, disease, and death is inseparably connected with Nirvana ;’ and these two thousand monks, O Lord, thy disciples, both those who are still under training and adepts, who all of them are free from false views about the soul, false views about existence, false views about cessation of existence, free, in short, from all false views, who are fancying themselves to have reached the stage of Nirvdza, these have fallen into uncertainty by hearing from the mouth of the Lord this law which they had not heard before. Therefore, O Lord, please speak to these monks, to dispel their uneasiness, so that the four classes of the audience, O Lord, may be relieved from their doubt and perplexity. On this speech of the venerable S4riputra the Lord 1 J.e. of those who are under training, Pali sekho. The term is applied to the first seven degrees of persons striving for sanctification, the eighth, or Arhat, being Asaiksha (Asekha). It implies that they still have a remainder of human passion to eradicate, still duties to perform, still a probation to be passed through; see Childers, Pali Dict. p. 472. The seven degrees of Saiksha answer to the sevenfold preparatory wisdom in the Yoga system ; see YogasAstra 2, 27. 72 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. ITT.
2p. 472. The seven degrees of Saiksha answer to the sevenfold preparatory wisdom in the Yoga system ; see YogasAstra 2, 27. 72 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. ITT. said to him the following: Have I not told thee before, Sariputra, that the Tathagata, &c., preaches the law by able devices, varying directions and indications, fundamental ideas, interpretations, with due regard to the different dispositions and inclinations of creatures whose temperaments! are so various ? All his preachings of the law have no other end but supreme and perfect enlightenment, for which he is rousing beings to the Bodhisattva-course. But, Sariputra, to elucidate this matter more at large, I will tell thee a parable, for men of good understanding will generally readily enough catch the meaning of what is taught under the shape of a parable. Let us suppose the following case, S4riputra. In a certain village, town, borough, province, kingdom, or capital, there was a certain housekeeper, old, aged, decrepit, very advanced in years, rich, wealthy, opulent; he had a great house, high, spacious, built a long time ago and old, inhabited by some two, three, four, or five hundred living beings. The house had but one door, and a thatch; its terraces were tottering, the bases of its pillars rotten, the coverings? and plaster of the walls loose. On a sudden the whole house was from every side put in conflagration by a mass of fire. Let us suppose that the man had many little boys, say five, or ten, or even twenty, and that he himself had come out of the house. Now, Sariputra, that man, on seeing the house from every side wrapt in a blaze by a great mass of * Dhatvasaya, properly the disposition of the constitutive elements of the body. 2 Or, boards. TIT. A PARABLE. 73 fire, got afraid, frightened, anxious in his mind, and made the following reflection: I myself am able to come out from the burning house through the door, quickly and safely, without being touched or scorched by that great mass of fire; but my children, those young boys, are staying in the burning house, playing, amusing, and diverting themselves with all sorts of sports. They do not perceive, nor know, nor understand, nor mind that the house is on fire, and do not get afraid. Though scorched by that great mass of fire, and affected with such a mass of pain, they do not mind the pain, nor do they conceive the idea of escaping.
3They do not perceive, nor know, nor understand, nor mind that the house is on fire, and do not get afraid. Though scorched by that great mass of fire, and affected with such a mass of pain, they do not mind the pain, nor do they conceive the idea of escaping. The man, Sariputra, is strong, has powerful arms, and(so) he makes this reflection: I am strong,and have powerful arms; why, let me gather all my little boys and take them to my breast to effect their escape from the house. A second reflection then presented itself to his mind: This house has but one opening ; the door is shut; and those boys, fickle, unsteady, and childlike as they are, will, it is to be feared, run hither and thither, and come to grief and disaster in this mass of fire. Therefore I will warn them. So resolved, he calls to the boys: Come, my children; the house is burning with a mass of fire; come, lest ye be burnt in that mass of fire, and come to grief and disaster. But the ignorant boys do not heed the words of him who is their well-wisher; they are not afraid, not alarmed, and feel no misgiving; they do not care, nor fly, nor even know nor understand the purport of the word ‘burning ;’ on the contrary, they run hither and thither, walk about, and repeatedly look at their father ; all, because they are so ignorant. 74 SADDHARMA-PUNDARIKA. III. Then the man is going to reflect thus: The house is burning, is blazing by a mass of fire. It is to be feared that myself as well as my children will come to grief and disaster. Let me therefore by some skilful means get the boys out of the house. The man knows the disposition of the boys, and has a clear perception of their inclinations. Now these boys happen to have many and manifold toys to play with, pretty, nice, pleasant, dear, amusing, and precious. The man, knowing the disposition of the boys, says to them: My children, your toys, which are so pretty, precious, and admirable, which you are so loth to miss, which are so various and multifarious, (such as) bullock-carts, goat-carts, deer-carts, which are so pretty, nice, dear, and precious to you, have all been put by me outside the house-door for you to play with. Come, run out, leave the house; to each of you I shall give what he wants. Come soon; come out for the sake of these toys. And the boys, on hearing the names mentioned of such playthings as they like and desire, so agreeable to their taste, so pretty, dear, and delightful, quickly rush out from the burning house, with eager effort and great alacrity, one having no time to wait for the other, and pushing each other on with the cry of ‘Who shall arrive first, the very first ?’
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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