Udanavarga 1.79-81

1.79

法句譬喻經慈仁品第七

Udānavarga: Chapter 7 on Benevolence and Kindness

In old times, Buddha was residing in a country about 500 li from Rājagriha, full of mountains. In these mountains there lived a certain clan of about 122 persons, who occupied themselves in hunting, and fed themselves on the flesh of the animals they killed. [Buddha goes to the place and converts the women, who were left alone during the day, whilst their husbands were hunting, and then adds these lines]:

1.80

昔佛在羅閱祇，去國五百里有山，山中有一家，有百二十二人。生長山藪殺獵為業，衣皮食肉初不田作，奉事鬼神不識三尊。佛以聖明知其應度，往詣其家坐一樹下。男子行獵，唯有婦女在，見佛光相明照天地，山中木石皆變金色，大小驚喜，知佛神人，皆往禮拜供施坐席。佛為諸母人說殺生之罪、行慈之福，恩愛一時會有離別。諸母人聞經歡喜，前白佛言：「山民貪害以肉為食，欲設微供，願當納受。」佛告諸母人：「諸佛之法不以肉食，吾已食來不須復辦。」因告之曰：「夫人生世所食無數，何以不作有益之食，而殘害群生以自濟活，死墮惡道損而無益？人食五穀，當愍眾生，蠕動之類莫不貪生，殺彼活己殃罪不朽，慈仁不殺世世無患。」

Formerly, when the Buddha was in Rājagṛha, five hundred li from the kingdom there was a mountain, and in the mountain lived one household consisting of one hundred and twenty-two people. Born and raised in the mountain wilderness, they made hunting and slaughtering their occupation; they wore skins, ate meat, never farmed, and served spirits and deities without knowing the Three Jewels. With his holy insight, the Buddha knew that they were ready to be delivered, so he went to their home and sat beneath a tree. The men had gone hunting and only the women were present. Seeing the Buddha's radiance and marks illuminating heaven and earth, with the trees and stones in the mountains all turning golden, young and old were startled and delighted. Knowing that the Buddha was a divine man, they all went forward to pay homage and spread out a mat for him to sit on. The Buddha explained to the women the sin of killing and the merit of practicing benevolence, and that love and affection are fleeting, bound to end in separation. Hearing the sutra, the women were delighted; they came forward and said to the Buddha: "We mountain folk are greedy and harmful, taking meat as food. We wish to offer a humble meal; we pray you will accept it." The Buddha told the women: "The law of the Buddhas does not include eating meat. I have already eaten and there is no need to prepare more." He then told them: "In a person's lifetime, what they eat is beyond measure; why not make wholesome food instead of harming living creatures to support your own life, only to fall into the bad destinies after death, suffering loss without benefit? Humans eat the five grains and should pity living beings; among the crawling creatures, none does not cling to life. Killing them to sustain oneself creates unending sin and retribution; practicing benevolence and kindness without killing brings freedom from distress across lifetimes."

1.81

於是世尊即說偈言：

Thereupon the Bhagavat spoke this verse: