[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [大方便佛報恩經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156) › 4.8 # 大方便佛報恩經 4.8 大方便佛報恩經 4.8 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [4.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4.8) 「善友太子導從前後，作倡伎樂，大眾圍遶。出城觀看，見有耕者，墾土出虫，烏隨啄吞。善友太子遙見如是，愍而哀傷，生長深宮，未見此事。問左右言：『此作何物，共相殘害？』左右答言：『太子！所以有國，依於人民；所以有人民者，依因飲食；所以有飲食者，依因耕田，種植五穀，得存性命。』太子念言：『苦哉！苦哉！』小復前行，見諸男女自共織作，來往顧動，疲勞辛苦。太子問曰：『此作何物？』左右答言：『太子！此諸人等紡織，作諸衣服，以遮慙愧，蔭覆五形。』太子言：『此亦勞苦，非一也。』轉復前行，見諸人民屠牛駝馬，㓟剝猪羊。太子問曰：『此是何人？』左右答言：『此諸人等，屠殺賣肉，以自存活，以供衣食。』太子皮毛𥌎動，而作是言：『怪哉！苦哉！殺者心不忍，強弱相害傷，殺生以養生，積結累劫殃。』轉復前行，見諸人眾，網鳥餌魚，枉濫無辜，強弱相陵。太子問言：『此是何人？名何事耶？』左右答言：『太子！網鳥捕魚。如是諸事，以供衣食。』太子聞是語已，悲淚滿目：『世間眾生，造諸惡本。眾苦不息，憂愁不悅。』即迴車還宮。 > "Prince Kalyāṇamitra went out, preceded and followed by attendants, with musicians performing music and a great crowd surrounding him. Going out of the city to sightsee, he saw a plowman turning over the soil, bringing out worms which crows followed and pecked up to devour. Prince Kalyāṇamitra saw this from afar, and felt grief and pity; having grown up in the deep palace, he had never seen such things before. He asked those around him: 'What are these creatures doing, harming one another?' Those around him answered: 'Prince! That there is a kingdom depends on the people; that there are people depends on food and drink; that there is food and drink depends on plowing the fields and planting the five grains, whereby lives are preserved.' The prince thought: 'How bitter! How bitter!' Going forward a little further, he saw men and women weaving together, moving back and forth in great toil and hardship. The prince asked: 'What are they doing?' Those around him answered: 'Prince! These people are spinning and weaving, making various garments to cover their shame and conceal their five bodily parts.' The prince said: 'This too is toil and suffering, not just one kind.' Moving further forward, he saw people slaughtering cattle, camels, and horses, and skinning pigs and sheep. The prince asked: 'What kind of people are these?' Those around him answered: 'These people slaughter and sell meat to sustain their own lives and provide for their food and clothing.' The prince's skin and hair bristled, and he spoke these words: 'How strange! How bitter! The slaughterer has an unsparing heart, the strong and weak harm one another; killing life to sustain life accumulates disaster over successive kalpas.' Moving further forward, he saw groups of people netting birds and baiting fish, unjustly entrapping the innocent, the strong oppressing the weak. The prince asked: 'What people are these? What do they call this work?' Those around him answered: 'Prince! They net birds and catch fish. All such things are done to provide for food and clothing.' When the prince heard these words, his eyes filled with sorrowful tears: 'Living beings in the world create the roots of all evils. Multitudinous sufferings do not cease, bringing distress and joylessness.' Thereupon he turned his carriage and returned to the palace. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 4.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4.7) - [Next: 4.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4.9) - [Up: 4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156~en-mt.4.8) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [ཐབས་མཁས་པ་ཆེན་པོ་སངས་རྒྱས་དྲིན་ལན་བསབ་པའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.tibet.kangyur.mdo_sde.353.4.4) — Classical Tibetan --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.156.4.8) · Pramāṇa