四分律比丘含注戒本 1.10

1.10

稽首禮諸佛，及法比丘僧，今演毘尼法，
令正法久住。戒如海無涯，如寶求無厭，
欲護聖法財，眾集聽我說。欲除四棄法，
及滅僧殘法，障三十捨墮，眾集聽我說。
毘婆尸、式棄，毘舍、拘留孫，拘那含牟尼，
迦葉、釋迦文，諸世尊大德，為我說是事，
我今欲善說，諸賢咸共聽。譬如人毀足，
不堪有所涉，毀戒亦如是，不得生天人。
欲得生天上，若生人中者，常當護戒足，
勿令有毀損。如御入險道，失轄折軸憂，
毀戒亦如是，死時懷恐懼。如人自照鏡，
好醜生欣慼，說戒亦如是，全毀生憂喜。
如兩陣共戰，勇怯有進退，說戒亦如是，
淨穢生安畏。世間王為最，眾流海為最，
眾星月為最，眾聖佛為最，一切眾律中，
《戒經》為上最；如來立禁戒，半月半月說。

I bow my head in worship to the Buddhas,
and to the Dharma and the community of bhikṣus.
Now I expound the Vinaya Dharma,
so that the True Dharma may long abide.
The precepts are like the boundless sea,
like gems sought without satiety.
Desiring to protect the treasure of the noble Dharma,
let the assembly gather and listen to what I speak.
Desiring to eradicate the four pārājika dharmas,
and to extinguish the saṃghāvaśeṣa dharmas,
and obstruct the thirty niḥsargika-prāyaścittikas,
let the assembly gather and listen to what I speak.
Vipaśyin, Śikhin,
Viśvabhū, Krakucchanda,
Kanakamuni,
Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni—
these Bhagavats, the Great Virtuous Ones,
spoke these matters for my sake;
now I wish to speak them well,
may all you worthy ones listen together.
Just as a person with injured feet
is unable to walk anywhere,
so it is with breaking the precepts:
one cannot be born among devas or humans.
If one wishes to be born in the heavens,
or if one is to be born among humans,
one should constantly guard the feet of precepts,
never allowing them to be damaged.
Like a charioteer entering a perilous road
who worries about losing the linchpin and breaking the axle,
so it is with breaking the precepts:
at the time of death one harbors terror.
Like a person looking in a mirror
who feels joy or sorrow at beauty and ugliness,
so it is when the precepts are spoken:
intactness or violation gives rise to worry or joy.
Like two battle-lines clashing,
where the brave and the cowardly advance or retreat,
so it is when the precepts are spoken:
purity or defilement gives rise to ease or fear.
In the world the king is foremost;
among all streams the ocean is foremost;
among all stars the moon is foremost;
among all sages the Buddha is foremost;
among all the Vinayas,
the Prātimokṣa Sūtra is the highest and foremost.
The Tathāgata established the prohibitive precepts,
to be spoken half-month by half-month.