廣弘明集 28.119

28.119

門下刑期無刑皇王之令典。以戰止戰列聖之通規。是以湯武干戈濟時靜亂。豈其不愛黔首肆行誅戮。禁暴戢兵。蓋不獲已。朕自隋未創義。志存拯溺。北征東伐所向平殄。然黃鉞之下。金鏃之端。凡所傷殪難用勝紀。雖復逆命亂常。自貽殞絕惻隱之心。追以愴恨生靈之重能不哀矜。悄然疚懷無忘興寢。且釋氏之教深尚慈仁。禁戒之科殺害為重。承言此理彌增悔懼。今宜為自征討以來。手所誅剪前後之數將近一千。皆為建齋行道竭誠禮懺。朕之所服衣物。並充檀捨。冀三途之難因斯解脫。萬劫之苦藉此弘濟。滅怨障之心。趣菩提之道。

From the Chancellery: Using punishments in the hope of doing away with punishments is an illustrious canon of sovereign kings; stopping war by means of war is the universal rule of successive sages. Thus Tang and Wu took up shields and spears to rescue their age and quell disorder; how could it be that they did not cherish the black-haired people and gave free rein to slaughter? Checking violence and putting away weapons was truly out of necessity. Since raising the righteous cause at the end of the Sui, Our aim has been to rescue the drowning; marching north and campaigning east, wherever We faced was pacified and annihilated. Yet beneath the yellow battle-axe and at the tips of metal arrows, those wounded and slain can hardly be counted. Although they opposed the mandate and disturbed constancy, bringing ruin upon themselves, Our heart of commiseration is filled with grief and sorrow; regarding the weight of living beings, how could We not feel pity? With a sorrowful and aching heart, We never forget this whether rising or sleeping. Moreover, the teaching of the Śākya deeply values loving-kindness and benevolence, and among its disciplinary precepts, killing is the gravest offence. Upholding these words and principles, Our repentance and dread increase all the more. Now, for the nearly one thousand persons personally executed and slain by Us since the campaigns began, let a vegetarian feast be held and the Way be practised for all of them, exhausting Our sincerity in bowing and repenting. The robes and articles worn by Us are all to be donated as alms. We hope that the perils of the three paths may be escaped through this, the suffering of ten thousand kalpas broadly relieved by this, minds of enmity and hindrance extinguished, and the path of bodhi attained.