辯正論 1.12

1.12

公子曰。古哲云。文繁者失其要。理寡者喪其實。今見之矣。縱釋氏銓旨禪戒之談。呪術傳記之典。自是一家勵己之謨。未為五常經國之訓。猶方孔圓衲。雖美於形而闕於事矣。且書有五常之教。謂仁義禮智信也。愍傷不殺曰仁。防害不婬曰義。持心禁酒曰禮。清察不盜曰智。非法不言曰信。此五德者。不可造次而虧。不可須臾而廢。王者履之以治國。君子奉之以立身。用無暫替。故云常也。夫子。向序佛教。言緩而義迂。非不愕然。太為濩落矣。五常也者。在天為五緯。在地為五嶽。在處為五方。在人為五藏。在物為五行。廣而言之。無所不統。仰觀俯察。其能有加焉。於是通人听爾而笑。沈吟久之。徐而喻曰。世云。千金易傾一言難吐。徒費指掌。恐子夜遊不免失言。強復論其大較。案沈氏均聖論云。炎昊之初。純厖之始。人未粒食。非肉非皮。死亡立至。雖復聖德慇懃恩存救免。而身命是資。理難頓奪。寔宜導之以漸稍啟其源。故燧人改火變腥為熟。腥熟既變。蓋佛教之萌兆也。君子曰。沈侯學綜玄儒理兼孔釋。匪斯人子奚有斯論乎。所以爾者。太昊本應聲大士。仲尼即儒童菩薩。先遊茲土權行漸化。愍濟五濁宣布五常。而吾子未訪所聞。今粗為陳其本。何者。佛初成道。近接下凡。爰開小教。因尸利而說三歸。因末伽而說五戒。為迦王而說十善。為長者而說六齋。此四者何耶。三歸勸其捨邪。五戒防其行惡。十善使其招貴。六齋令其得樂。釋名云。歸向也。戒止也。善嘉也。齋肅也。言三歸者。教其歸向三尊防止五欲。備延嘉貺肅敬容儀。則冥祇欣萃徵慶允洽者矣。一曰不殺。二謂不盜。三不邪婬。四不妄語。五不飲酒為五戒也。戒者。禁也。勒也。勒身口如馬著轡。禁情欲如猴帶鎖。智度論云。大惡病中戒為良藥。大恐怖中戒為守護。死闇冥中戒為明燈。三惡道中戒為橋梁。生死海中戒為大船也。夫不殺者。如負天蹐地之屬。圓首方足之儔。水陸山空胎卵濕化。語其種類凡有四生。一一生中皆有八萬四千形狀不等。然而人畜乃殊貴賤。云別至於顒顒怖死汲汲貪生。避苦以樂其身。求安以養其命。此情一種斯理萬均。何有枉害忠貞濫誅淳善。所以良士殲其神被髮趙同死大厲摶膺。邙阜積怨魂之悲。秦坑肆無辜之酷。乘舟之歌已作。黃鳥之詠徒哀。次則列圍㶚川從禽夢澤。張羅亘野布網連山。火逐嶺以高低。煙隨草而疎密。奔電之鷹爭舉。追風之馬競前。猿覩箭以虛驚。雁看弓而逈墜。洞胸達腋之痛。解脰陷腦之酸。奚獨喪蜯池空。遂使亡狙林盡。加以垂絲曲渚下鉤深潭。獲朱鯉於河湍。收紫鱗於井谷。斯等並稟五常俱含四氣。同霑佛性共有神明。何忍陳此肉山樹茲炮烙。極鱗羽之命。盡芻豢之群。臛染指之黿。缹如朱之鼈。供何曾之盛饌。備婁護之珍羞。美彼心肝充其口腹。歡他燕爾樂我嘉賓。慶七德之光榮。悅九功之繁會。寔乃傷大慈之本意。故至聖以禁焉。所以飼魚長者睡感天花（見金光明經）救蟻沙彌冥延促算（見賢愚經也）爰致金剛之體。終為長壽之因（護法因緣得金剛體不殺果報為長命因。見涅槃金光明等經）此則永斷宿嫌。其德一也。言不盜者。盜跖之行舉世不容。梁上之頑是人皆患。囊裝無孑遺之貨。胠篋有絕本之貧。遂使布被莫充葛袍奚擬。長者慚寄口之累精民羞屠販之勞。豈止犯菜偷魚竊私棗。兼以盜僧鬘物用常住財。惡求多求以利生利。曾無愧色都不介懷。何獨帶累見前信。亦殃咎後世（智度論云一切諸眾生衣食以自活若奪若劫取。是名劫奪命）大聖慈愍制戒遏之。其德二也。言不邪婬者。敗德滅身婬辜為甚。所以妹妃亡夏妲后喪殷。褒姒之仆隆周。孋姬之傾皇晉。神仙遭騎頸之辱。天廟致焚軀之災。故稱眾罪之根。是曰搆殃之本。近乖梵世遠障菩提。斷而不行。其德三也。言不飲者。酒為亂本。亦稱狂藥。遍興三毒之愆。備造六根之釁。裸露形體咆𠷺言聲。貴賤悉欺親疎等罵。既檮既杌或哭或歌。殷王牛飲而喪朝。楚子虎酣以敗德。成都縈累月之醉。中山困千日之眠。體澒澒其如泥。心昏昏其似夜。三十五失過患並生（見智度論等）八萬四千塵勞俱起。現在遮智慧之業。將來獲愚癡之報。此罪最深。故佛不許。誠能奉戒獲福無窮。其德四也。言不妄者。口是禍媒舌稱鬪本。能為伐身之斧。厥號眾惡之門。刀劍起咽喉之間。繩索居脣齒之際。語寒風足使翠柯零葉。談芳節能令槁木舒華。褒貶由其一言。生死出其三寸。友于因之以水火。室家為此而乖離。大害則滅族傾邦。小愆則危身致命。招未來之重報。結現在之深怨。實四過之根株。乃十惡之林藪。釋典述如鼻之誡。周廟書銅人之銘。福無以加。其德五也。

The young master said: "The ancients said: 'Where words are too profuse, the essentials are lost; where reason is scarce, reality is forfeit.' Now I see it indeed. Even granting the Śākya clan's discourses on definitive teachings, dhyāna, and the precepts, or their scriptures of incantations and biographies, these are merely a school of thought for encouraging oneself; they are not teachings of the Five Constants for administering the state. They are like square holes [fitted with] round patches: though fine in form, they fall short in actual application. Moreover, the classic texts contain the teaching of the Five Constants—namely, benevolence, righteousness, ritual propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. Showing pity and not killing is called benevolence; guarding against harm and avoiding lust is called righteousness; holding the mind in check and abstaining from alcohol is called ritual propriety; discerning clearly and not stealing is called wisdom; and not speaking unlawful words is called trustworthiness. These five virtues must not be breached for an instant, nor abandoned for a moment. Rulers practice them to govern the state, and superior men uphold them to establish their character; their application is never temporarily set aside, and therefore they are called 'constants'. You, sir, just now introduced the Buddhist teachings with unhurried words and roundabout reasoning; one cannot help but be astonished, for they are exceedingly broad and impractical. As for the Five Constants, in heaven they are the five planets; on earth, the Five Sacred Peaks; in space, the five directions; in humans, the five viscera; and in physical things, the five elements. Speaking broadly, there is nothing they do not encompass. Looking up to observe [heaven] and looking down to inspect [earth], how could anything surpass them?"
Thereupon, the comprehensive scholar gave a broad smile, contemplated for a long time, and slowly instructed him, saying: "The world says, 'A thousand pieces of gold are easily poured out, but a single word is hard to utter.' If one merely wastes hand gestures and explanations, I fear that by walking at night you cannot avoid slipping in your words. I will nevertheless compel myself to discuss the general outline. According to Shen Yue's Jun Sheng Lun (Treatise on the Equality of the Sages): 'At the beginning of the times of Yan Di and Taihao, at the dawn of unhewn simplicity, humans did not yet eat grains; without meat and skins, death would instantly arrive. Even with the earnest and attentive virtue of the sage wishing to deliver and spare them, since physical life depended on these things, principle made it difficult to abruptly strip them away. It was indeed appropriate to guide them by degrees, gradually opening the source. Thus the Fire-Driller altered the use of fire, changing raw meat to cooked. The transition from raw to cooked was indeed the budding sign of the Buddhist teachings.' A superior man said: 'Marquis Shen's learning synthesized the Mysterious [Daoism] and Confucianism, his reasoning combined Confucius and the Buddha; without such a man, how could there be such a treatise?' The reason for this is that Taihao was originally a Mahāsattva who responds to cries, and Zhongni [Confucius] was none other than the Bodhisattva Māṇava. They first traveled through this land, provisionally enacting gradual conversion, compassionately saving those in the five turbidities, and proclaiming the Five Constants. Yet you, my young friend, have not investigated what has been heard; now I will roughly lay out the origins for you. Why is this? When the Buddha first attained the Way, in order to draw near to and receive ordinary mortals, he opened the lesser teachings: on account of Śrī he taught the Three Refuges, and on account of Mārga he taught the Five Precepts; for King [Bimbisāra] of Magadha he taught the Ten Good Virtues, and for the elders he taught the Six Days of Abstinence. What are these four? The Three Refuges urge them to abandon the heterodox; the Five Precepts guard them against committing evil; the Ten Good Virtues cause them to attain nobility; and the Six Days of Abstinence cause them to obtain joy. The Shiming says: 'To take refuge means to turn toward; a precept means to restrain; goodness means excellence; abstinence means solemnity.' In speaking of the Three Refuges, they instruct people to turn toward the Three Honored Ones and ward off the five desires; fully receiving auspicious blessings and solemnly observing respectful deportment, the unseen spirits rejoice and gather, and signs of auspiciousness are genuinely bestowed. First is not killing; second is not stealing; third is avoiding sexual misconduct; fourth is not lying; and fifth is not drinking alcohol: these are the Five Precepts. 'Precept' means prohibition; it means restraint. Restraining the body and speech is like fitting a horse with a bridle; curbing passions and desires is like binding a monkey with a chain. The Da zhidu lun says: 'Among severe illnesses, precepts are good medicine; amidst great terrors, precepts are protection; within the dark night of death, precepts are a bright lamp; in the three evil destinies, precepts are a bridge; in the ocean of birth and death, precepts are a great ship.'
Now, as for not killing: beings that bear heaven upon their backs and tread the earth, creatures of round heads and square feet, those dwelling in water, land, mountains, or the open air, born from womb, egg, moisture, or transformation—speaking of their categories, there are in general four forms of birth. In every single form of birth, there are eighty-four thousand different shapes. Yet although humans and animals differ in status, and are said to be distinct, when it comes to trembling in fear of death and striving anxiously for life, fleeing pain to comfort their bodies, and seeking safety to nurture their lives, this feeling is of a single kind, this principle is identical in ten thousand ways. How could one unjustly harm the loyal and pure, or indiscriminately slaughter the honest and good? Thus when good scholars had their spirits extinguished, their hair was unbound, and they died together like [the ghosts of] Bo Zong and Du Bo, becoming great vengeful demons beating their breasts. Mount Mang heaps up the grief of resentful souls; the Qin pits displayed the cruelty toward the innocent. The song of 'Riding the Boat' has already been composed; the ode of 'The Yellow Bird' laments in vain. Next, hunting cordons are aligned at the Ba River, and game is pursued at the Yunmeng Marsh; nets are spread across the open wilds and hung continuously over the mountains. Fires rise and fall following the ridges; smoke drifts dense or thin with the grasses. Lightning-swift hawks vie in soaring up; wind-chasing horses compete in charging ahead. The monkey takes a baseless fright at the mere sight of an arrow; the wild goose drops from afar upon seeing the bow. The agony of pierced chests and punctured flanks; the anguish of severed necks and crushed brains. How is it only that the clams perish and the pond is emptied, causing the monkeys to die and the forest to be stripped bare? Furthermore, dropping lines onto curved shallows and casting hooks into deep pools, capturing red carp in the river's torrents and gathering purple-scaled fish in valley wells: all of these beings receive the Five Constants, fully contain the four breaths, equally partake in the Buddha-nature, and jointly possess spiritual illumination. How can one bear to spread out these mountains of meat, or set up these roasting-pillars? Ending the lives of fish and fowl, exhausting the herds of domestic cattle and sheep; stewing the soft-shelled turtle touched by the finger, and boiling the turtle red as cinnabar; providing lavish feasts like He Zeng's, preparing exquisite delicacies like Lou Hu's; finding relish in their hearts and livers to satisfy one's mouth and belly; making them welcome as one's bride, while delighting our fine guests; celebrating the glorious luster of the seven virtues, and reveling in the grand gathering of the nine achievements! This truly injures the original intent of Great Compassion; therefore the Supreme Sage prohibited it. Thus the elder who fed the fish was moved in his sleep by celestial flowers (seen in the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra); the novice who saved the ants had his short lifespan extended in the unseen world (seen in the Damamūka-nidāna Sūtra). In this way one attains an adamantine body, which ultimately becomes the cause of long life (the causal conditions of protecting the Dharma produce an adamantine body; the retribution of not killing serves as the cause of long life; seen in the Nirvāṇa and Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtras). This forever cuts off past resentments; this is the first virtue.
As for not stealing: the conduct of Robber Zhi is not tolerated by the entire world; the rogue upon the crossbeam is a nuisance to everyone. A traveler's pouch left with not a remnant of goods; the pried-open chest left with ruinous poverty. Consequently, a cloth quilt cannot be supplied, and how could a coarse garment be considered? The elder feels shame at the burden of depending on others for food; the honest commoner is humiliated by the hard toil of butchering and peddling. How does this apply only to transgressing over vegetables, stealing fish, or filching private dates? It also includes stealing the sangha's garland goods or misusing the property of the permanent sangha. Seeking with evil motives, seeking insatiably, generating profit through profit, without the slightest blush of shame or the least qualm at heart. How does this merely bring trouble to the present believers? It also brings disaster and blame upon future lives (the Da zhidu lun says: 'All sentient beings depend on food and clothing to sustain themselves; if one takes by force or robs them, this is called robbing their life'). The Great Sage in his compassion instituted the precept to halt it; this is the second virtue.
As for avoiding sexual misconduct: destroying virtue and ruining oneself, none is worse than the crime of sexual misconduct. Therefore Concubine Mei brought ruin to the Xia, and Queen Da caused the loss of the Yin; Baosi caused the fall of the glorious Zhou, and Lady Li overturned the imperial Jin. The immortal suffered the humiliation of having his neck ridden; the heavenly shrine met with the catastrophe of having its body burned. Therefore it is called the root of all sins, and termed the source of accumulating calamities. In the near term, it runs counter to the world of Brahmā; in the long term, it obstructs bodhi. Severing and not practicing it is the third virtue.
As for not drinking alcohol: alcohol is the source of disorder and is also called the medicine of madness. It universally stirs up the offenses of the three poisons and fully creates the transgressions of the six sense faculties. Bodies are bared naked, and words are roared and shouted. The noble and the lowly are alike deceived; kin and strangers are equally cursed. Stupified and perverse, now weeping, now singing. The King of Yin drank like an ox and lost his court; the Viscount of Chu drank like a tiger and ruined his virtue. In Chengdu, one was ensnared in months-long drunkenness; in Zhongshan, one was overcome by a thousand-day sleep. The body is muddled like mud; the mind is dark as the night. The thirty-five faults and hazards arise together (seen in the Da zhidu lun and elsewhere); the eighty-four thousand defilements all awaken. In the present life, it obstructs the activities of wisdom; in the future, it incurs the retribution of folly. This offense is the gravest; therefore the Buddha does not permit it. Truly, if one can observe the precept, one will obtain inexhaustible blessings; this is the fourth virtue.
As for not lying: the mouth is the intermediary of disaster, and the tongue is called the root of contention. It can be the axe that fells the body, and is designated the gate to all evils. Knives and swords arise from between the throat; cords and ropes dwell along the lips and teeth. When speaking of the cold wind, it can make emerald boughs shed their leaves; when discussing the fragrant spring, it can cause withered wood to unfold flowers. Praise and blame depend on a single utterance; life and death issue from these three inches. Fraternal love turns into fire and water on account of it; households are estranged and torn apart by it. In its greater harm, it exterminates clans and topples states; in its lesser transgression, it endangers the person and destroys life. It brings about grave retributions in the future, and knits deep enmities in the present. Truly it is the root of the four oral faults and the dense thicket of the ten non-virtuous actions. The Buddhist scriptures recount the admonition of being 'like a nose'; the Zhou ancestral temple inscribed the motto of the bronze statue. Blessings can add nothing greater; this is the fifth virtue."