北山錄 8.2.1

8.2.1

覺皇有業智力（佛有無漏淨業。 八識四智等。 又示相門中有九業報。 一梵志女孫陀利謗佛。 二旃遮婆女繫木杅謗佛懷姙。 三提婆達多推山厭佛。 四迸木槍刺佛足。 五琉璃王害釋種佛亦頭痛。 六受阿耆達多婆羅門請佛九十日食馬麥。 七冷風動佛背痛入六年苦行。 九入婆羅聚落乞食空鉢而廻。 又冬至前後八日夜寒索衣。 又患熱令阿難在後執扇等）哀哉有生貌異音殊苦樂愚智尊卑壽夭。 故大昭業理。 用啟人惑（良由起異類見。 造異類業受異類報也）小聖之所不及。 況非聖者乎。 而有譸張忿懫者（譸張誑也。 忿儨怒也）自謂得一之見人莫吾之若也所謂命矣。 非業之由也（有一類背悷之。 徒不信業報。 皆言天命者也）禮曰。 天命之謂性。 得之自是。 不得之自是。 以聽天命（外典稱業為天命。 子云。 命矣。 夫修短之性命。 皆自是天之所注也）仲尼曰。 道之將行也歟命也。 道之將廢也歟命也。 公伯僚其如命何（公伯僚魯人毀仲尼於叔孫武叔夫子故有是言也）子夏曰。 死生有命。 富貴在天（死生總報業。 富貴別報業）魯公欲見孟子（魯平公將見孟軻。 以其賢德故也）嬖人臧倉毀於公而止。 孟子聞之曰。 天也（孟子云。 君不見我。 自是天命未會。 非臧倉能止）是知由業故不然矣（以緣業為天命也）且仁者克己。 不仁者害人。 仁者危甚累棋。 不仁者安過覆盂（積善殃咎。 若比干之徒。 為惡諧偶。 若曹操之類）禍福篾徵。 其在耳目。 故唐虞聖德。 但自一己（翼善傳聖。 曰堯以丹朱不肖而絕。 仁聖盛明。 曰舜以商均不嗣而絕也）厲幽昏淫。 祚延七百（暴虐無親曰厲。 壅遏不通曰幽。 皆周王也。 雖昏猶延數世）三桓陵僭。 世執魯政（季孫上卿。 叔孫中卿。 孟孫下卿）夷吾匡輔。 嗣絕齊史（夷吾齊管仲也。 佐桓公九合諸侯。 尊獎王室。 齊國音無後嗣也）騷為天問（三閭大夫屈原也。 著離騷經。 故謂騷人有天問也）班賦通幽（班固。 字孟堅。 著通幽賦。 傷賢良不用也。 並在文選也）李推運命。 其不為此歟（李蕭遠有運命論也）故金仙之門。 其孰能辯之。 由是群言師師。 若妖厲憑舌（前有譸張之士述之。 皆言是命。 不是於業。 後之承信。 若巫覡之傳妖厲也）使君子大人聞之。 猶若投杼（曾參母織。 有告參殺人。 母初不信。 再告。 母疑。 三告。 母投杼而走。 以參仁孝。 報者不過三。 母尚信之。 今此不經之言。 傳者不過三。 達人君子亦須信之。 況餘者）時袒右肩士。 愀然不懌。 徂履礪刃。 將斬其疑（時有偏祖釋子。 洞明業理。 覩其迷謬。 遂礪智鋒。 將決其疑網也）曰若稱命不稱業。 其蔽也固（蔽塞固執也）夫業者生乎運動者也（運動者即發行之謂也）動有違順（善與善順。 惡與善違）成乎善惡（福業為善。 非福為惡）善惡鍾乎報施（施戒善相應。 殺盜惡際會）然後有性命窮通生焉（於總報外有窮通。 貧富脩短聰暗端正醜陋。 皆名別報業也）但機運之業。 有於輕重。 而性命之報。 有於今後（順現業名今重也。 順生順後業名後則輕也）必若弗假乎業。 而受命惟天。 則何天道之賦命。 而不均其厚薄（若人等皆由天命。 何故其道不均）必若業唯運動。 不能招命。 則祭豈有福。 暴豈有傷乎（今以宿行定招名業。 善惡現感名命。 若唯有業者則合宿緣。 感無移改豈得現見。 祭祀者獲福。 兇暴者受殃。 皆非宿業所感也祀者但是冥助而已。 兇暴者亦是順現別報也）詩曰。 莫莫葛藟。 施于條枚。 豈弟君子。 求福不回。 斯言何設歟（詩大雅旱麓之卒章也。 旱山名。 麓足也。 取其不違先祖求福之道。 回違也）然往世之業有定不定。 而感今世性命有變不變（業於時報有定不定。 性命有變不變。

The Enlightened Sovereign possesses the power of the knowledge of karma (The Buddha has untainted pure karma, the eight consciousnesses, the four wisdoms, and so forth. Furthermore, in the approach of manifesting marks, there are nine karmic retributions: first, the female brahmin Sundarī slandering the Buddha; second, the female Ciñcā tying a wooden bowl to slander the Buddha as having impregnated her; third, Devadatta pushing down a mountain to crush the Buddha; fourth, a splinter of wood stabbing the Buddha's foot; fifth, King Virūḍhaka slaughtering the Śākya clan and the Buddha also suffering a headache; sixth, accepting the invitation of the brahmin Agnidatta where the Buddha ate horse oats for ninety days; seventh, cold winds agitating the Buddha's back pain and entering into six years of asceticism; [eighth, ...]; ninth, entering a brahmin village to beg for food and returning with an empty bowl. Also, for eight days and nights around the winter solstice, feeling cold and asking for clothes; and suffering from heat and ordering Ānanda to stand behind and hold a fan, and so forth). Alas, living beings differ in appearance, vary in voice, experience misery or joy, are foolish or wise, noble or base, long-lived or short-lived. Therefore, he greatly illuminated the principle of karma in order to dispel human delusions (This truly stems from giving rise to diverse views, creating diverse karma, and receiving diverse retributions). Lesser sages cannot reach it, how much less those who are not sages! Yet there are deceitful and resentful people (Zhourzhang means deceitful. Fenzhi means angry) who presume themselves to possess the insight of having attained the One, claiming, "No one is my equal; this is what is called destiny! It does not stem from karma" (There is a class of perverse individuals who do not believe in karmic retribution and all claim it is heavenly destiny). The Rites say: "What Heaven ordains is called human nature. Obtaining it comes naturally; not obtaining it comes naturally, according with heavenly destiny" (Outer scriptures refer to karma as heavenly destiny. Confucius said: "It is destiny!" Indeed, the nature and destiny of longevity or brevity are all naturally determined by Heaven). Zhongni said: "If the Dao is to prevail, it is destiny; if the Dao is to fall into disuse, it is destiny. What can Gongbo Liao do against destiny?" (Gongbo Liao was a man of Lu who slandered Zhongni to Shusun Wushu, hence the Master spoke these words). Zixia said: "Life and death have their destiny; wealth and honor reside with Heaven" (Life and death are collective retributive karma; wealth and honor are particular retributive karma). Duke Ping of Lu wished to see Mencius (Duke Ping of Lu was about to see Meng Ke because of his virtue and worthiness); his favorite, Zang Cang, slandered Mencius to the Duke, and so he stopped. When Mencius heard this, he said: "It is Heaven!" (Mencius said: "That the ruler did not see me is naturally because heavenly destiny had not yet converged; it was not that Zang Cang was able to prevent it"). From this, we know that because it stems from karma, it is not so (They take karmic conditions to be heavenly destiny). Moreover, the benevolent overcome themselves, while the unbenevolent harm others. The benevolent are in greater peril than a stack of chess pieces, while the unbenevolent are more secure than an overturned bowl (Accumulating good brings misfortune and blame, like the comrades of Bi Gan; doing evil brings success and harmony, like the likes of Cao Cao). Signs of fortune and misfortune are missing, right before our eyes and ears. Thus, the sagely virtue of Tang and Yu was confined to their own single persons (Extending goodness and transmitting the sagely: it is said Yao ended it because Danzhu was unworthy; benevolence and sageliness were flourishing and bright: it is said Shun ended it because Shangjun could not carry on the succession). Li and You were dark and licentious, yet their reign lasted seven hundred years (Cruel and unloving is called Li; obstructive and blocked is called You; both were kings of the Zhou. Though benighted, they still prolonged it for several reigns). The Three Huan clans encroached and usurped, holding the government of Lu for generations (Jisun was the upper minister, Shusun was the middle minister, and Mengsun was the lower minister). Yiwu rectified and assisted, but his lineage was cut off in the annals of Qi (Yiwu was Guan Zhong of Qi; he aided Duke Huan in uniting the feudal lords nine times and honoring the royal house, yet in Qi his voice left no descendants). The Sao poet composed "Heavenly Questions" (Qu Yuan was the Grand Master of the Three Royal Clans; he composed the Lisao Jing, hence he is called the Sao poet who had the "Heavenly Questions"); Ban Gu wrote the rhapsody "Penetrating the Obscure" (Ban Gu, styled Mengjian, composed the Rhapsody on Penetrating the Obscure, lamenting that the worthy and good were not employed; both are in the Wenxuan); Li Xiaoyuan inferred fortune and destiny—was it not on account of this? (Li Xiaoyuan had the Treatise on Fortune and Destiny). Therefore, among the gates of the Golden Immortal, who can distinguish this? From this, the multitude of discourses follow one after another, as if demons and wraiths were possessing their tongues (Earlier deceitful scholars narrated this, all stating it was destiny and not karma; later people accepted and believed it, like shamans transmitting demons and wraiths). If a gentleman or great person hears it, it is still like the dropping of the shuttle (Zeng Shen's mother was weaving. Someone told her Shen had killed a person. At first, the mother did not believe it. When told a second time, the mother doubted. When told a third time, the mother threw down the shuttle and ran. Because of Shen's benevolence and filiality, the reporters did not exceed three, and even his mother believed it. Now, with these unorthodox words, when transmitters do not exceed three, even enlightened men and gentlemen must come to believe them, how much more so the rest!). At that time, a scholar baring his right shoulder looked saddened and displeased; stepping forward with shoes and sharpening his blade, he was about to sever their doubts (At that time, there was a Śākya disciple baring his shoulder who thoroughly understood the principle of karma; seeing their confusion and error, he sharpened the blade of wisdom, about to resolve the net of their doubts). He said: If you speak of destiny and do not speak of karma, your obstruction is firm (Obstruction means obstinacy). Now, karma arises from movement and action (Movement and action refers to initiating deeds); action has conformity and opposition (Goodness conforms with goodness; evil opposes goodness); they consummate into good and bad (Meritorious karma is good; unmeritorious is bad). Good and bad are concentrated in retribution and dispensation (Charity and precepts correspond to good; killing and stealing converge in evil). Only thereafter are nature, destiny, failure, and success born from them (Apart from collective retribution, there are failure and success, poverty and wealth, long life and short, cleverness and dullness, uprightness and ugliness; all are named particular retributive karma). However, the karma of opportune workings has degrees of lightness and heaviness, and the retribution of nature and destiny has occurrence in the present or the future (Karma experienced in the present life is called present and heavy; karma experienced in the next life or subsequent lives is called future and light). If indeed it does not rely on karma and receiving destiny belongs solely to Heaven, then why would the Heavenly Dao confer destiny without equalizing its generosity and meagerness? (If all people are determined by heavenly destiny, why is its way not equal?). If indeed karma were only movement and action and could not summon destiny, then how could sacrifice bring blessing, or brutality bring injury? (Now, taking past actions that determinately summon retribution is named karma; good and evil actualized in the present is named destiny. If there were only karma, then conforming to past conditions, the actualization would have no alteration; how could one see in the present that those who sacrifice obtain blessings and the violent suffer misfortune? These are not what past karma has summoned; sacrifices are merely unseen assistance, and the violent also face particular retributions experienced in the present). The Odes say: 'Dense is the creeping kudzuvine, spreading over the branches and boughs. Joyful and courteous is the gentleman, seeking blessing without deviance.' Why was this statement made? (This is the final stanza of 'Hanlu' in the Daya of the Odes. Han is the name of a mountain; lu means its foot. It takes not violating the ancestors' way of seeking blessing; hui means violating). However, the karma of past lifetimes has the determinate and indeterminate, and the present lifetime's nature and destiny it influences has the changeable and unchangeable (Karma has determinate and indeterminate in terms of time and retribution; nature and destiny have the changeable and unchangeable).