法苑珠林 10.143

10.143

述曰。謂世代流遠。戎華音隔。譯人不同受言各異。雖欲會隨終無定准。夫一代之書群賢相襲。遂令亥豕換文魚魯易韻。況國有中外。書則雲鳥。以此往求難得盡一。又如黃帝三面樂臣一足。言無梵漢事有楚越。況邪業易聆。正法難悉。言有中邊。迴換書之。而得審定。無異說者哉。

The commentary states: Over generations stretching far into the distance, the languages of the frontier tribes and the Central Lands have been separated, and different translators have recorded different words. Though one might wish to harmonise them, there is ultimately no fixed standard. The books of a single era are transmitted by successive sages, yet this has caused "hai" and "shi" to be mistaken in writing, and "yu" and "lu" to shift in rhyme. How much more so when countries are separated between the central and outer regions, and their scripts resemble clouds and birds! If one seeks to reconcile them on this basis, it is difficult to attain complete uniformity. It is like the Yellow Emperor having three faces, or the music minister having one foot—though the words were not between Sanskrit and Chinese, the accounts differed like Chu and Yue. How much more so when heterodox karmic activities are easy to listen to, whereas the True Dharma is hard to fathom completely! When words have been transposed between the central and peripheral regions, how could one verify and settle them so that there would be no divergent accounts?