法苑珠林 21.53

21.53

夫在家丈夫尊卑有二。一貴二賤。一富二貧。富貴之者人多放逸。傲慢貢高輕辱凌下。或有乘威籍勢尊己凌人。或有博識聰達恃才凌人。或有辯口利詞暢說凌人。或有誇豪奢侈輕慢凌人。或有美容恣態恃色凌人。或有乘肥騁騎恃乘凌人。或有資財奴婢恃富凌人。如是眾多不可具述。眾生愚癡甚為可愍。不知無常將至。妄起高心。來報湯炭煎煮相待。獄卒執叉伺候日久。不憂斯事公然喜樂。何異猪羊不知死至。何異飛蠅貪樂死屍。惟古思今富貴非一。生滅交臂貴賤同塵。富貴者唯見荒墳。貧賤者已同灰壤。既知貴賤同灰。即須卑己敬上。是以親疎無定貴賤不常。苦樂易位昇沈更互也。

Now, among lay men, status has two kinds: the noble and the base; the wealthy and the poor. Those of wealth and nobility are mostly heedless: arrogant and conceited, they despise, humiliate, and oppress their inferiors. Some rely on authority and status to honor themselves and mistreat others; some rely on broad knowledge and intelligence to flaunt their talents and mistreat others; some rely on eloquence and sharp tongue to speak smoothly and mistreat others; some boast of luxury and extravagance to despise and mistreat others; some rely on handsome looks and charming manners to flaunt their beauty and mistreat others; some ride plump horses and race mounts to flaunt their riding and mistreat others; some possess wealth and slaves to flaunt their riches and mistreat others. So many are they that they cannot be recounted in full. Sentient beings in their folly are truly pitiable. Unaware that impermanence is approaching, they wrongly give rise to haughty thoughts. In future retribution, boiling water and burning coals await them; hell-wardens holding pitchforks have long been waiting on them. Without worrying over these matters, they openly rejoice. How is this different from pigs and sheep unaware of approaching death? How is this different from flies covetously delighting in dead corpses? Reflecting on the past and contemplating the present, wealth and noble status have appeared repeatedly. As birth and death pass before one's eyes, noble and base alike turn to dust. Of the wealthy and noble, one sees only desolate graves; the poor and base have already become ash and soil. Since one knows that noble and base alike become ash, one must humble oneself and respect superiors. Thus, intimacy and estrangement are never fixed; nobility and baseness are not permanent; suffering and joy exchange places, and rising and sinking alternate.