法苑珠林 44.24

44.24

尊者言。大王。我今為王略說譬喻。王至心聽。昔日有人行在曠路。逢大惡象為象所逐。狂懼走突無所依怙。見一丘井即尋樹根入井中藏。上有黑白二鼠互齧樹根。此井四邊有四毒蛇欲螫其人。而此井下有三大毒龍。傍畏四蛇。下畏毒龍。所攀之樹其根動搖。樹上有蜜五滴墮其口中。于時動樹敲壞蜂窠。眾蜂散飛唼螫其人。有野火起復來燒樹。大王當知。彼人苦惱不可稱計。而彼人得味甚少苦患甚多。其所味者如牛跡水。其所苦患猶如大海。味如芥子苦如。須彌。味如螢火苦如日月。如藕根孔比於太虛。亦如蚊子比金翅鳥。其味苦惱多少如是尊者言。大王。曠野者喻於生死。彼男子者喻於凡夫。象喻於無常。丘井喻於人身。樹根喻於人命。白黑鼠者喻於晝夜。齧樹根者喻念念滅。四毒蛇者喻於四大。蜜者喻於五欲。眾蜂喻惡覺觀。野火燒者喻其老邁。下有三毒龍者喻其死亡墮三惡道。是故當知。欲味甚少苦患甚多。生老病死於一切人皆得自在。世間之人身心勞苦無歸依處。眾苦所逼輕疾如電。是可憂愁不應愛著。

The Venerable One said: "Great King, I shall now briefly explain an analogy for the king. Listen with earnest mind! Once there was a man travelling on a desolate road who encountered a great vicious elephant and was pursued by it. Frantic with fear, he ran wildly with nowhere to rely on. Seeing an abandoned well, he grasped a tree root and entered the well to hide. Above, there were two mice, one black and one white, gnawing alternately at the tree root. Around the four sides of this well were four venomous serpents wanting to bite him, and beneath this well were three great venomous dragons. On the flanks he feared the four serpents, and below he feared the venomous dragons; the root of the tree he clung to was shaking. Honey from the tree dropped into his mouth, five drops. At that moment the shaking of the tree disturbed and broke a beehive; a swarm of bees scattered in flight and stung him, and a wildfire flared up, coming again to burn the tree. Great King, you should know that this man's anguish was beyond reckoning, yet what he tasted was exceedingly little, while his suffering was exceedingly great. The flavor he tasted was like water in an ox's footprint; his suffering was like the great ocean. The flavor was like a mustard seed; the suffering was like Mount Sumeru. The flavor was like a firefly's light; the suffering was like the sun and moon. It is like the hole in a lotus root compared to the vast emptiness of space, or like a mosquito compared to a Garuḍa. The relative amount of its flavor and suffering was like this." The Venerable One said: "Great King, the desolate wild represents saṃsāra. That man represents the ordinary worldling. The elephant represents impermanence. The abandoned well represents the human body. The tree root represents human life. The white and black mice represent day and night. Their gnawing at the tree root represents destruction from moment to moment. The four venomous serpents represent the four great elements. The honey represents the five desires. The swarm of bees represents bad thoughts and investigations. The burning by wildfire represents old age. The three venomous dragons below represent dying and falling into the three bad destinies. Therefore, you should know that the flavor of desires is exceedingly little, while suffering is exceedingly great. Birth, old age, sickness, and death hold sovereign sway over all people. People in the world are toiled and afflicted in body and mind with nowhere of refuge; pressed by manifold sufferings, they are fleeting as lightning. This is cause for sorrow, and should not be craved or clung to."