法苑珠林 56.30

56.30

如燈指經云。當知貧窮比於地獄。失所依憑栖寄無處。憂心火熾愁瘁燋然。華色既衰容轉障礙。身體尫羸飢渴消削。眼目掐陷諸節骨立。薄皮纏裹筋脈露現。頭髮蓬亂手足銳細。其色艾白舉體𭽫裂。又無衣裳至糞穢中。拾掇麁弊連綴相著。纔遮人形赤露四體。倚臥糞堆復無席薦。諸親舊等見而不識。歷衖乞食猶如餓烏。至知友邊欲從乞食。守門之人遮而不聽。伺便輒入復為排辱。舍主既出欲加鞭打。俯僂曲躬再拜謝罪。舍主輕蔑聊不迴顧。設得入舍輕賤之故既不與語。又不敷座。與少飲食撩擲盂器不使充飽。設值大會望乞殘食。以輕賤故不喚令坐。反被驅走。貧窮之人。譬如林樹無華眾蜂遠離。被霜之草葉自焦卷。枯涸之池鴻雁不游。被燒之林麞鹿不趣。田苗刈盡無人捃拾。今日貧困說往富樂。但謂虛談誰肯信之。由我貧窮所向無路。譬如曠野為火所焚。人不喜樂。如枯樹無蔭無依投者。如苗被霜雹捐棄不收。如毒蛇害人皆遠離。如雜毒食無有嘗者。如空塚間無人趣向。如惡廁溷臭穢盈集。如魁膾者人所惡賤。雖說好語他以為非。若造善業他以為鄙。所為機捷復嫌輕躁。若復舒緩又言重直。設復讚歎人謂諂譽。若不加譽復生誹謗。言此貧人常無好語。若復教授復言詐偽。若廣言說人謂多舌。若默無言人謂藏情。若正直說復云麁獷。若求人意復言諂曲。若數親附復言幻惑。若不親附復言矯誕。若順他所說復言詐取他意。若不隨順復言自專。若屈意承望罵言寒賤。若不屈意言是貧人猶故恃我。若小自寬放言其愚癡無有拘忌。若自攝斂言其空廉詐自端確。若復歡逸言其譸縱狀似狂人。若復憂慘言其含毒初無歡心。若聞他語有所不盡為其判釋。言其僉趨以愚代智耐羞之甚。若復默然復言頑嚚不識道理。若小戲論言不信罪福。若有所索言其苟得不知廉恥。若無所索言今雖不求後望大得。若言引經書復云詐作聰明。若言語朴素復嫌疏鈍。若公論事實復言強說。若私屏正語復言讒佞。若著新衣復言假借嚴飾。若著弊衣復言儜劣寒瘁。若多飲食復言飢餓饕餮。若小飲食言腹中實餓詐作清廉。若說經論言顯己所知彰我闇短。若不說經論言愚癡無識可使放牛。若自道昔日事業言誇誕自譽。若自杜默言門資淺薄。諸貧窮者。行來進止言說俯仰。盡是愆過。富貴之人作諸非法都無過患。舉措云為斯皆得所。貧窮之人如起死屍鬼一切悑畏。如遇死病難可療治曠野險處絕無水草。如墮大海沒溺洪流。如人捺咽不得出氣。如眼上瞖不知所至。如厚垢穢難可洗去。亦如怨家雖同衣食不捨惡心。如夏暴井人入斷氣。如入深泥滯不可出。如山暴水駛流吹漂樹木摧折。貧亦如是。多諸艱難。夫富貴者。有好威德。姿貌從容意度寬廣。禮義競興能生智勇。增長家業眷屬和讓。善名遠聞。以此觀之。一切世人富貴榮華不足貪著。於諸人天尊貴不應逸樂。當知貧窮是大苦聚。欲斷貧窮不應慳貪。是以經中言貧窮者甚為大苦。

As the Dengzhi jing says: 'You should know that poverty is comparable to hell. One loses what one relies on, with nowhere to lodge or dwell. The fire of anxious sorrow burns fiercely; one is withered and parched. One's blooming complexion having faded, one's appearance becomes an obstruction. One's body is feeble and emaciated, wasted by hunger and thirst. One's eyes are sunken, and the bones at every joint protrude. Thin skin wraps them, and veins and sinews are exposed. The hair is disheveled, and hands and feet are skinny and frail. Their color is like mugwort-white, and the whole body is cracked and chapped. Having no clothes, they go amid filth and excrement, picking up coarse rags and sewing them together, barely covering the human form while the four limbs are exposed naked. Leaning and lying on heaps of dung, they moreover have no mats or cushions. Relatives and old acquaintances look upon them without recognizing them. Going along the alleys begging for food, they are just like starving crows. When they go to friends wishing to beg for food from them, the gatekeeper blocks them and does not allow them in. When they watch for an opportunity and slip inside, they are pushed back and humiliated. When the master of the house comes out, he wishes to beat them with a whip; bending down and bowing deeply, they prostrate twice to apologize. The master disdains them and does not even turn to look back. Even if they manage to enter the house, because they are lowly and despised, he neither speaks to them nor spreads a seat for them. Giving a little food and drink, he tosses the bowl and does not let them be filled. Even if they happen upon a great gathering and hope to beg for leftover food, because they are lowly and despised they are not called to sit, but on the contrary are driven away. A poor person is like a forest tree without flowers, which swarms of bees avoid; like frosted grass whose leaves wither and curl up on their own; like a dried-up pond where wild geese do not swim; like a burned forest toward which roe deer do not run; like harvested field crops that no one gathers. If one today in poverty speaks of past wealth and joy, they only call it empty talk; who would believe it? Because of my poverty, wherever I go there is no road. It is like an open wild burned by fire, which people do not enjoy; like a withered tree without shade, to which none turn for shelter; like seedlings struck by frost and hail, abandoned and not harvested; like a venomous snake harming people, which everyone avoids; like food mixed with poison, which no one tastes; like an empty graveyard, toward which no one goes; like a foul latrine, full of gathered stench and filth; like a butcher or executioner, whom people despise and abhor. Even if they speak good words, others take them to be wrong. If they perform good deeds, others take them to be vile. If what they do is agile, they are again disliked as frivolous and rash; if they are deliberate and relaxed, they are said to be blunt and sluggish. Even if they offer praise, people call it flattering adulation; if they do not add praise, slander is born again, saying this poor person never has good words. If they instruct others, they are called deceitful; if they speak at length, people call them talkative; if they are silent and say nothing, people say they hide their feelings; if they speak uprightly, they are called rough and coarse; if they seek to please others, they are called flattering and crooked; if they frequently approach and attach themselves, they are said to be deceptive; if they do not approach, they are called arrogant and haughty; if they comply with what others say, they are said to deceitfully capture others' intentions; if they do not comply, they are said to be self-opinionated; if they humble their intentions to show deference, they are scolded as wretched and base; if they do not humble their intentions, it is said that this poor person still relies on me; if they relax a little, they are said to be foolish and without restraint; if they restrain themselves, they are said to be vainly scrupulous and falsely upright; if they make merry, they are said to be unrestrained and like a madman; if they are sorrowful and wretched, they are said to harbor poison and never have a happy mind. If they hear others' words that are not fully expressed and explain them, they are said to be sycophants who substitute foolishness for wisdom and are shameless to the extreme; if they are silent, they are said to be stupid and ignorant of principles. If they engage in a little light banter, they are said not to believe in sin and merit; if they ask for something, they are said to seek gain illicitly without knowing shame; if they ask for nothing, it is said that though they do not seek now, they hope to obtain greatly later. If their words cite the classics and books, they are said to falsely pretend to be intelligent; if their speech is simple, they are disliked as crude and dull; if they publicly discuss actual facts, they are said to be contentious; if they privately speak correct words, they are said to be slanderous and obsequious; if they wear new clothes, they are said to borrow adornments; if they wear tattered clothes, they are said to be cowardly, wretched, cold, and exhausted; if they eat and drink much, they are called starving and gluttonous; if they eat and drink little, it is said that their bellies are truly hungry and they falsely feign purity; if they explain sūtras and treatises, it is said that they show off what they know to expose our deficiencies; if they do not explain sūtras and treatises, it is said that they are foolish, ignorant, and fit only to herd oxen; if they speak of their past deeds, they are said to boast and praise themselves; if they remain silent, it is said that their family background is shallow. For all those who are poor, coming and going, advancing and stopping, speaking and moving—all are faults. For wealthy and noble people, even if they commit all manner of unlawful acts, they have no faults or troubles at all; every move and action is fitting. A poor person is like a revenant corpse, terrifying to all; like suffering a fatal disease that is difficult to cure; like a perilous place in the wilderness, devoid of water and grass; like falling into a great ocean and drowning in the vast torrent; like someone being choked at the throat, unable to catch a breath; like a cataract over the eye, not knowing where one is going; like thick grime that is difficult to wash away; like an enemy with whom, though sharing food and clothing, one does not abandon ill will; like entering a dry well in summer where one's breath is cut off; like sinking into deep mud, bogged down and unable to get out; like a flash flood from a mountain, whose rushing current sweeps away and snaps the trees. Poverty is just like this, fraught with many hardships. Now, the wealthy and noble have fine majesty and virtue; their appearance is relaxed and their magnanimity broad; ritual and righteousness flourish together, and they can produce wisdom and bravery; they increase their family estate, and their kin are harmonious and yielding; their good reputation is heard far and wide. Looking at it this way, all worldly wealth, nobility, and glory are not worth coveting; regarding the high status among humans and gods, one should not indulge in pleasure. You should know that poverty is a great heap of suffering. If you wish to sever poverty, you should not be stingy or greedy. Therefore, it is said in the sūtra that poverty is an exceedingly great suffering.'