法苑珠林 73.21

73.21

夫稟形六趣。莫不戀戀而貪生。受質二儀。並皆區區而畏死。雖復昇沈萬品愚智千端。至於避苦求安。此情何異。所以驚禽投案。猶請命於魏君窮獸入廬。乃祈生於區氏。漢王去餌。遂感明珠之酬。楊寶施華。便致白環之報。乃至沙彌救蟻見壽長生。流水濟魚天降珍寶。如此之類。寧可具陳。豈容縱此無厭供斯有待。斷他氣命絕彼陰身。遂令抱苦就終銜悲向盡。大地雖廣無處逃藏。昊天既高靡從啟訴。是以經云。一切畏刀杖。無不愛壽命。恕己可為喻。勿殺勿行杖。但凡俗顛倒邪見無明。或為吉凶公私祭祀。瞻待賓客營理庖厨。烹宰雜類之身。供擬眾人之膳。或復年移歲晚事隙時閑。天慘慘以降霜。野炎炎而通燒。於是駕追風之駛馬。捧奔電之良鷹。劍則巨闕干將。弓則烏號繁弱。遂傾諸藪薄罄彼林叢。顛覆巢居剖破窟宅。罝羅亘野。𮊑網彌山。或前絡後遮。左邀右截。埃塵漲日。煙火衝天。遂使鳥失侶而驚飛。獸離群而奔透。雁聞絃而競落。猨抱樹而哀吟。莫不臨嶮谷而悲號。對高林而絕噭。於是箭非苟發。弓不虛彈。達腋洞胸解頭陷腦。或復垂綸濁渚散餌清潭。學釣鯉於河津。同射鮒於井谷。朱鱗已掛。無復待信之能。素質既懸。長罷躍舟之瑞。霏膾形軀。有招盤而雨散。或復獫狁孔熾。宜申薄伐。邊境虔劉。事資神武。雖復賢帝聖主。尚動干戈。哲后明君。猶須征伐。所以昇陑之役。乃著高名。牧野之師。方稱盛德。其中或有擁百萬而橫行。提五千而深進。碎曹公於尺壁。撲項帝於烏江。懸莽首於高臺。橫卓屍於都市。並皆英雄一旦威武。當時如此之流。弗可為記。莫不積骨成山流血為海。今者王師雷動掃殄妖逆。揚兵擁節祐境沾邊。既預前驅叨居後勁。雲旗之下寧敢自安。霜刃之間信哉多嶮。故刀下叩頭矟下乞命。如斯之罪不可具陳。凡是眾生有相侵害。為怨為隙。負命負身。或作短壽之因。便招多病之果。願從今日永斷相續。盡未來際為菩提眷屬。不壞良緣法城等侶矣。

Those who receive bodily form within the six destinies, none fails to cling fondly and crave life; those who receive physical mass from the two polarities, all are anxious and dread death. Though ascending and descending across ten thousand ranks, and though fools and sages number a thousand kinds, as for fleeing suffering and seeking ease, how does this feeling differ? For this reason, a frightened bird flew to an armrest, yet begged for its life from the ruler of Wei; an exhausted beast entered a cottage, and thus pleaded for survival with Master Qu. When the King of Han cast aside fish bait, he subsequently induced the repayment of a luminous pearl; when Yang Bao bestowed mercy on a finch, it readily brought the retribution of white jade rings. Even when a novice rescued ants, he manifested longevity and extended life; when Liu Shui saved fish, heaven rained down rare treasures. How could one ever recount in full cases of such kind? How can one indulge this insatiable desire to provide for this dependent body, severing another's breath of life and extinguishing that skandha-body, thereby making them embrace misery to the end and harbor grief as they perish? Though the great earth is broad, there is nowhere to flee and hide; since the azure sky is high, there is nowhere to present an appeal. Therefore the sūtra says: 'All fear the knife and the stick; none does not cherish life. Using oneself as an analogy, do not kill and do not wield the stick.' Yet worldly commoners are inverted, harboring wrong views and ignorance; either for auspicious and inauspicious occasions, or for public and private sacrifices, to wait upon guests or manage the kitchen, they boil and butcher the bodies of diverse creatures to prepare meals for the multitude. Or again, as the year shifts and the seasons draw late, when affairs pause and time is at leisure, heaven is bleak and sends down frost, while the wilds are scorched by widespread burning. Thereupon, driving swift horses that chase the wind and carrying excellent falcons that outrun lightning, their swords being Juque or Ganjian, their bows being Wuhao or Fanruo, they exhaust all marshes and thin woods, emptying the forests and thickets. They overturn treetop nests and break open burrow dwellings. Trammel nets stretch across the wilds, and hunting nets cover the mountains. Either snaring from the front and blocking from behind, or intercepting on the left and cutting off on the right, dust rises to obscure the sun, and smoke and flames surge to heaven. They thereby cause birds to lose their mates and fly off in panic, beasts to leave their herds and flee in terror; wild geese, hearing the bowstring, vie in falling, while apes, clutching trees, wail in sorrow. None fails to cry mournfully facing steep valleys, or to screech piteously before tall forests. Thereupon arrows are not shot in vain, and bows are not discharged for nothing: penetrating armpits and piercing chests, severing heads and fracturing brains. Or again, dropping fishing lines in muddy shoals and scattering bait in clear pools, they learn to angle for carp at river crossings or join in shooting bream in well-bottom hollows. Once the red scales are hooked, they no longer possess the ability to await trust; once the white flesh is suspended, the auspicious sign of leaping into the boat is forever halted. Slicing their bodies into fine carpaccio, they call for platters and scatter them like rain. Or again, when the Xianyun barbarians flare fiercely, it is fitting to launch punitive expeditions; when border lands are slaughtered, the situation calls for divine martial might. Even though worthy emperors and sage rulers still took up shields and spears, and wise monarchs and enlightened kings still had to conduct military campaigns, for this reason the battle of Sheng’er gained a high reputation, and the army at Muye was praised for sublime virtue. Among them, some commanded a million to march unhindered, or led five thousand to advance deeply, crushing Duke Cao against Chibi, felling Emperor Xiang at the Wujiang River, hanging Wang Mang's head on a high terrace, or laying out Dong Zhuo's corpse in the city market. These were all heroes of their day, of momentary martial prowess; men of this sort cannot be fully recorded. None failed to pile up bones into mountains and shed blood into seas. Now, the royal army moves like thunder to sweep away and exterminate monstrous rebels, raising weapons and holding tallies to protect the realm and moisten the borders. Having joined the vanguard or being honored in the rearguard, under the cloud-embroidered banners how could one dare feel at peace? Amidst frosty blades, how peril-fraught it truly is! Hence, bowing heads under knives and begging for life beneath lances—sins such as these cannot be fully recounted. Wherever living beings harm one another, becoming enemies and creating rifts, owing lives and bodies, it causes short lifespans and brings about the fruit of numerous illnesses. May it be that from this day forward, such continuity is forever severed, and to the end of future bounds, we become companions of bodhi and peers of the Dharma city, never destroying good affinities.