法苑珠林 82.48

82.48

守諸禁戒故　不敢挽頓絕
佛說諸草木　悉是鬼神宅
我等不敢違　是以不能絕
如似祝場中　為蛇畫境界
以神祝力故　毒蛇不敢度
牟尼尊畫界　我等不敢越
我等雖護命　會歸於磨滅
願以持戒死　終不犯戒生
有德及無德　俱共捨壽命
有德慧命存　并復有名稱
無德喪慧命　亦復失名譽
我等諸沙門　以持戒為力
於戒為良田　能生諸功德
生天之梯隥　名稱之種子
得聖之橋津　諸利之首目
誰有智慧者　欲壞戒德瓶

"Because of guarding the prohibitive precepts, / we dare not pull and break them. / The Buddha taught that all grass and trees / are the dwellings of ghosts and spirits; / we dare not transgress this, / and therefore cannot snap them. / Just as within an arena of incantations, / a boundary is drawn against snakes: / through the power of the divine incantation, / the venomous snake dares not cross over; / the Muni has drawn the boundary, / and we dare not transgress it. / Although we might protect our lives, / they will inevitably return to destruction. / We wish to die maintaining the precepts, / and never to live violating the precepts. / The virtuous and the unvirtuous / both alike give up their lifespan: / for the virtuous, the life of wisdom remains, / and they also possess good reputation; / the unvirtuous lose the life of wisdom, / and also lose their good name. / We śramaṇas / take the maintenance of precepts as our strength. / The precepts are a good field, / capable of giving birth to all merits; / they are a ladder for ascent to heaven, / the seed of good name, / the bridge and ford to attaining sagehood, / the foremost of all benefits. / What person possessed of wisdom / would wish to destroy the vessel of precept virtue?"