法苑珠林 44.23

44.23

"From the afflictions of birth, old age, sickness, and death,
You have not yet attained liberation;
The poisoned arrows of ignorance and craving
Have not yet been pulled out.
O Lord of Men, why do you
Conceive notions of delight and attachment?
Like an elephant in the middle of a forest
With great fires rising on all four sides,
Dwelling in such a perilous place,
How can there be any joy?
The Great King should know
That glorious rank lasts but a moment;
A wise person observes deeply
And should not, concerning these things,
Conceive notions of rarity.
Why do you misunderstand,
Not yet freed from the womb of birth and death,
Yet arbitrarily conceiving notions of fearlessness?
The thieves of desire rob the sense faculties,
Yet you arbitrarily conceive notions of fearlessness.
Impermanent and unstable,
Like a plantain tree or water froth,
And like floating clouds dispersing,
The venerable and supreme rank of a heavenly king
Is also fragile like this.
The Lord of Men should know
That greed for gain is exceedingly swift,
Like water pouring into a deep gorge;
Addiction to desire is exceedingly light and rapid,
Shifting and revolving like a tossed rope;
Deluded fools, tainted by desire,
Are led without realizing it to fall."