法苑珠林 82.30

82.30

"In past lifetimes, / I abandoned my bodily life out of lust and theft / countlessly like this; / as sheep, deer, and the six domestic animals, / my relinquishments of the body cannot be reckoned. / At those times, I endured suffering in vain. / To abandon body and life for the sake of the precepts / is superior to violating the prohibitive precepts. / Even if one wished to protect oneself, / one will inevitably return to future extinction. / It is better, for the sake of maintaining precepts / and for the sake of protecting another's bodily life, / to abandon this fragile and brittle body, / so as to attain the life of liberation. / I wear rags from the dust heap, / and make begging for food my practice; / I dwell under trees— / for what reason / would I act as a thief? / You ought to observe carefully!"