法苑珠林 82.48

82.48

"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?"