法苑珠林 98.44

98.44

The venerable Kātyāyana, / Embodied the Way and upheld the discipline.
Seeing those who were violent and rash, / He opened the path of the Dharma with verses:

When the saddharma is on the verge of vanishing, / The human lifespan will barely reach one hundred years.
The radiance of the saddharma / Will not remain long in the world before disappearing.
When the saddharma has completely perished, / The assemblies of bhikṣus will be bewildered and confused.
They will abandon the scriptural teachings / Expounded by the holy enlightened ones;
Setting aside the principles and meanings of the sūtras, / They will instead seek out one another’s shortcomings.
[Each proclaiming,] “What I myself have heard and received / Walks alone without equal!”
Taking what belongs in the middle and putting it at the bottom, / Raising what belongs at the bottom and placing it in the middle,
They will no longer know the proper sequence, / Yet esteem their endless speech.
Their citations and proofs will be erroneous and perverse; / Inverting explanations, lacking head or tail.
What they hear and receive will be superficial and lax; / Their discourses and discussions will lack pure speech.
They will mutually dispute and litigate with one another, / Thereby giving rise to venomous and harmful minds.
Greedy to acquire gain and offerings, / They will drift and sink along with worldly customs.
Delighting in confusion and disturbance, / They will not long to dwell in quietude and silence.
Encroaching upon and deceiving one another in turn, / In order to support their wives and children.
At times when there are bhikṣus / Arriving as guests from afar,
The monastery prior will first look after his own comfort, / And only in his leisure will he grant an audience.
Seeing the bhikṣus from afar, / His expression will be neither pleasant nor harmonious;
Only when they abandon [the place] and leave / Will his heart find delight.
Constantly harboring anger and malice, / Becoming arrogant through pride and self-importance,
Their desires will know no satisfaction; / Giving free rein to their minds, they follow defilement and filth.
Vile deeds will be practiced without interruption; / They will not wish to recite or receive the sūtras.
All day they will laugh, sing, and dance; / In the darkness of night, they will sleep without waking.
When such as these assemble together, / Their talk will never reach the principles of the sūtras;
They will only speak of county officials and bandits, / And the worldly comings and goings of the vulgar crowd.
Supposing there is a learned one / Who is venerated by the multitude,
The envious will seek to go forth, / Saying they will study the bhikṣu’s Dharma;
Yet their actions will not accord with the teaching, / Springing solely from the pursuit of gain and offerings.
While their years are still tender and young, / They will keep numerous disciples.
Their minds harbor conflict and disorder; / They cannot thoroughly master what they study.
None can be scrupulous with the precepts; / They fall into wrong views.
Careless and devoid of shame, / They cannot cultivate prudent conduct.
Nor do they take pleasure in Dharma assemblies, / But eagerly cling to gain and offerings.
No sooner have they quarreled and fought / Than they form enmity and grudges.
The māras and their host of minions / Will thereby take advantage of them.
When the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits / Come wishing to hear the teachings of the sūtras,
Straining forward and longing to hear the precepts, / They hear only disputes and litigation instead.
The devas and men will harbor resentment: / “Such conduct is not fit for a bhikṣu!”
Moving about, they will discuss among themselves: / “The Buddha-Dharma is about to perish completely!
We abandoned the pleasures of heaven / And came specifically wishing to receive the Dharma;
Unable to hear the saddharma, / It were better to cast it aside and depart.”
Those venerable ghosts and spirits / Whose minds took delight in the Buddha-Dharma
Will no longer care for the bhikṣus, / And will no longer provide them protection.
At that time, wicked ghosts and spirits / Will act with violence and inflict poisonous harm;
They will seize the vital energy of the bhikṣus, / Leaving none of their life remaining.
Thieving dogs devoid of shame or remorse, / Lazy and harboring venomous intent—
Such as these in future ages / Will conversely be venerated and served!
While benevolent and worthy bhikṣus, / Who fully possess a sense of shame and conscience,
In that time when the Dharma is lost, / Will instead not be attended upon.
Just like the lion king / Residing amidst the trees of the forest:
Jackals, wolves, wild dogs, and foxes / Dare not eat its flesh;
Yet when its life ends and worms emerge from its body, / They turn back and devour its own flesh,
Gnawing upon it day and night together, / Utterly destroying its form.
The saddharma, when present in the world, / Will never perish on its own;
Yet through the conditions of the semblance Dharma, / The saddharma will be completely extinguished.
Just like a ship in the midst of the sea, / Which sinks because it is heavily overloaded,
The Buddha-Dharma is also like this: / It is completely extinguished on account of gain and offerings.
The bhikṣus will encounter calamities / Like someone who has lost both parents.
Today is the utmost Final Age; / The Buddha's saddharma is completely extinguished.
From this day forward, / The scriptures will no longer be expounded;
The Vinaya and the prohibitions— / Whence shall they ever be heard?
The devas, the tree spirits, / The slaughtering spirits of the wilderness,
Are grieved, sorrowful, and distressed in mind, / Tossing and turning, unable to rest at peace.
The lamp of the Dharma has already been extinguished; / Right learning has already been ruined and destroyed.
This age has suffered the greatest collapse; / The drum of the Dharma will sound no more.
The māras rejoice, / Gathering together to celebrate,
Raising their hands and praising aloud: / “Now is the Buddha’s Final Age!”
Knowing that such perils and afflictions / Will be present in the coming ages of the future,
One should all the more increase one's vigor, / And exert one's strength to seek deliverance!