English (machine translation)
Translation of 釋家觀化還愚經
- Language
- English
- Extent
- 3 passages, 899 words
- Text
- complete digital text
- Source
- pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.2918 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…
Contents
- 1 — 3 parts
Text
1.1
Formerly, in the country of Śrāvastī, there was a poor household. The husband and wife were stingy and malicious, having no faith in the Way and virtue. The Buddha, taking pity on their ignorance, manifested as a śramaṇa and went to their gate to beg for alms. At that time, the husband was not at home. The wife cursed and reviled him without reason. The śramaṇa said to her: "I am a practitioner of the Way, begging for alms to sustain myself. I do not harbor ill will toward your cursing and reviling; I hope only for a single meal." The mistress of the house said: "Even if you were to drop dead where you stand, you still would not get any food! How much less now, while you are sound and healthy, can you hope for my food? You are only wasting time; it would be better for you to leave early." Thereupon, the śramaṇa stood before her, rolled back his eyes, held his breath, and immediately manifested dying on the spot. His body swelled and bloated, maggots emerged from his nose and mouth, his belly burst open and his intestines rotted, with foul impurities spilling everywhere. Seeing this, the woman was terrified, shrieked, and fled, abandoning the house. Thereupon, the practitioner of the Way suddenly left the place, walked several li away from the house, and sat down to rest beneath a tree. The husband, returning home, met his wife on the road. Wondering at her alarm and terror, the wife told her husband: "There was a śramaṇa who frightened me like this." The husband was greatly enraged and asked where he was. The wife said: "He has already left, but I think he cannot be far." The husband then seized his bow, strapped on his sword, and followed his tracks to pursue him. Drawing his bow and pulling his sword, he ran forward, rushing straight ahead intending to strike down the practitioner of the Way. The practitioner of the Way immediately transformed himself into a city of lapis lazuli to surround himself. The man circled the city several times but could not get in. He asked the practitioner of the Way: "Why will you not open the gate?" The practitioner of the Way said: "If you wish the gate to open, cast away your bow and sword." The man thought to himself: "I should follow his words. Once I get in, I will strike him with my fists." He immediately cast away his bow and sword, yet the gate remained unopened. He said to the practitioner of the Way: "I have already cast away my bow and sword. Why is the gate not open?" The practitioner of the Way said: "I had you cast away the bow and sword of the evil intentions in your mind; I did not mean the bow and sword in your hands." Thereupon, the man's heart was alarmed and his body trembled: "The practitioner of the Way is so spiritual and sagacious that he knows my mind!" He immediately knocked his head and repented of his fault. He addressed the practitioner of the Way, saying: "I have a lowly wife who did not recognize a true person, which led me to enmity. May you grant a little mercy and not abandon us just yet. Now I wish to bring her here to encourage her to practice the Way." He then rose and returned home. His wife asked: "Where is the śramaṇa?" Her husband recounted in detail the virtue of his spiritual powers: "He is now in that vicinity. You should go in person to repent and extinguish your offenses." Thereupon, husband and wife went to the practitioner of the Way, prostrated their five limbs in repentance, and wished to become his disciples. Kneeling upright, they asked: "The practitioner of the Way's spiritual transformations and sagacious attainment are like this; you have a city of lapis lazuli, firm and insurmountable; your aspiration is luminous and your mind is settled, forever free from grief and distress. What Way and virtue did you cultivate to attain such miraculous power?" The practitioner of the Way answered: "I studied extensively without satiety, upheld the Dharma without indolence, vigorously maintained the precepts and wisdom without negligence. By reason of this, I attained the Way and reached nirvāṇa myself." Thereupon, the practitioner of the Way spoke verses:
1.2
Extensive learning holds fast; / upholding the Dharma serves as a rampart. / Vigorous exertion is difficult to surmount or destroy; / through this, precepts and wisdom are perfected. / Extensive learning causes the aspiration to be luminous; / once luminous, wisdom increases. / With wisdom, one broadly understands the meanings; / seeing the meaning, one practices the Dharma with ease. / Extensive learning can eliminate grief; / it can take concentration as delight. / Skillfully expounding the deathless Dharma, / one knows oneself to have attained nirvāṇa. / Through learning, one understands the teachings and discipline; / resolving doubts, one also perceives […]. / From learning, one abandons what is not the Dharma, / and walks until reaching the deathless abode.
1.3
When the practitioner of the Way had finished speaking the verses, he manifested the radiant marks of a Buddha, his grand illumination shining brilliantly, illuminating heaven and earth. The husband and wife were astounded, their spirits trembling with awe. They transformed their enmity, purified their hearts, and struck their heads against the ground. Destroying two billion evils, they attained the stage of a stream-enterer (srotāpanna).