[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [佛垂般涅槃略說教誡經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt) › 1 # 佛垂般涅槃略說教誡經 1 English (machine translation) 1 - **Language:** English ### [1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.1) Translated under imperial order by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka Master from Kucha, under the Later Qin. ### [1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.2) When Śākyamuni Buddha first turned the wheel of the Dharma, he liberated Ājñātakauṇḍinya; when he preached the Dharma for the last time, he liberated Subhadra. Those who were to be liberated had all been liberated, and between the twin śāla trees he was about to enter nirvāṇa. At that time, in the dead of night, all was tranquil and silent. For the disciples he briefly explained the essentials of the Dharma: “You monks, after my passing you should honor, treasure, and revere the Prātimokṣa, as if finding light in the dark, or as a poor person gaining a treasure. You should know that this is your great master, no different from when I remained in the world. Those who keep the pure precepts may not engage in buying and selling or trade; they may not acquire fields or houses, or keep people, slaves, or livestock. All forms of planting and cultivating, as well as wealth and treasures, are to be shunned as one avoids a pit of fire. You may not fell trees and clear grass, or till the soil and dig the earth. Compounding medicines, divining good and bad fortune, gazing at the stars to calculate fullness and decline, and astrological reckonings—none of these are fitting. Regulate your body, eat at the proper times, and live in purity. You may not participate in worldly affairs or serve as couriers. Incantations, elixirs of immortality, making alliances with the noble, and intimacy or frivolous familiarity—none of these should be done. You should rectify your minds and seek liberation with right mindfulness; you must not conceal your shortcomings or display marvels to delude the multitude. Concerning the four requisites, know moderation and be content. Merely accept what is offered and do not hoard. This is a brief account of the characteristics of keeping the precepts. Precepts are the foundation of true conformity with liberation; therefore they are called Prātimokṣa. Relying on these precepts, one can give rise to the dhyāna concentrations and the wisdom that extinguishes suffering. Therefore, monks, you should keep the pure precepts and not allow them to be breached. If someone can keep the pure precepts, they can possess wholesome dharmas; if one lacks the pure precepts, no wholesome merits can arise. Thus you should know that the precepts are the foremost dwelling place of peace and merit. ### [1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.3) “You monks, having already established yourselves in the precepts, you must restrain the five sense faculties and not let them run loose into the five desires. It is like an oxherd holding a staff and watching \[the herd\], not allowing them to run wild and trample other people's crops. If you let the five sense faculties loose, not only will the five desires know no bounds and be impossible to control, but like an unruly horse unrestrained by a bridle, they will drag a person and plunge them into a pit. While the harm of being robbed lasts for only one life, the calamity caused by the thieves of the five faculties extends over multiple lifetimes; the harm is extremely grave, and one cannot fail to be cautious. For this reason, the wise restrain them and do not follow them, guarding them like thieves and not letting them run wild. Even if one were to let them loose, before long one would see them wear away and perish. Of these five sense faculties, the mind is their master. Therefore, you must control the mind well. The mind is more to be feared than poisonous snakes, savage beasts, or malicious bandits; even a great fire sweeping unchecked cannot serve as an adequate metaphor. It is like a person holding a vessel of honey who, moving recklessly and agitatedly, looks only at the honey and does not see the deep pit. It is like a mad elephant without a goad, or a monkey in a tree, leaping and bounding, difficult to curb and restrain. You must swiftly subdue it and not allow it to run loose. Letting this mind loose destroys a person's wholesome deeds; restraining it in a single place, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. Therefore, monks, you should vigorously apply yourselves to subduing your minds. ### [1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.4) “You monks, when receiving food and drink, you should treat it as taking medicine. Toward the fine and the foul, do not give rise to increase or decrease \[in desire\], but merely sustain the body to dispel hunger and thirst. Just as a bee gathering from a flower takes only its nectar without harming its color or fragrance, so too should the monk: receive the offerings of others to dispel your own afflictions, and do not seek much and thereby ruin their wholesome mind. Just as a wise person gauges the strength of an ox to see how much it can bear, and does not exceed the measure so as to exhaust its strength. ### [1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.5) “You monks, by day practice wholesome dharmas with diligent minds, not letting time be lost. In the first watch of the night and the last watch of the night, do not slacken either; in the middle watch, recite the sūtras to maintain balance. Do not, on account of sleep, let an entire life pass in vain with nothing attained. You must reflect that the fire of impermanence burns all the worlds; seek your own liberation early, and do not sleep. The bandits of affliction are constantly waiting to kill people, worse than deadly enemies; how can you sleep without waking yourselves in fright? The poisonous snake of affliction sleeps in your mind, just like a black viper sleeping in your room; with the hook of keeping the precepts you must quickly expel it. Only once the sleeping snake has gone may you sleep peacefully; to sleep when it has not gone is to be a person without shame. The garment of shame is the foremost among all adornments. Shame is like an iron hook: it can restrain a person from unrighteousness. Therefore, monks, you should always maintain shame and conscience, never letting them lapse even for an instant. If you abandon shame, you will lose all merits. One who possesses conscience has wholesome dharmas; one who lacks conscience is no different from beasts. ### [1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.6) “You monks, if someone comes and dismembers you limb by limb, you should collect your mind and not allow anger or resentment to arise; you should also guard your speech and utter no evil words. If you give free rein to an angry mind, you will obstruct your own path and lose the benefit of merit. The virtue of patience is something that keeping precepts and practicing austerities cannot match. Only one who can practice patience can be called a person of great strength. If one cannot joyfully endure the poison of malicious abuse as if drinking ambrosia, one cannot be called a wise person who has entered the Path. Why is this? The harm of anger can destroy all wholesome dharmas and ruin a good reputation, so that in the present life and in future lives people will not wish to see you. You should know that an angry mind is worse than a raging fire; you must constantly guard against it and not let it enter. Among the thieves that plunder merit, none surpasses anger. For laypeople who indulge in desires and do not practice the Path, having no Dharma to restrain themselves, anger may still be pardoned; but for those who have left the household life to practice the Path, who are without desires, to harbor anger is entirely unacceptable. It is like a thunderclap striking fire from a cool cloud—it is completely unfitting. ### [1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.7) “You monks, you should rub your heads: you have already abandoned fine adornments, put on dyed robes, and hold alms bowls to sustain yourselves through begging. Seeing yourselves in this way, if arrogance arises, you should swiftly extinguish it. Indulging in arrogance is not fitting even for secular laypeople, how much less for those who have left the household life to enter the Path, who, for the sake of liberation, humble their minds and go begging! ### [1.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.8) “You monks, a flattery-filled and crooked mind is contrary to the Path; therefore, you should make your minds straightforward and honest. You should know that flattery and crookedness are merely deceit and fraud, which have no place for someone who has entered the Path. Therefore, you should rectify your minds, taking straightforwardness and honesty as the foundation. ### [1.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.9) “You monks, you should know that those with many desires seek much gain, and therefore their suffering and afflictions are also many; those with few desires have neither seeking nor desire, and so are free from this trouble. Even for its own sake, having few desires should be cultivated, how much more so since having few desires can give rise to all wholesome merits! A person of few desires does not flatter or bend to seek the favor of others, nor are they dragged around by the sense faculties. One who practices having few desires has a mind that is calm, without anxiety or fear; whatever situation they encounter, they have more than enough and never lack. Where there are few desires, there is nirvāṇa. This is called having few desires. ### [1.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.10) “You monks, if you wish to be free from all suffering and affliction, you should contemplate contentment. The practice of contentment is itself the place of wealth, joy, and peace. A person who is content, though sleeping on the ground, is still peaceful and happy; one who is not content, though dwelling in the heavens, is still dissatisfied. The discontented, though wealthy, are poor; the contented, though poor, are wealthy. The discontented are constantly dragged around by the five desires, and are pitied by the contented. This is called contentment. ### [1.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.11) “You monks, if you seek the peace and joy of quietude and non-action, you should leave clamor and dwell alone in seclusion. One who dwells in a quiet place is respected together by Indra and the devas. Therefore, you should abandon your own group and other groups, dwell alone in an empty and quiet place, and contemplate the extinction of the root of suffering. If you delight in crowds, you will endure the afflictions of crowds, just as when a flock of birds gathers on a large tree, there is the danger of its drying up and breaking. Worldly attachments submerge one in multiple sufferings, just as an old elephant stuck in the mud cannot extricate itself. This is called seclusion. ### [1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.12) “You monks, if you are diligent and energetic, nothing is difficult. Therefore, you should be diligent and energetic, just as a small stream of water flowing constantly can pierce stone. If a practitioner's mind frequently becomes lax and slack, it is like rubbing sticks for fire and stopping before they grow hot; though one wants to get fire, fire is hard to obtain. This is called vigor. ### [1.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.13) “You monks, seek good friends and seek good protection and support without losing mindfulness. If you do not lose mindfulness, the bandits of affliction cannot enter. Therefore, you should always gather mindfulness in your mind; if you lose mindfulness, you will lose all merits. If the power of mindfulness is strong and firm, even if you enter among the thieves of the five desires, you will not be harmed by them, just as one who puts on armor to enter battle has nothing to fear. This is called not losing mindfulness. ### [1.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.14) “You monks, if you collect the mind, the mind will abide in concentration; because the mind abides in concentration, you can know the characteristics of phenomena arising and ceasing in the world. Therefore, you should constantly and diligently cultivate all concentrations. If you attain concentration, your mind will not be scattered, just as a household that values water keeps its dikes and ponds in good repair. The practitioner is also like this: for the sake of the water of wisdom, cultivate dhyāna concentration well so that it does not leak away. This is called concentration. ### [1.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.15) “You monks, if you have wisdom, you will have no craving or attachment; constantly examine yourselves and do not allow any lapse. Then within my Dharma you will be able to attain liberation; if not, you are neither a person of the Path nor a layperson, and there is no name for you. Real wisdom is a sturdy ship for crossing the ocean of old age, sickness, and death; it is also a great, bright lamp in the dark of ignorance, good medicine for all sickness and suffering, and a sharp axe for cutting down the tree of afflictions. Therefore, you should increase your own \[attainment\] through the wisdom of hearing, reflecting, and cultivating. If a person has the illumination of wisdom, though they lack the divine eye, they are a person of clear vision. This is wisdom. ### [1.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.16) “You monks, if you engage in various conceptual proliferations, your minds will be disordered; though you have left the household life, you will still not attain liberation. Therefore, monks, you should quickly abandon conceptual proliferations that disorder the mind; if you wish to attain the bliss of quiescent extinction, you must only skillfully extinguish the trouble of conceptual proliferation. This is called freedom from conceptual proliferation. ### [1.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.17) “You monks, toward all merits you should always be single-minded, abandoning all negligence as if fleeing malicious bandits. What the greatly compassionate World-Honoured One wished to benefit has all been fully completed; you need only diligently practice it. Whether in the mountains, in an empty marsh, beneath a tree, or in a quiet, secluded room, be mindful of the Dharma you have received and do not let it be forgotten or lost. Always urge yourselves to cultivate it with vigor, so as not to die in vain and later incur sorrow and remorse. I am like a good physician who diagnoses the illness and prescribes medicine; whether one takes it or does not take it is not the fault of the physician. Again, I am like a good guide who guides people along a good path; if one hears of it but does not walk it, it is not the fault of the guide. If you have any doubts concerning the four truths, such as suffering, you may ask quickly; do not harbor doubts without seeking resolution.” ### [1.18](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.18) At that time, the World-Honoured One called out three times in this way, yet no one questioned him. Why was this? Because the assembly had no doubts. ### [1.19](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.19) At that time, Aniruddha observed the minds of the assembly and addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honoured One, the moon could be made hot and the sun could be made cold, but the four truths spoken by the Buddha could never be made different. The truth of suffering spoken by the Buddha is truly suffering, and cannot be made into pleasure; origination is truly the cause, and there is no other cause; if suffering is extinguished, it is because the cause is extinguished, and because the cause is extinguished, the fruit is extinguished. The path to the extinction of suffering is truly the true path, and there is no other path. World-Honoured One, these monks are completely free from doubt regarding the four truths. Among this assembly, those who have not yet accomplished their task will feel grief upon seeing the Buddha's passing into extinction; if there are those who have newly entered the Dharma, hearing what the Buddha has spoken, they will all attain liberation, just as seeing a flash of lightning at night allows one to see the path; those who have already accomplished their task and crossed the ocean of suffering will only think: ‘How swift was the World-Honoured One’s passing into extinction!’” ### [1.20](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.20) Although Aniruddha spoke these words, everyone in the assembly fully understood the meaning of the Four Noble Truths. Wishing to cause this great assembly to be firmly established, the World-Honoured One, with a mind of great compassion, spoke again for the assembly: ### [1.21](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.21) "Bhikṣus, do not harbour sorrow or distress. Even if I were to remain in the world for an eon, meeting must inevitably end in parting; that there should be meeting without separation is utterly impossible. The Dharma for benefiting oneself and benefiting others is fully complete; if I were to remain long, there would be no further benefit. Those who could be saved, whether in the heavens or among humans, have all been saved; and for those not yet saved, the causes and conditions for being saved have all been established. From now on, if my disciples practice this in succession from one to another, this will be the Tathāgata's Dharma-body enduring constantly without extinction. Therefore, you should know that all things in the world are impermanent; meeting must have parting. Do not harbour sorrow! The nature of the world is like this: you should be diligent and zealous, seeking early liberation, and with the light of wisdom destroy the darkness of delusion. The world is indeed fragile, with nothing firm or strong. My attainment of extinction now is like ridding myself of an evil disease. This is something evil and full of faults that ought to be discarded, provisionally named a 'body', submerged in the great ocean of birth, aging, illness, and death. How could any wise person, when ridding and extinguishing it—as if killing a hostile bandit—not rejoice? ### [1.22](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.22) "Bhikṣus, you should constantly and single-mindedly seek the path of deliverance with diligence. All moving and unmoving phenomena of the worldly realm are aspects of decay and instability. You should stop now, do not speak further. The time is about to pass; I wish to enter extinction. This is my final instruction." ### [1.23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1.23) Sūtra of the Teachings Bequeathed by the Buddha on the Verge of Parinirvāṇa ## Translations (1) - [The Bequeathed Teaching Sutra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-bdk.1.1) — J. C. Cleary 2005, English ## Linked texts (1) - [佛垂般涅槃略說教誡經](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389.1.1) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.389~en-mt.1) · Pramāṇa