English (machine translation)

Language: English
Extent: 27 passages, 1,252 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.752 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

1 — 27 parts

Text

1.1

Translated by the Layman Juqu Jingsheng of the [Liu] Song Dynasty

At that time, the Buddha was staying at the Jetavana Vihāra, together with a community of one thousand two hundred and fifty monks. Then there was a brahmacārin in the country of Rājagṛha who heard that the people of Śrāvastī were largely benevolent and filial, followed the scriptures and practiced the Way, and served and worshipped the Three Jewels. He thereupon went to the country of Śrāvastī. There he saw a father and son plowing the field. A venomous snake bit and killed the son, yet the father continued plowing as before without looking at his son, nor did he weep.

1.3

The brahmacārin asked, "Whose son is this boy?"

1.4

He replied, "He is my son."

1.5

The brahmacārin said, "If he is your son, why do you not weep, but continue plowing as before?"

1.6

The man answered, "Where there is birth, there is death; where things are accomplished, there is ruin. The good receive retribution, and the evil receive their due. With sorrow, grief, and weeping, what can be retrieved? Even if I were not to eat or drink, what benefit would that be to the dead? Since you are now going into the city, my house is in such-and-such a place. Please stop by and tell them: 'My son is already dead; there is no need to bring food for two.'"

1.7

The brahmacārin thought to himself, "This man has no human feeling. His son lies dead on the ground, yet his heart feels no sorrow or grief; instead, he asks for food. This man lacks benevolence beyond compare." The brahmacārin then walked into the city and went to the plowman's house. Seeing the dead boy's mother, he immediately told her, "Your son is already dead. His father said, 'Only bring food for one person.' Why do you not grieve for your son?"

1.8

The boy's mother spoke a parable in response to the brahmacārin, saying, "A child is like a guest who comes to stay with someone; when he comes, he is not turned away, and when he leaves, he is not detained. Originally, I did not call this child to come; he came of himself to be born through me, and in dying he has departed of himself. It was not through my power that he came or went; he follows his own past actions, pursued by the lifespan destined for his birth."

1.9

He then said to the sister, "Your brother is already dead; why do you not weep?"

1.10

The sister immediately spoke a parable to the brahmacārin, saying, "We siblings are like craftsmen who enter the mountains to chop timber and bind a raft on the water. Suddenly encountering a great wind, the raft is broken and scattered, drifting along with the current, separated ahead and behind, unable to look out for one another. My brother is also like this: through such past causes and conditions, we temporarily gathered together and were born in one family. According to whether lifespan is long or short, death is impermanent, and what comes together must part. Now that my brother's life has ended, each follows their own actions. When the retribution of impermanence arrives, one follows one's own past actions, and we cannot save each other."

1.11

He also said to the deceased's wife, "Your husband is already dead; why do you not weep?"

1.12

The wife likewise spoke a parable to the brahmacārin, saying, "We as husband and wife came together through causes and conditions for merely a fleeting moment. It is like birds that roost in a high tree at dusk, chattering noisily, and at dawn fly off in their own directions to seek food. When conditions are present, they unite; when conditions are gone, they part. Husband and wife are just like this: when the retribution of impermanence arrives, each follows their own destiny, and we cannot save each other."

1.13

He also said to their slave, "Your master's son is dead; why do you not weep?"

1.14

The slave likewise spoke a parable, "My master and I came together through causes and conditions. I am like a calf following a great cow: when someone slaughters the great cow, though the calf is by her side, it cannot save the great cow. A life [bound to] impermanence cannot be saved; what use is it to sorrow, grieve, and weep? It is of no benefit at all."

1.15

Hearing this, the brahmacārin's mind was bewildered and his eyes grew dim, so that he could not tell east from west: "I heard that the people of this country were filial, followed the Way, and served and worshipped the Three Jewels, which is why I came from afar wishing to learn. Before meeting with any good response, I have instead met five people devoid of human feeling. I have wearied my body and troubled my mind to come here from afar, entirely to no benefit."

1.16

He then asked a passerby, "Where is the Buddha? I wish to go and question him."

1.17

The passerby answered, "He is nearby, in the Jetavana Vihāra."

1.18

The brahmacārin went at once to where the Buddha was, bowed his head to the Buddha's feet in reverence, and withdrew to sit at one side. Lowering his head in sorrow and grief, he remained silent without saying anything.

1.19

The Buddha, knowing his thoughts, said to the brahmacārin, "Why do you hang your head, sorrowful and dispirited?"

1.20

The brahmacārin said to the Buddha, "My wish was not fulfilled, and things ran contrary to my original intention; that is why I am sorrowful."

1.21

The Buddha asked, "What was lost?"

1.22

He said to the Buddha, "I came from the country of Rājagṛha. Hearing that the people of this country were filial and revered the Three Jewels, I came from afar wishing to learn. Having arrived here, I met five people devoid of human feeling; that is why I am sorrowful and dispirited."

1.23

The Buddha said, "What do you mean by 'devoid of human feeling'?"

1.24

The brahmacārin said to the Buddha, "I saw a father and son plowing the ground and sowing seed. When the son died on the ground, the father felt no sorrow, but instead asked for food, and on the contrary spoke to me about impermanence. The mother, the wife, the sister, and the slave were likewise completely without sorrow or grief. This is utterly unnatural, lacking all human feeling."

1.25

The Buddha said, "It is not so; it is not as you say. These five people possess the greatest human feeling. Knowing that life is impermanent and cannot be retrieved through sorrow and grief, they remain self-composed and free of distress. Worldly people do not understand impermanence; they fret, lament, and weep, unable to control themselves. It is like a person afflicted with a fever, who lacks self-awareness and deliriously babbles in confusion. When an able physician gives them medicine, the fever is eliminated and healed, and they no longer babble. Ordinary people are ignorant; they sorrow, grieve, and weep, unable to untangle themselves. If one can know impermanence, one will no longer sorrow or grieve, just as a fever is cured. These five people have all attained realization of the Way."

1.26

When the brahmacārin heard these words of the Buddha, he immediately reproached himself: "I was foolish and deluded, not understanding the principle of the Way. Now, hearing the Buddha's words, it is like a blind person gaining sight, or seeing light in the dark."

1.27

Sūtra on the Five Things Without Return, Spoken by the Buddha

English (machine translation)

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