百喻經之六一: 梵天弟子造物因喻
§61 梵天弟子造物因喻
(61) brahma's disciple can create all things
婆羅門眾皆言:“大梵天王是世間父,能造萬物,造萬物主者。”有弟子言:“我亦能造萬物。”實是愚癡,自謂有智,語梵天言:“我欲造萬物。”
brahmans say that the great brahma was both father of the world and creator of all things. one of the great brahma's disciples once said he also had the power to create things. he was too stupid to be wise. to the great brahma, he said, "i can create everything."
梵天王語言:“莫作此意。汝不能造。”不用天語,便欲造物。
the great brahrna replied, "don't talk like that. you can't. since you don't listen to me, i wonder how you do it."
梵天見其弟子所造之物,即語之言:“汝作頭太大,作項極小;作手太大,作臂極小;作腳極小,作踵極大;如似譬毗舍阇鬼。”
after seeing what his disciple had creased, the great brahma said, "the man's head that you have made is too big and the neck too thin. the hands are too long and the arms too bony. the feet are too small and the legs too fat. it looks like a pisacah devil."
以此義當知,各各自業所造,非梵天能造。
through the great brahma's words, we should realize that human beings are created by their own deeds resulting from karma and not by the power of the great brahma.
諸佛說法,不著二邊,亦不著斷,亦不著常,如似八正道說法,諸外道見是斷常事已,便生執著,欺誑世間,作法形像,所說實是非法。
buddha's preaching is not ambiguous. as they preach the eightfold noble path, they cling neither to the view of total annihilation nor that of permanence. on the contrary, the heretics do cling to the view of annihilation and permanence. they cheat the world by performing ceremonies and creating images. what they preach really is not buddhism.
注釋:
①大梵天王:梵文brahman,系印度神話的創世大神,名尸棄,為娑婆世界之主。
②常:過去之我,也就是現在之我,相續不斷,便是常。若是以為我是今世才生的,并不借著過去的因,這就是斷。
③八正道:㈠正見,見苦集滅道這四諦之理;㈡正思惟,經思惟而使真智增長;㈢正語,不作一切虛妄不實之語;㈣正業,斷除一切邪妄之行;㈤正命,順著正法而活命;㈥正精進,發用真智而強修涅槃之道;㈦正念,以真智憶念正道而無邪念;㈧正定,攝諸散亂,身心寂靜,正住真空之理,堅定不移。
白話:
婆羅門教的徒眾都說:「大梵天王是世間之父,能造萬物,是造萬物的主人。」有一位弟子說:「我也能造萬物。」他其實很愚癡,卻自以為有智慧,對梵天說:「我想造萬物。」梵天王答道:「不要生這個念頭,你不能造的。」他不聽梵天王的話,就動手造物了。梵天王見了弟子所造的物,就對他說:「你頭造得太大,頸脖太小;手做得太大,臂太小;腳作得太小,腳后跟太大,如毘舍闍鬼一般。」
從這可以知曉,事物都是四大元素因緣和合,各自借著本身的業力,從而創造出來的,不是梵天王能造的。諸佛說佛道的意義,不執著于兩個邊見,也就是不執著于常見,也不執著于斷見,就像八正道那樣說的佛道的意義。諸外道見了這等斷或常的事情,便產生了執著之情,用這來欺誑世間,造作出具有規范意義的形像來,而所說的其實并不具有規范意義。
供您思考:
宇宙的起源和演化、因和果的關系是印度哲學思想的核心問題。常見也就是因中有果,斷見則是因中無果。持因中有果的是數論派,梁陳之際,真諦譯的《金七十論》是這一派的要典,認為宇宙起源于一個根本因,而解脫則是要使精神脫離物質而獨立,認識那根本因。此書所引的《路歌夜多論》(即順世論lakayata)中的詩:「鵝能生白色,鸚鵡生綠色,孔雀生雜色,我亦從此生。」則顯示了因中無果的斷見。「我」是指人的精神、靈魂,它也是像鵝之白、鸚鵡之綠那樣自然而然產生的,也就是說,是依賴于物質而產生的,這樣,精神、靈魂便不是獨立存在的,也沒有創造世界的梵天。這種以為我及世間萬物并不借著過去的因、而是自然產生的觀念,可以拿阿耆多·翅舍欽婆羅(ajita kesakambali)的無因論作代表,《大毘婆沙論》卷一九九引述道:「現見孔雀鸞鳳雞等,山石草木花果刺等,色形差別,皆不由因,自然而有。彼作是說:誰铦諸刺?誰畫禽獸?誰積山原?誰鑿澗谷?誰復雕鏤?草木花葉,如是一切,皆不由因。于造世間,無自在者。」(《大正藏》第二十七冊第九九七頁)
而佛教則離棄了這兩個極端的觀念,認為一切都是互相聯系、互相影響的,各自有因又互相為緣,不常、不斷。如火焰相續,后火不是前火(不是同一物),但無前火則也無后火(有著相續性)。
本文地址:http://www.hengchuai.cn/writing/story/2901.html