懸命的蜘蛛絲‧Spider Thread　美國萬佛聖城宣化上人開示 Talked by Venerable Master Hua

	懸命的蜘蛛絲 Spider Thread
	培德叢書‧法界佛教總會發行

懸命的蜘蛛絲

Spider Thread

◎佛經翻譯委員會編輯‧翻譯
Translated & Published by the Buddhist Text Translation Society

富商邀行　得聞法音		A wealthy jeweler invited a monk to ride with him and got a chance to hear the Dharma.

從前，在古印度有一位富有的珠寶商，名叫潘杜。有一次，他坐著馬車趕路去波羅奈做生意。		Once in ancient India a wealthy jeweler was hurrying in his carriage a long the highway to Varanasi. Pandu was his name.

這一天午後，剛下了一陣雷雨，天氣變得很涼爽，潘杜不禁暗自慶幸遇著了宜人的天氣，並盤算著明天在波羅奈市場的珠寶交易中，可以賺到的財富。		There had been a thunderstorm to cool the afternoon, and Pandu was congratulating himself on the excellent weather and on the money he would make the next day from dealing in jewels.

正當他自鳴得意時，他留意到一位比丘從前面的路邊緩緩地走來；這位比丘的步伐穩健，背脊挺直，渾身散發出一股寧靜與沉著的氣息。潘杜心想：「如果這位比丘也要到波羅奈，我可以請他與我同行。他看起來像是一位聖者，我聽說與聖者同行，會帶來好運。」他便吩咐奴隸──強壯的摩訶都塔──停下馬來。		Looking up for a minute, he noticed a Bhikshu walking slowly ahead on the side of the road. The Bhikshu's steps were firm, his back was straight; there was an air about him of peace and inner strength. Pandu thought to himself, "If that Bhikshu is going to Varanasi, I'll ask him if he'll ride with me. He looks like a saintly man, and I have heard that the companionship of saintly men always brings people good luck." He told his burly slave Mahaduta to rein in the horses.

「尊貴的法師！」潘杜打開車門問：「您要到波羅奈嗎？能否邀請您同車而行呢？」「我願意與你同行。」這位比丘回答：「不過你要瞭解，我無任何世間的財物可付車資，只能以佛法作為回饋。」		"Venerable Dharma Master," said Pandu, opening the door to his carriage, "May I offer you transportation to Varanasi?" "I will travel with you," the Bhikshu replied, "if you understand that I cannot pay you, for I have no worldly possessions. I can only offer the gift of the Dharma."

「我接受您的條件！」這位珠寶商把世上任何一件事都看成是交易，所以他這麼回答。然後就騰出一個座位，請這位比丘坐。		"I accept your terms," replied the jeweler, who thought of everything as bargains and deals. He made room for the Bhikshu in his carriage.

這位名叫那拉達的比丘，在旅程中，沿途講說著因果的定律：「人們的命運是由自己造出來的。善有善報，惡有惡報；不是不報，只是時候未到。」		As they traveled, the Bhikshu─whose name was Narada─spoke of the law of cause and effect. "People create their own destinies," he said, "out of what they themselves do. Good deeds naturally bring good fortune, while people who do evil will pay for it sooner or later."

潘杜非常滿意有這樣一位旅伴。他喜歡聽為人處事的道理，因為他是個腳踏實地的人，而且也很有善根，只是自己不曉得罷了！		Pandu was pleased with his companion. He liked to hear good common sense, for he was a practical man, and he also had deep good roots in the Dharma, though he did not know it.

推翻馬車　師諫不悟		The jeweler ordered his slave to tilt the cart loaded with rice, and the Dharma Master admonished him without success.

但是，在這途中，不過途中馬車突然緊急煞車時，他卻很無禮地打斷了那拉達法師的話。「怎麼搞的？」他對奴隸摩訶都塔憤怒地大叫：「我們沒有時間在這兒浪費！到波羅奈還有十哩路，再不走，太陽就要下山了！」		But he interrupted Narada rudely when the carriage suddenly jolted to a stop in the middle of the road. "What's this?" he called out in irritation to his slave Mahaduta. "We've no time to waste!" Varanasi was still ten miles distant, and the sun was already sinking in the west.

「一個笨農夫的車子擋在路中央！」奴隸在駕駛座上怒吼著。		"A stupid farmer's cart in the road," the slave growled from the coachman's seat.

比丘和珠寶商打開車門探頭一看，原來是一輛載米的馬車擋住了公路。這輛馬車右邊的車輪陷在水溝裏，而農夫正坐在旁邊，賣力地修理脫落的車軸控制楔子。		The Bhikshu and the jeweler opened the carriage doors and leaned out to look. There blocking the highway was a horse cart loaded with rice. Its right wheel was lying useless in the ditch. The farmer was sitting beside it struggling to repair a broken linchpin.

「我可不能再等了！摩訶都塔！去把他的貨車推開！」潘杜喊著。農夫急忙跳起來想要抗議，那拉達法師也轉身向潘杜，想要請他另想法子；可是誰都還來不及說半個字，摩訶都塔已經從座位上一躍而下，用力地去推馬車，使得車更深陷溝內，其中有好幾袋米也滑落到泥土中。這位農夫邊叫邊跑向摩訶都塔，但當他一發覺對方是位比他壯兩倍多的高大奴隸時，立刻嚇得不敢再吭一聲。摩訶都塔舉起拳頭，臉上浮現出不懷好意的笑容，很明顯地可以看出，只要主人給他時間的話，他會痛痛快快地揍農夫一頓。		"I can't wait! Push his cart off the road, Mahaduta!" Pandu shouted. The farmer leapt up to protest, and Narada turned to Pandu to ask him to think of some other way, but before either could say a word the burly Mahaduta had jumped down from his seat, heaved at the horse cart, and tilted it into the ditch. Bags of rice slid off into the mud. The farmer ran yelling up to Mahaduta, but fell silent when he realized that the tall slave had twice his strength. Grinning wickedly, Mahaduta raised his fist; it was plain that he would have enjoyed giving the farmer a beating, if he'd thought his master had time for it.

可是，當這個奴隸爬回車座，舉起馬韁時，比丘卻下車，並轉身對潘杜說：「我現在要下車了！我欠了你一段搭便車的費用，除了幫助那位被你欺負的不幸農夫外，我還有什麼更好的方式來償還你呢？因為在前一生，這農夫是你的親戚，所以你們彼此的業，牽扯得比較牢一些；但是你剛才的所作所為，使你日後也要受到同樣的傷害，或許我助他一臂之力，可以減輕你欠他的這份債。」		As the slave climbed back onto his seat and took up the reins, the Bhikshu stepped down onto the road. Turning to Pandu, he said, "I am rested now, and I am in your debt for the hour's ride you have given me. What better way could I have to repay you than to help this unfortunate farmer whom you have wronged? By harming him, you have made sure that some similar harm will come to you. Perhaps by helping him I can lessen your debt. Since this farmer was a relative of yours in a previous life, your karma is tied to his even more strongly."

珠寶商非常驚愕，他一向不習慣被人責罵，即使是慈悲地數落也不曾有過，而這位比丘竟然這樣對他！更令他反感的是：他──潘杜──這麼個有錢的珠寶商，居然曾經是一個米農的親戚！「那是不可能的！」他對那拉達法師說。		The jeweler was astonished. He was not accustomed to being scolded, not even kindly, as the Bhikshu had done. He was even more taken aback by the notion that he, Pandu the rich jeweler, could ever have been related to a rice farmer. "That's impossible," he said to Narada.

那拉達法師微笑著說：「有時最聰明的人，反而看不透人生最基本的真理。不過我會試著保護你，讓你不致於因為剛才的所作所為而受到傷害。」受到這番話的刺激，潘杜便揮手叫奴隸駕車上路。		Narada smiled and said, "Sometimes the smartest people fail to recognize the basic truths about life. But I will try to protect you against the injury you have done to yourself." Stung by these words, Pandu raised his hand and signaled for his slave to drive on.

農夫聞法　了悟因果		Hearing the Dharma, the farmer comprehended the law of cause and effect.

這時農夫狄發拉早已回到路旁坐下，繼續修理車軸的控制楔子。那拉達法師向他點頭致意後，便開始去把馬車拉出深溝。狄發拉跳起來幫忙，這時他猛然發現，這位外型瘦小的比丘，竟然有如此驚人的力氣。		Devala, the farmer, had already sat down by the side of the road again to work at repairing his linchpin. Narada nodded to him and began heaving the horse cart out of the ditch. Devala jumped up to assist, but then he saw that the Bhikshu had far more strength than anyone might have expected from a man with his slight frame. The cart was upright again even before Devala had crossed the road.

「這位比丘一定是位聖者！」農夫自言自語地說：「冥冥之中，一定有護法善神在幫助他。或許他能告訴我，為什麼我今天的運氣會這麼糟？」		"This Bhikshu must be a sage," the farmer thought silently. "Invisible Dharma-protecting gods and spirits must be helping him. Maybe he can tell me why my luck has turned for the worse today."

他們兩個人合力把摩訶都塔推落溝裏的米袋搬回馬車上。當狄發拉再坐下來修理車軸的控制楔子時，他問：「尊貴的法師！您可否告訴我，為什麼剛才那位傲慢的富商與我素不相識，卻這麼不公平地對待我？這世界豈不是沒啥意思，沒有公理可言了嗎？」		The two men reloaded the bags of rice that Mahaduta had dumped into the ditch, and then as Devala sat down with his linchpin again, he asked, "Venerable Dharma Master, can you tell me why I had to suffer such an injustice today from that arrogant rich man whom I have never seen before? Is there no sense or fairness in this life?"

那拉達法師說：「今天你所遭所遇，並非真的不公平，而是報應；因為在前世，你就曾經這樣傷害過這位珠寶商。」		Narada answered, "What you suffered today wasn't really an injustice. It was an exact repayment for an injury you inflicted upon this jeweler in a previous life."

農夫點點頭說：「以前我也聽人說過這種道理，只是不曉得該不該相信？」		The farmer nodded. "I have heard people say such things before, but I have never known whether to believe them."

「這並不是複雜到令人難以置信的事！」比丘說：「我們現在做什麼事，將來就得到什麼果報，善有善報，同樣地，惡也有惡報。惡劣的行為將導致惡劣的性格與不幸的人生。你所想、所說和所做的一切，不但會造成你的個性，並且會種下未來的種子；這就叫做因果定律，業力定律。」		"It's not too complicated a thing to believe in," the Bhikshu said. "We become what we do. By doing good things, a person naturally becomes good, and good things naturally happen to him. The same is true of evil. Evil acts create bad personalities and unfortunate lives. Everything you have thought, said, and done makes up the kind of person you are now, and also contains the seeds of your future. This is the law of cause and effect, the law of karma."

原來如此！」狄發拉叫著說：「可是我並不是很壞的人啊！為什麼我今天會碰到這樣的事！」		"That may be," Devala cried, "but I am not such a bad person, and look what happened to me today!"

「事實並非如此！朋友！」那拉達法師說：「今天如果換成是他擋了你的路，而且你身旁有一位專門欺負弱小的車伕，難道你不會對這珠寶商做出同樣的舉動嗎？」		"Isn't it true, though, friend," Narada asked, "that you might have done the same thing to the jeweler today, if he'd been the one who was blocking the road, and you'd been the one with a bully for a coachman?"

狄發拉聽了法師的話後默不作聲。他想起在那拉達法師未幫助他之前，心中的確只有報復的念頭；正如法師所說的，他恨不得能將珠寶商的馬車推倒，讓這個有錢人跌在泥濘中掙扎，自己再得意地駕車離去。「沒錯！法師！」他說：「我的確有這樣的念頭。」		Devala was silenced by the Bhikshu's words. He realized that, until Narada had come forward to help him, there had been nothing in his mind but thoughts of revenge. Angrily he had been wishing just what Narada had said: that he could have been the one to overturn the jeweler's cart and then drive on proudly while the rich man struggled in the mud. "Yes, Dharma Master," he said. "It is true."

兩人都不再說什麼，直到輪軸又發出正常的聲音，輪子也裝回了馬車。農夫還一直思惟著比丘的話，雖然他沒受過教育，但是他是那種對事情會慢慢去追根究底的人。忽然，他說：「這事真可怕！現在珠寶商傷害了我，將來我也會對他做同樣的傷害；然後他再來報復我，我又去報復他。真是沒完沒了！」		The two men said nothing for a while, until the linchpin was sound again and the wheel remounted on the cart. The farmer was pondering the Bhikshu's words. Although Devala lacked schooling, he was a thoughtful man who always tried to figure things out and see the reasons behind events. Suddenly he said, "But this is a terrible thing! Now that the jeweler has harmed me, I will do some harm to him. Then he will repay me in kind, and then I'll come back to get him, and it will never end!"

「不，並不一定像你說的那樣！」那拉達法師說：「人可以行善，也可以作惡。如果你能用幫助，而不是傷害的方式，去對待這位驕傲的珠寶商，那麼這個因果循環就會破除了！」		"No, it doesn't have to be that way," Narada said. "People have the power to do good as well as evil. Find a way to pay that proud jeweler back with help instead of with harm. Then the cycle will be broken."

狄發拉一邊重新安好他的貨車，一邊疑惑地點點頭。他相信比丘所說的，卻沒辦法想像自己是否有機會把法師的建議付諸實踐。這怎麼可能呢？他只是一個窮農夫，怎麼有辦法去幫助一位富商？他請那拉達法師坐在身邊，就拉起韁繩趕馬上路。		Devala nodded doubtfully as he climbed back on his cart. He believed what the Bhikshu had told him, but he didn't see how he would ever have an opportunity to carry out his advice. How could he, a poor farmer, find a way to help out a rich businessman? He invited Narada to sit next to him, and took up the reins.

但是他的馬沒跑多遠，就突然避到路邊停了下來。「有一條蛇在路中間！」農夫嚷著。但是那拉達法師趨前一瞧，發現那不是一條蛇，而是一個錢袋。他下了車，拾起那錢袋，袋子裏裝的是沉甸甸的金子。		His horse had not drawn them far, however, when it suddenly shied aside and came to a halt. "A snake on the road!" the farmer cried. But Narada, looking more closely, saw that it was no snake, but a purse. He stepped down from the cart and picked the purse up. It was heavy with gold.

「我認得這個，它是珠寶商潘杜的袋子。」他說：「他在馬車上時，把錢袋放在腿上；可能是在打開車門看你時，掉下來的。我不是說過，他的命運和你息息相關嗎？」		"I recognize this; it belongs to Pandu, the jeweler," he said. "He had it in his lap in the carriage. It must have dropped out when he opened the door to look at you. Didn't I tell him that his destiny was tied to yours?"

他把錢袋交給狄發拉：「你可以藉此機會去化解你和這位珠寶商之間，由憤怒與報復所交纏的惡緣了！當我們抵達波羅奈後，你去他住的旅店，把錢還給他；這時他會為自己的無禮而向你道歉。不過你要對他說，你不但不介意，還祝他成功。我告訴你吧！其實你們倆是息息相關的，所以你現在怎麼做，就會決定以後你們是一起墮落，或是一起超越了！」		He handed the purse to Devala. "Here is your chance to cut the bonds of anger and revenge that tie you to the jeweler. When we reach Varanasi, go to the inn where he is staying and give him his money back. He will apologize for his rudeness to you, but tell him that you hold no grudge and that you wish him success. For, let me tell you, you two are much alike, and you will fall or prosper together, depending on how you act."

屈打成招　奴隸憤去		Cruelly beaten without cause, the slave departs in anger.

狄發拉照著比丘的教導去做。他並不貪圖那些錢，只希望能消除與珠寶商之間的業債。當車子抵達波羅奈，已是傍晚時分，他便到那家有錢人住的旅店，要求見潘杜。		Devala did as the Bhikshu had instructed him. He had no desire to keep the money. He only wished to be rid of his karmic debt to the jeweler. At nightfall, when they reached Varanasi, he went to the inn where rich men stayed and asked to see Pandu.

「我該說是誰要找他呢？」旅店老闆用瞧不起的眼光望著狄發拉一身鄉下人的裝扮。		"Who shall I say wants him?" said the innkeeper, looking scornfully at the farmer's country clothes.

「請轉告他，是一位朋友來看他。」狄發拉說。		"Tell him a friend has come," Devala said.

幾分鐘後，潘杜來到狄發拉等候著的大廳。當潘杜看見那個農夫站在那裏，要把錢袋送還給他時，雖然覺得鬆了一口氣，卻也驚訝、羞愧地說不出話來。呆立了一會兒後，他突然向鄰房邊跑邊大叫著：「住手！住手！別再拷問他了！」		In a few minutes, Pandu entered the hall where Devala was waiting. When Pandu saw the farmer standing there and holding out his purse to him, he was struck speechless with amazement, shame, and relief. But after staring for a moment, he suddenly ran out of the room again, shouting, "Stop! Stop beating him!"

狄發拉聽到隔壁房間傳來很悽慘的呻吟聲，他還以為有誰嚴重發高燒了。過了不久，一個高壯的人搖搖晃晃地走進了大廳，在他赤裸裸的背上，印著一條條紅紅紫紫的鞭痕；這個人竟然是珠寶商的奴隸摩訶都塔，而跟在他身後則是一位一手拿著皮鞭，一手握著棍子的警察。		Devala had heard groans coming from a room nearby─he had thought it was someone dying of a fever. But in a moment a tall, burly man staggered into the hall, his bare back red and black with welts and bruises. It was none other than Mahaduta, the jeweler's slave. A police officer followed him, with a whip in one hand and a cane in the other.

當摩訶都塔剛看到狄發拉時，先是很驚訝，接著就用沙啞的聲音說：「我那仁慈的好主人以為我偷了他的錢袋，想把我屈打成招。這是我照他的吩咐去欺負你的懲罰。」然後不向他的主人說任何話，就蹣跚地走出去，消失在夜色中。		Seeing Devala, Mahaduta started with surprise, and then said hoarsely, "My kind master thought I'd stolen that purse. He had me whipped so that I would confess. This is my punishment for hurting you at his bidding." And he stumbled out into the night, without a word to his master.

潘杜眼睜睜地看著他離去，心想自己應該說些什麼。但是他一向太驕傲，無法向一個奴隸認錯，尤其是當著這麼多外人的面。		Pandu watched him go, thinking that he ought to say something to him. But he was too proud to apologize to a slave, especially in front of so many other people.

以德報怨　化解誤會		The farmer repaid the jeweler's wrongdoings with aid, and the misunderstanding was resolved.

珠寶商遲遲沒有和狄發拉打招呼，也沒有接下自己的錢袋。當他正要開口時，一個身著高貴絲質服裝的胖男子大搖大擺地走進來，高聲地說：「哈！潘杜！他們已經告訴我這裏所發生的一切。命運之輪轉動不已，對不對？十分鐘前，我們兩人似乎都要完蛋了，而現在又否極泰來，對吧？看在老天的分上，快拿回你的錢袋，並謝謝這位好心人。」		The jeweler still had not greeted Devala, nor taken back his purse. Just as he was about to speak, a portly man dressed in rich silks bustled into the room, saying loudly, "Ah, Pandu, they told me what was happening. Fortune's wheel turns round and round, does it not? Ten minutes ago it seemed like we were both ruined men, and now all is well again, hmm? Come on, then, take the purse, for heaven's sake, and thank the good fellow."

潘杜接過錢袋，微微向這位農夫一鞠躬：「我錯怪你，而你卻以德報怨。我真不知道該如何報答你！」		Pandu took the purse and bowed slightly to the farmer. "I wronged you, and you have helped me in return. I do not know how to repay you."

「噯！給他一份獎賞啊！潘杜！不然你還能怎麼樣？」胖男子低沉地說：「給他一份獎賞啊！」		"Why, give him a reward, Pandu, what else?" the fat man boomed. "Give him a reward!"

狄發拉向潘杜回了一個禮，並說：「我已經原諒你了，也不需要任何報酬。如果不是你命令你的奴隸推翻我的馬車，我就沒有機會遇見那拉達尊者，並且聽聞到任何金錢也買不到的智慧教導，它令我受益良多。因為我不想招來任何惡報，所以已決定不再傷害任何眾生了！這個決定使我安穩下來，並且第一次感受到能在某種程度上主宰自己的人生；這是我前所未有的感覺。」		Bowing to Pandu in his turn, Devala said, "I have forgiven you and need no reward. If you hadn't ordered your slave to overturn my cart, I might never have had the chance to meet the Venerable Narada and hear his wise teaching, which has benefited me more than any amount of money. I have resolved never to harm any being again, since I don't want to invite injury in return. This resolve has made me feel safe and in control of my life in a way that I have never felt before."

「那拉達法師！」潘杜說：「想必這是他教導你的！他也教過我，只是我並沒有聽從他的教導。好心人！請收下吧！」他自錢袋中拿出一些金子給狄發拉：「告訴我！你可知道那拉達尊者住在波羅奈的什麼地方嗎？」		"Narada!" said Pandu. "So he has instructed you! He instructed me, too, but I'm afraid I didn't listen too well... Take this, good man," he gave Devala some gold from his purse, "and tell me, do you know where the Venerable Dharma Master is staying in Varanasi?"

「知道啊！我剛剛和他在西門邊的寺廟分手。」狄發拉回答：「事實上，他告訴我，你可能會想見他，所以要我轉告你，明天下午可以去找他。」		"Yes, I have just left him at the monastery next to the West Gate," Devala answered. "In fact, he told me you might want to see him. He asked me to say that you may call on him tomorrow afternoon."

潘杜又再次鞠個躬，這回他可是真的彎下腰來了。「我這回真的欠你一份人情。現在我們好像是找到了同一位老師，所以我也相信他告訴我的另一些話了。他說過你和我前生是親戚，而且我們之間的命運息息相關。」		Pandu bowed again, this time deeply and reverently. "Now I am truly indebted to you," he said. "And I also believe something else he told me. He said you and I were relatives in former lives and that our fates are tied together. It seems we have even found the same teacher."

善有善報　佳運前來		Good fortune came to the farmer as a reward for his good deed.

胖先生在一旁已聽得很不耐煩了：「是啊！是啊！這番高超的理論是很了不起！」他叫著：「不過，我們還是談生意吧！」他轉向狄發拉：「先讓我自我介紹一下！我是銀行家摩利卡，是潘杜在這兒的一位朋友。我和國王的總管簽了一份合同，負責供應最好的米給國王吃。但是三天前，在此地的競爭對手想破壞我和國王之間的良好交易，就把波羅奈的米全買光了。如果明天我沒法子送貨去，我就完了！不過幸好現在你在這裏！你的米是上等貨嗎？那個笨摩訶都塔有沒有把米摔壞了？米有多少？有沒有被人訂走了？快說啊！」		The fat man had been listening impatiently. "Yes, yes, this high-minded talk is all very well," he finally cried. "But let's get down to business!" He turned to Devala. "Let me introduce myself. I am Mallika, the banker, a friend of the good Pandu here. I have a contract with the king's steward to deliver the best rice for the king's table, but three days ago my business rival, wishing to destroy my flourishing trade with the king, bought up all the rice in Varanasi. If I don't deliver tomorrow, I'm ruined. But now, my friend, you are here, and that's the point! Is your rice of fine grade? Was it damaged by that idiot Mahaduta? How much is there of it? Is it contracted? Speak up!"

面對著焦急萬分的銀行家，狄發拉微笑著說：「我載了一萬五千磅的上等米，只有一袋因為摔在泥地上，而有點潮濕了。目前還沒有人訂購這些米；我正準備明天早上載去市場賣哩！」		Smiling at the banker's eagerness, Devala answered, "I have brought fifteen hundred pounds of first grade rice. Only one bag got a little wet in the mud. None of it is spoken for, and I was planning to take it to the market in the morning."

「太好了！太好了！你說要去市場賣嗎？」摩利卡興奮地搓著手，叫道：「我用你在市場能賣得的三倍價錢買下！你願意嗎？」「好！我願意！」狄發拉說。		"Splendid! Splendid! To the market, you say?" Mallika cried, rubbing his hands. "I expect you'll take three times the price that you could get at the market, will you?" "I will," Devala agreed.

「你當然願意的！」銀行家說，一面就叫他的僕人立即把狄發拉馬車上的貨卸下來。他慷慨地以金子來付帳，他一面數錢給狄發拉，一面對潘杜說：「人在需要幫助時，往往料想不到助力會從哪裏來。所以人永遠不要失去希望，因為人生實在是奧妙不可思議的，對不對？」他對狄發拉說：「噢！這是你全部的帳款了！仁慈的先生！可不要把它們全賭光了哇！」說完，他笑著走回座用晚餐。		"Of course you will," the banker beamed. Calling for his servants, he had Devala's cart unloaded immediately. He made his generous payment to the farmer in gold, saying to Pandu, as he counted the coins into Devala's hands, "A man never knows where help will come from when he needs it. Never lose hope, for life is indeed a wonderful mystery, isn't it? There you are, my good sir!" he said to Devala. "Don't gamble it all away!" Chuckling to himself, Mallika then returned to his dinner.

但是狄發拉根本就無意去賭博。他已決定到那拉達法師所住的寺廟，將他所賺的半數錢供養三寶；剩餘的帶回家，按著需要，節省地花用。從那天起，狄發拉就愈來愈發達；也由於他的誠實與智慧，村裏的人都擁護他，視他為領袖。		Devala had no intention of gambling his money away. He had already resolved to go to the monastery where the Venerable Narada lived and offer half of his profit to the Triple Jewel. The rest he took home and spent carefully as he needed it. From that day on he always prospered. Because of his honesty and wisdom, the people of his village naturally came to consider him their leader.

眾生與我　密密相關		We are closely related to all other living beings.

第二天下午，潘杜來到西門邊的寺廟。那拉達法師在客廳接待他，聽他說完有關旅館所發生的經過後，這位比丘說：「你仍然有許多疑惑，所以我不打算對你所問的問題作任何的解釋，因為你還無法接受。你的信心還不及米農狄發拉那麼深，所以想要成為一位真正的佛弟子，你還有一大段路要去經歷。」		The next afternoon, Pandu went to the monastery near the West Gate. Narada received him in the guest hall. Having heard the jeweler's account of what had happened at the inn, the Bhikshu said, "You still have many doubts, and so I would prefer not to give you all the explanation that you ask for. You would not accept it. Your faith is not yet as deep as the farmer Devala's, and you still have to undergo many trials before you become a true disciple of the Buddha."

「尊貴的法師啊！」潘杜謙恭地說：「請您再詳細地解說，這樣我才好奉行您睿智的勸導。」		"Venerable Dharma Master," said Pandu humbly, "I beg you to give me the explanation you spoke of, so that I will be better able to follow your wise advice."

「很好！」這位比丘說：「那麼記住並好好思惟我所說的話，這樣或許你日後就會明白了。我曾經告訴過你，每個人的命運都是自己的作為造成的。例如你那個有錢的朋友摩利卡，雖然有許多福報，智慧卻不足。他相信所謂的命運之輪不斷地神祕運轉著；事實上，並沒有什麼神祕可言。他的富足和稱心如意，完全是由他的身語意所造成的，與其他一切外力無關。而他之所以生生世世富有如意，也只不過是因為他生生世世仁慈慷慨。我想他不會像你對摩訶都塔那樣地對待一名奴隸。」		"Very well," the Bhikshu said. "Then remember what I say and contemplate it well. In the future you may come to understand. I have told you how each and every one of us makes his own destiny, in accordance with what he does. Your rich friend Mallika, for example, has many blessings, though he has little wisdom. He believes that the wheel of fortune, as he calls it, turns round and round mysteriously. But there is no mystery. His prosperity and contentment have nothing to do with any force outside of his own actions, words, and thoughts. In life after life he is wealthy and contented, simply because in life after life he has been kind and generous. I don't think he would have treated any slave the way you treated your slave Mahaduta."

「的確！」潘杜說：「他試著阻攔我，可是我很生氣，就聽不進他的話。」		"Indeed," Pandu said. "He did try to restrain me. But I was angry and did not listen."

「是啊！」那拉達法師點頭說：「別以為摩訶都塔無緣無故被你殘酷毒打的這份債，你可以不必受報；別妄想這世界是神不知、鬼不覺，以為做事不必承擔後果。記住！你的所作所為，不管是善是惡，也不管有多微小，早晚都會等量回報在自己身上。就如同俗話說：		"Yes," Narada said, nodding. "And don't think that you are free of the debt you owe Mahaduta for having had him so cruelly beaten without cause. Don't think that you are alone in this world, or that your actions have no consequences. Remember that sooner or later your every action, whether good or evil, however small it may be, will be returned to you in kind and in the exact amount. As the saying goes,

種瓜得瓜，種豆得豆；善有善報，惡有惡報。		Plant beans, and you harvest beans; Plant melons, and you harvest melons.

你希望別人如何對你，先要如何對人。事實上，你並沒有一個單獨的自我；你和其他眾生的體性是相同的；因此，在每一個思想行為裏，你和眾生的密不可分，更甚於五臟六腑間的關係。」		Goodness brings about good, while evil is repaid with evil.' Treat all living creatures as you would wish to be treated yourself. Actually, you have no separate self. You are of the same basic substance as all other living beings; and so, in your every thought and act, you are related to them even more closely than the organs of your body are related to each other.

「如果你心中真相信這一點。」那拉達法師繼續說：「你就不會想傷害其他眾生；因為你知道他們和你是一體的，所以眾生受苦時，你將會感同身受，因此總會盡力幫助他們。讓我說個偈頌做為你的引導：		"If you can truly understand this in your heart," Narada continued, "you will have no more desire to harm other beings, because you will know that they are the same as you. You will feel their sufferings as your own, and so you will always try to help them. Let this verse guide you:

害人終歸害自己助人更得助力多覓求清淨光明道去此妄想我有我		He who hurts others hurts himself; He who helps others helps himself even more. To find the pure Way, the Path of Light, Let go of the falsehood that you have a self."

潘杜起身向法師三頂禮──這是他有生以來，對任何人都前所未行的舉動。然後他說：「法師，我會牢記您的教導。我打算回到我的故鄉憍賞彌，建一間寺廟，讓所有的鄉人，都有機會聽聞微妙的佛法。唯願法師慈悲，幫助我完成這個心願。」		Pandu rose and bowed down three times to the Dharma Master, something that he had never before done to anyone. Then he said, "I will not forget your words, Dharma Master. I will have a monastery established in my hometown, Kaushambi, so that the people there will have the opportunity to hear the wonderful Dharma. I only hope that the Dharma Master will compassionately help me fulfill my vow."

雖建道場　未真修行		Although Pandu established the monastery, he did not truly practice the teachings.

幾年過去了，珠寶商潘杜愈來愈發達。潘杜皈依那拉達尊者之後，一直帶頭做供養，並護持著他幫那拉達尊者所建立的道場。只要生意不忙，他就去聽潘舍卡比丘講經；這位比丘是這間寺廟的住持，也是那拉達尊者的老弟子。此外，潘杜總是盼望著老法師的來臨，以便能接受師父明智的教誨。不過他從來沒有把所聽到的教誨加以實踐，總認為修行是出家人的職務，而自己俗務纏身，實在是分身乏術。		Years passed, and Pandu the jeweler prospered. He took refuge with and became a disciple of Narada, and was a leading donor and protector of the monastery at Kaushambi he had helped Narada to found. Whenever his business allowed, he went to listen to Sutra lectures given by the Bhikshu Panthaka, the abbot of the monastery and a senior disciple of Narada. Pandu always looked forward to receiving Narada's instructions whenever he visited town, but he never put the teachings he heard into practice. He told himself that cultivation was the duty of monks and that his own worldly business kept him too busy.

王冠惹禍　因果難逃		The crown brought disaster upon Pandu, and he had difficulty escaping his retribution.

從他在波羅奈的路上，初識那拉達尊者算起，至今已過六、七年。有一天，潘杜的店裏接到一張不尋常的訂單。山另一端的鄰國國王聽說潘杜手工精美，於是向他訂作一頂新王冠；這頂王冠必須以純金打造，四周還要鑲上印度各種最昂貴的寶石。印度的國王們，一向有喜歡珍奇寶石的毛病；而潘杜也一直夢想著自己能成為王室的珠寶供應商。他確信那時自己不但會有名望，也會十分富有。現在機運來臨了。		One day, six or seven years after his first meeting with the Venerable Narada on the road to Varanasi, Pandu's workshop received an unusual order. The king of the neighboring country across the mountains desired a new royal crown. He had heard of the beauty of Pandu's jewel work. The crown was to be wrought in gold and set about with the costliest gems to be found in all of India. Indian kings had always had a weakness for precious stones, and Pandu had often dreamed of becoming the supplier of jewelry to a royal house. Then he would be assured not simply of prosperity, but of great riches. Now his chance had arrived.

潘杜立即四處採購，他投資了大部分的積蓄，儘可能找到最上等的藍寶石、紅寶石和鑽石；並且親自設計、製作這頂王冠。為了確保運送途中的安全，潘杜召集一批強壯的武裝護衛，來抗拒山上的強盜；然後就出發到鄰國了。		Pandu immediately sent out orders for the finest sapphires, rubies, and diamonds that could be had. He invested the greater part of his wealth in them. He designed and worked the crown himself. Then, gathering together a strong escort of armed men to ensure his safety against robbers in the mountains, he set out for the neighboring kingdom.

這一路上都平安順利，可是等到他們抵達山峰的一處隘口時。突然一群強盜帶著凶悍地喊叫聲，由高處衝下來。雖然潘杜的護衛隊比較多人數，但是受到驚嚇馬匹，加上山壁陡斜的隘口，阻撓了防衛的工作。		All was well until they reached a narrow pass at the mountains' summit. There, a troop of fiercely yelling brigands descended from the heights. Pandu's escort was greater in number, but the shying horses and steep sides of the mountain pass hampered the defenders in battle.

沒一會兒的功夫，潘杜的隊伍已經潰散，全被繳械了。兩個滿臉鬍子、髒兮兮的強盜衝上前去，一腳踢開車門，把潘杜拉出來摔到地上，拿著棍子對他又打又踢。潘杜默默忍受這些攻擊，一心只想著那個藏在衣袍內的錢袋，他將它緊緊地抱在懷中；那裏面藏著那頂王冠，和他打算巴結王后和公主的珠寶。		In a matter of minutes Pandu's men were disarmed. Two unshaven and dirty men threw open the door to the jeweler's carriage, pulled him out, flung him to the ground, and began kicking him and beating him with sticks. Pandu bore the blows, thinking only of the purse that was concealed in his robes, clutching it against his chest. In it lay the crown and a store of other jewels with which he had planned to tempt the king's daughter and the queen.

強盜頭子　索討債務		The robber chieftain demanded payment of the debt.

「等一等，兄弟們！」有個聲音在耳邊響起。好熟悉的聲音！但是潘杜一時想不起是誰。「我說不要打他了！」		"Stop a moment, my boys!" a voice called out, a voice that Pandu had heard before, though at first he could not recall whose it was. "Stop beating him, I said!"

潘杜睜開眼睛一看，站在他面前的人，身穿皮衣，長髮上綁著一條紅絲巾，竟然是多年前挨過他鞭的奴隸摩訶都塔。潘杜曾聽說山裏最厲害的強盜頭子，是過去憍賞彌的一個奴隸，卻料想不到竟是他以前的奴隸。		Pandu opened his eyes. There, standing over him, dressed in rough leather clothing, his long hair bound in a kerchief of red silk, was Mahaduta, the slave he'd had whipped years before. Pandu had heard that the greatest of all robber chieftains in the mountains was a former slave from Kaushambi. But it had never occurred to him that the slave might have been his own.

「看看他右手拿的是什麼？」摩訶都塔冷靜地命令手下。		"See what he's holding in his right hand," Mahaduta quietly commanded.

一個剛才打潘杜的強盜用膝蓋壓在他的肚子上，另一個則用力將他胸前的手推開，而且毫不留情地將他手中的錢袋奪走。		One of the men who had been beating him planted his knee on Pandu's stomach, while the other forced Pandu's arm away from his chest. The jeweler's purse was mercilessly pried from his hand.

「我來拿！」摩訶都塔說：「我早就付過賬了！」他把它放入夾克內，用一種充滿譏諷和痛苦的口吻問潘杜：「主人，對不對啊？」		"I'll take that," Mahaduta said. "I've paid for it already." He took it and put it inside his jacket. "Have I not, master?" he asked Pandu, his voice full of scorn and bitterness.

「要不要乾脆宰了他啊？」一名強盜問這個強盜頭子。		"Shall we finish him, then?" one of the robbers asked the chieftain.

摩訶都塔用睥睨的眼光看著潘杜，他發現潘杜的眼中，並沒有足以激怒他的憤怒或驚恐，有的只是悲傷與認命。他不會知道此時的潘杜正在回憶著那拉達尊者的話，那聲音清晰無比，猶如昨天才聽到一般：「別以為摩訶都塔被你無緣無故殘酷毒打的這份債，你可以不必受報，別妄想這世界是神不知、鬼不覺，以為做事不必承擔後果。……如果你心中真相信這一點，你就不會想傷害其他眾生，因為你知道他們和你是一體的，所以眾生受苦時，你將會感同身受。」		Mahaduta looked down at Pandu, but instead of anger or fright, which might have enraged him in turn, he saw only sadness and resignation in his victim's eyes. He had no way of knowing that Pandu was remembering the Venerable Narada's voice saying, as clearly as if he'd heard it yesterday: "Don't think that you are free of the debt you owe Mahaduta for having him so cruelly beaten without cause. Don't think that you are all alone in this world and that what you do has no consequences.... If you can truly understand this in your heart, you will have no more desire to harm other beings, because you will know that they are the same as yourself. You will feel their sufferings as your own."

潘杜嘆了一口氣，突然明白自己從未真正接受師父的教誨，從未真正相信這些教導，無論對自己或對他人，都能同樣地受用。如果現在時候未到，就要被殘暴地打死，甚至連向家人告別的機會都沒有，那全是自己所造的因，全是自己的錯。		Pandu sighed. He suddenly realized that he had never really accepted his teacher's instructions. He had never truly believed that they applied to him as well as to others. If he was to die now, violently and before his time, with no chance to say farewell to his family, it was all his own doing, it was all his own fault.

以前，他從未設想過摩訶都塔逃走後會遭受些什麼事──除了在寒冬的山中所可能遭受的種種苦難外；自己更把陷摩訶都塔推向罪惡的深淵，一條絕望與危險的不歸路──這一切的一切，都是他從未替別人設想過的，現在該是還債的時候了。他輕咳了一聲，對摩訶都塔說：「不錯！你已付過賬了！」然後他將目光移開，不再看這個強盜頭子，似乎是等待著下一個風暴的來襲。		Not once had he thought about what had happened to his runaway slave Mahaduta. The man's sufferings in the mountains during the freezing winters, and the desperation and danger of the evil calling that he, Pandu, had pushed Mahaduta into, such considerations had simply never crossed his mind. Now the time of payment had come. He coughed and spoke numbly to Mahaduta, "It's true. You have paid." Then he looked away from the robber chieftain and waited for the next blow.

出乎意料之外，摩訶都塔吩咐手下說：「放了他！在他馬車的駕駛座下，有一個夾層，把它撬開，拿出金匣。那東西一定在那兒，我們來平分！今天大夥兒都可以滿載而歸了！」		To his surprise, Mahaduta told his men: "Let him lie. There is a false bottom in his carriage, underneath the coachman's seat. Knock it loose and take out the chest of gold pieces that will certainly be there. We'll divide it equally. This is a great day for all of you."

這群強盜急忙跳上馬車去，可是摩訶都塔本人，對自己的報復行為並未感覺到絲毫快樂。雖然在過去無數個冷冽的清晨裏，他都幻想著如何報復；而今願望實現了，卻如同傷害自己的親人一般，只覺得沉重和懊悔。於是他走向手下，制止他們毆打潘杜的護衛。「只要搶財物就好了！」		The men jumped up eagerly. But Mahaduta himself felt little joy at his revenge, though he had spent many a cold morning fervently wishing for it. Now that it had come, he felt heaviness and regret, as if he were hurting a member of his own family. He went among his men, telling them to stop beating Pandu's escort. "Spoils only," he said.

他對大家說：「不准殺人！」同時他用在馬車座下夾層藏有金匣子的消息，來轉移手下的注意力；而金匣子果然就在那兒，如同過去那些年，摩訶都塔本人無數次為主人收藏的老位置。		"No killing." And he distracted them with news of the chest of gold which was, indeed wedged behind the false bottom of the carriage, just where Mahaduta himself had hidden it many times in past years.

強盜頭子讓潘杜和隨行的人自由下山，回到憍賞彌去。當晚，趁他的夥伴們正邊數金幣邊慶祝時，摩訶都塔悄悄地把裝有王冠的錢袋藏在山洞的夾縫中。有好長一段時間，他都沒有再拿出來或是去瞧它一眼。		The robber chieftain let Pandu and his men go free down the mountain back to Kaushambi. That evening, when his accomplices were counting the gold and rejoicing, he hid the purse in a crevice in his cave. He didn't take it out or look at it again for a long time.

安然受報　得真快樂		Paying off his karmic debt peacefully, he attained genuine happiness.

經過這次的搶案，潘杜再也不是有錢人了。他失去了大部分的資金，而一個珠寶商沒有資金，根本做不了什麼事。不過對他的損失，他除了怪自己外，並不埋怨任何人。「年輕的時候，我待人非常嚴苛。」他對家人說：「今天的下場，正是我苛刻傲慢的果報。」他現在虔誠地懺悔，並依佛法來修行；而且只要不用花心思在交談或經商時，他就誠心誠意地誦持佛號。		After the robbery, Pandu was no longer a rich man. He had lost much of his capital, and without capital a jeweler can do little. But he blamed no one for his losses but himself. "In my younger years I was very hardon people," he told his family. "What has happened to me now is simply the payment for my harshness and arrogance." Repenting and cultivating according to the Buddha's teachings now came very naturally to him, and he took to reciting the Buddha's name whenever his mind was not occupied with conversation or business.

他慢慢地體會到：現在在心靈深處的他，比有錢時更為快樂。唯一的遺憾是，他再也沒有那麼多的能力來供養道場和護持佛法，或是去幫助鎮上的窮人──這是他過去從沒想過要多多益善的事。		Gradually he realized that, deep down in his heart, he was happier now than he had been when he was rich. His only regret was that he was no longer able to make so many offerings to the monastery, to support the Dharma, or to help the poor of the town─something he had never thought to do much before.

強盜反叛　頭目垂死		The robbers rebelled and beat the chieftain to the point of dying.

又過了幾年，有一天，憍賞彌寺廟裏的方丈潘舍卡法師，在去朝聖的途中，單獨越過山頭時，受到摩訶都塔那群強盜的攻擊。由於潘舍卡法師身上沒錢，摩訶都塔便草草地打他幾下後，就放他走了。潘舍卡法師那天就沒有再繼續往前走。		Again, several years passed by. Then one day Panthaka, abbot of the monastery at Kaushambi, was set upon by Mahaduta's robber band while walking alone on a pilgrimage across the mountains. Panthaka carried no money, and so Mahaduta beat him briefly and let him go. Panthaka went no further that day.

第二天早上，他還沒有走多遠，就聽見路旁有許多人爭鬥的聲音，接著是一個人痛苦地嚎叫聲。潘舍卡法師急忙趕到現場，希望可以勸阻強盜們不要再毆打別的旅客。然而這次被打的人，竟然是摩訶都塔本人，而非無辜的旅客。他被十幾個手下圍在中間，猶如一頭被一群獵狗逼到角落的獅子；他雖然用那根威風的棍子打了幾個強盜，最後還是寡不敵眾地倒下，他的手下拿他的棍子痛打他，打得他躺在地上奄奄一息。		The next morning, before he had walked far, he heard the sounds of men fighting just off the road. One man was roaring in pain. Panthaka hurried to the scene, hoping to dissuade the robbers from beating yet another traveler. But instead of an innocent traveler, it was Mahaduta himself who was being attacked. He stood in the midst of a dozen of his own men like a lion cornered by hounds. His great stick hit several of the other robbers, but at last he himself fell. He was beaten with his own stick until he lay as if dead.

潘舍卡法師一直等到所有的強盜都離開了才出來。他發現摩訶都塔還有一口氣在；所以他馬上走到奔流在附近岩石間的小溪，用缽裝滿了清涼的水，帶回來給這個垂死的人。		Panthaka stayed hidden till the robbers left. Then he found that Mahaduta had little life left. Panthaka walked down to the stream that ran among the rocks nearby. He filled his bowl with fresh water and brought it to the dying man.

摩訶都塔喝了些水，睜開了眼睛，他呻吟地喊道：「那些混帳賊子都到哪兒去了？我帶領他們一次又一次地打勝仗，要不是我，他們早就被吊死了！」		Mahaduta drank a little and slowly opened his eyes. He groaned and cried out, "Where are those rotten thieves that I have led to victory time after time? They'd have been hanged long ago if it weren't for me!"

法師救命　勸懺罪業		The Dharma Master came to the rescue and advised the chieftain to repent of his offenses.

「冷靜點！」潘舍卡法師說：「不要再想你的夥伴，或你們一起走過的罪惡之路了！想想你自己的命運吧！喝下這些水，讓我幫你包紮傷口，或許還可以保住你的命。」		"Calm down." Panthaka said. "Don't think of your comrades, or of the evil road you have taken together. Think of your own fate and drink this water, and let me dress your wounds. Perhaps your life can still be saved."

這時摩訶都塔第一次仔細地看著潘舍卡法師：「您是昨天才被我打過的出家人！而現在你卻來救我的命。您使我感到好慚愧！」他又喝了些水，就躺在那兒，望了一下身邊的情形：「他們都跑了？這群忘恩負義的狗黨！我教他們如何攻擊和打鬥，現在他們竟用同樣的方法來襲擊我！」		For the first time Mahaduta looked closely at Panthaka. "You are the monk to whom I gave a beating only yesterday! And now you have come to save my life. You shame me." He drank some more water and looked around him. "And the others have run off, the ungrateful hounds! I was the one who taught them to fight, and now they have turned on me."

「你教他們打鬥。」潘舍卡法師說：「所以他們以打鬥來回報你；你若教他們慈悲，他們也會以慈悲來回報你。你所收穫的，正是自己所栽種的。」		"You taught them to fight," Panthaka said, "and they have repaid you by fighting. If you had taught them kindness, they would have repaid you with kindness. You have reaped the harvest that you planted yourself."

「您說的一點也不錯，我以前就常常擔心他們會對我如法炮製──嘔！嘔！」當潘舍卡法師試著扶起他的肩膀時，他痛得呻吟起來。		"What you say is true. I've often been afraid they would turn on me─ah! ah!" He groaned as Panthaka tried to lift him by the shoulder.

「我想您是救不了我了。如果能夠的話，請您告訴我，我要怎樣才能免受地獄的痛苦呢？我知道這是我一生惡貫滿盈的果報。近來，我常常感覺到死期不遠了，而對死後所要遭遇的恐懼感，就像是一塊大石頭壓在胸口上，有時甚至讓我透不過氣來。」		"I don't think you can save my life. But tell me, if you can, how I can be saved from the pains of the hells, which I know I deserve as payment for my evil life. Lately I have felt that my death cannot be far off, and the dread of what will come after has weighed like a heavy stone on my chest, so that sometimes I've hardly been able to breathe."

「誠心誠意地懺悔你的罪業並改過自新。」潘舍卡法師說：「把貪、瞋從自心中連根拔除，並且讓心中充滿對眾生的慈悲。」		"Sincerely repent of your offenses and reform," Panthaka said. "Root out the greed and hatred from your heart, and fill it instead with thoughts of kindness for all beings."

「天啊！我根本就不懂什麼叫慈悲。」摩訶都塔說：「我的一生是一篇壞事做盡，好事全無的故事。法師啊！我會墮落到地獄，永遠不得出離，不能走向您所行的正道了！」		"Alas, I know nothing of kindness," Mahaduta said. "My life has been a story of much evil and no good. I will go to the hells and never escape along the noble Path that you have walked, Dharma Master!"

自私心起　蜘蛛絲斷		A thought of selfishness broke the spider's thread.

「不要絕望！」潘舍卡法師回答：「也不要低估了懺悔和改過的力量。俗語說：一念真心懺悔，消得萬劫罪業。		"Don't despair," Panthaka answered, "and don't underestimate the power of repentance and reform. It is said: A single heartfelt thought of repentance can wipe away ten thousand eons' worth of evil.

舉個例子來說吧！你知道大盜甘德塔嗎？他死時未懺悔，就墮入了無間地獄；在經歷無數劫痛苦的折磨後，釋迦牟尼佛出現於世，並在菩提樹下成正覺了。		"For example, do you know of the great robber Kandata, who died unrepentant and fell into the Unintermittent Hells? After he had been suffering there for several eons, Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in the world and accomplished enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree.

當時佛的眉間放出光來，遍照整個地獄，使地獄的眾生獲得了新生命和新希望。甘德塔往上一看，看見了佛陀在菩提樹下靜坐，便喊道：『世尊！救救我！救救我啊！我因為往昔所造的惡業而在這兒受苦，不得出離。世尊，請帶領我走向您走過的正道吧！』		"The rays of light that shone forth from between his brows at that moment penetrated all the way to the hells and inspired the beings there with new life and hope. Looking up, Kandata saw the Buddha seated in meditation beneath the Bodhi tree, and he cried out, 'Save me, save me, World Honored One! I am suffering here for the evils I have done, and I cannot get out! Help me walk the Path you have walked, World Honored One!'

佛陀向下一看，見甘德塔在那兒。『一定要靠你自己善業的力量，我才能指引你出離。甘德塔！你在世為人時，曾做過什麼好事嗎？』		"The Buddha looked down and saw Kandata. 'I will guide you in your escape,' he said to the robber, 'but it must be with the help of your own good karma. What good did you do, Kandata, when you were in the world of men?'

甘德塔默然無語，因為他一向是個凶暴的人；然而世尊以佛眼觀察甘德塔的過去，發現有一次甘德塔在森林裏時，曾經避開腳步，以免踩到腳下的蜘蛛；當時他想：『這隻蜘蛛並沒有傷害任何人，我為什麼要踩死牠呢？」		"Kandata remained silent, for he had been a cruel man. But the World Honored One, with his Buddha Eye, contemplated Kandata's past. He saw that once when Kandata was walking along a forest path, he had stepped aside to avoid crushing a spider beneath his feet, thinking: 'The spider hasn't hurt anyone. Why should I step on him?'

看到這裏，佛陀便派一隻蜘蛛吐一條長長的絲，垂到無間地獄去。		"Having seen that, the Buddha sent a spider to spin a thread of gossamer down to the Unintermittent Hells.

蜘蛛說：『抓住我的絲爬上來吧！』		"'Take hold of my thread,' the spider said, 'and climb up!'

甘德塔急忙抓住蜘蛛絲開始往上爬。		"Kandata eagerly grabbed the gossamer and started to pull himself up.

這條蜘蛛絲很堅固，所以他很快地越爬越高；忽然他發覺蜘蛛絲在抖動，好像是承受了新的重量。		"The gossamer held fast. He climbed quickly, higher and higher. Suddenly he noticed that the spider's thread was trembling, as if under a new weight.

甘德塔往下一看，看見其他的地獄眾生也攀著這條絲，跟在他後邊往上爬。這條絲被拉得很長很長，但並沒斷。		"Kandata glanced down. He saw that other hell-beings had grasped hold of the thread and were climbing up after him. The string stretched out, but did not break.

這時愈來愈多的地獄眾生都來抓這條絲，甘德塔不再往上瞻仰佛陀，而是滿懷恐懼地向下看著那些跟在他後面的地獄眾生。他停了下來，心想：『這條蜘蛛絲怎能承載所有的人呢？』		"More and more hell-beings were taking hold of the wispy thread. Kandata no longer looked up at the Buddha; instead, he fearfully watched the hell-beings following him below.

於是便對下邊大叫著：『這條蜘蛛絲是我的！你們全都放手！放手！蜘蛛絲是我的！』		"He stopped climbing. 'How can the gossamer carry everyone?' he thought .'This string is mine!' he shouted downwards. 'Let go, all of you! Let go! It's mine!'

剎那時，蜘蛛絲突然斷了，甘德塔和所有眾生通通都墮回地獄去了。」		"Immediately the thread broke. Kandata and all the others fell back into the hells.

真心懺悔　安詳而歸		After repenting sincerely, Mahaduta died in peace.

「甘德塔的懺悔不是真心的！」潘舍卡法師對摩訶都塔說：「他並沒有改過。因為只要有那麼一念的慈悲心，這條蜘蛛絲的力量就能成為拯救成千上萬眾生的生命線。但是他的我執和惡習都太重了，加上他又不願幫助其他人，所以就連世尊都沒辦法救他了！」		"Kandata's repentance wasn't true," Panthaka said to Mahaduta. "He did not reform. The spider's gossamer would have held, for even one generous thought has the strength to be a lifeline that saves thousands. But Kandata destroyed the gossamer. He still held onto the illusion of self, and his evil habits were too strong. He was not willing to help anyone else. Even the World Honored One couldn't save him."

「讓我想一想，來設法找到自己的那條蜘蛛絲。」摩訶都塔叫著：「如果還有什麼好事我可以做的，我絕不會再留給自己獨享。」		"Let me think and find that thread of gossamer!" cried Mahaduta. "If there is some good I can do, I won't try to keep it to myself."

兩人沉默了一會兒。潘舍卡法師清洗了摩訶都塔的傷口，這個強盜頭子的呼吸也和緩多了。最後他說：「我做過一件『好』事──如果停止不再造更多的惡，可以稱之為好事的話。」		The two men were silent for a while. Panthaka washed Mahaduta's wounds. The robber chieftain breathed more peacefully. Finally he said, "There is one 'good' thing that I did once, if you can call stopping from doing more evil good."

「可以的。」潘舍卡法師說。		"You can," said Panthaka.

「好！那是一件我仍持續著的好事。不知道您是否認識潘杜？他是憍賞彌的珠寶富商。」		"Yes, and one good thing I still can do. Would you, by any chance, know Pandu, the rich jeweler from Kaushambi?"

「我來自憍賞彌，而且和他很熟。」潘舍卡法師說：「不過他已不再富有了！」		"I am from Kaushambi, and I know him well," Panthaka said, "though he's no longer rich."

「是嗎？真遺憾！好奇怪！您或許會以為我應該很高興，因為他就是那個教我用高壓手段去壓榨人們的人。當我還是個小奴隸時，他送我去跟摔角師學習打鬥的技巧，所以我才可以做他的保鏢。而且每次我欺凌弱小後，他就獎賞我。他的心堅硬得像鐵石一樣。有一次，他拷打我，因此我才跑走，來到這座山裏。不過有人告訴我說他變了，慈悲仁德的名聲遠播。這真令人無法置信！法師，這是真的嗎？」		"Isn't he? I'm sorry to hear that. Strange, you'd think I'd be glad, for he was the one who taught me to be high-handed with people and to oppress them. When I was a young slave, he sent me to learn fighting skills from a wrestler, so that I could be his bodyguard. Whenever I bullied people, he rewarded me. His heart was as hard as flint. He had me whipped once. It was then that I ran away to the mountains. But people have told me that he has changed, and that he is known far and wide for his kindness and benevolence! Such a thing is hard to conceive of. Is it true, Dharma Master?"

「是真的！」潘舍卡法師說：「真誠懺悔的力量是不可思議的。每一次當我見到一個例子時，它總是再一次地令我驚奇。」		"It's true," Panthaka said. "The power of sincere repentance is indeed inconceivable. Every time I see it, it amazes me anew."

有好多次，我計劃著如何報復那個人。」摩訶都塔繼續說著：「我決意要以牙還牙來折磨他。最後他終於落在我的手裏了，可是當我看見他躺在路上，緊抓著懷裏的珠寶，臉上那種認命等死的神情時，我下不了手！法師！我感覺好像在折磨自己的兄弟一樣。」		"I plotted many times how I would have my revenge on that man," Mahaduta continued. "I intended to torture him, just as he had me tortured. And he did fall into my hands at last. But when I saw his face as he lay there on the road, clutching his jewels to his chest, resigned to his death, I couldn't do it, Dharma Master. I felt as if I would be torturing my own brother."

「所有的人都是兄弟。」潘舍卡法師說：「在過去世，一切男子都曾是你的父親，一切女人都曾是你的母親。而且不管是善緣或是惡緣，你和這個人都有著特別密切的關係。」		"All men are brothers," Panthaka said. "Every man has been your father in some life past, and every woman your mother. And with this man you have affinities that are especially strong, both for good and for evil."

摩訶都塔點點頭：「您說的沒錯，那天我搶走他的珠寶和金子，可是卻放了他和他的保鏢們。我把他的金子分給手下，使他們不會注意到我刻意制止那場暴力。不過他的珠寶，仍然被我藏在山洞內。不曉得為什麼，我一直不願意和它分開；不只是因為王冠不好脫手，我總覺得有某些理由，讓我必須把它保存好──我一直不明白那是為什麼？現在我感到很欣慰！」		Mahaduta nodded. "It must be so. I took his jewels and his gold that day, but I let him and all his bodyguards go. His gold I gave to my men, so they wouldn't mind my calling off the violence. But his jewels I have with me still, hidden in a crevice in my cave. For some reason I couldn't part with them. It wasn't only that a crown like that would be hard to dispose of. I also felt that I had to save them for something. I didn't know for what. Now I'm glad I did."

摩訶都塔頓了一下，然後對潘舍卡法師說：「法師！請幫我做這件事。我的山洞就在我們上面半哩路遠的小溪邊，一棵大杉木的後面──您從這條路，就可以看到那棵杉木寬闊的樹頂了。潘杜的王冠和珠寶就在洞口左邊的一道直縫裏。您必須把手直直地伸進去，然後再向右邊彎，您都記得了嗎？」		Mahaduta paused a moment, then turned to Panthaka. "Do this for me, Dharma Master. My cave is behind a tall cedar by the stream a half-mile above us. You can see the broad top of the cedar from the road. Pandu's crown and his jewels are in the vertical crevice just to the left of the entrance. You must reach straight in, then up to the right. Can you remember that?"

「我記住了！」		"I can."

「您不要自己一個人去，叫潘杜帶三十個武裝人員一起去。我的手下人數減少了，再加上我已不在，他們會失去勇氣的，所以潘杜應該可以輕易地應付他們。告訴潘杜我對不起他，希望他能再富裕起來，也希望那些曾經被我掠奪財富與歡樂的人都富裕快樂。如果我還能活著，或者我還有來生，我都發願要效法尊貴的法師您，去救度那些因自己愚癡的行為，而陷在業網中的人。」		"Don't go there yourself. Tell Pandu to come with thirty armed men. My men are fewer now, and without me they will lose heart. Pandu will overcome them easily. Tell Pandu I'm sorry. I wish him to have his wealth again. I wish all men wealth and happiness, all the wealth and happiness that I have taken from them. If I live, or in my next life, I vow to be like you, Venerable Dharma Master, and be a helper of men caught in the web of sorrow they have created by their own foolish deeds."

摩訶都塔精疲力竭地向後仰，但並非感覺傷口疼痛，而是已走到人生的盡頭了。突然一抹歡樂的笑意浮上他的臉龐，他抬起手來指著上方：「看！佛陀躺在他的臥具上，將要入涅槃了！他的弟子，那些大阿羅漢們，都圍立在佛陀的身邊。啊！他在對我笑！」摩訶都塔的臉上綻放出快樂的光芒。		Exhausted, Mahaduta fell back. He now felt no pain from his wounds, but his life was ebbing away. Suddenly a joyous smile swept into his face. He raised his hand, pointing upward. "See! The Buddha is there on his couch, about to enter Nirvana. His disciples, the great Arhats, are standing around him. See! He is smiling at me!" Mahaduta's face was bright with happiness.

「他降臨到世間來，我們眾生是多麼有福報啊！」		"What a wonderful blessing to us that he came into the world!"

「是的！那是一種福報。」潘舍卡法師說：「佛陀因悲憫眾生而出現於世，以便教導我們一件大事：生死問題。他開導我們對人生諸苦的覺醒；他指示我們私欲是眾苦的根源；他教導我們追隨他，朝正道去修行，才能了苦；他教導我們用戒定慧來息滅貪瞋癡。他經過多生累劫的修行與布施，已經息滅一切私欲了，而以慈悲喜捨做為我們的模範。如果人人都能皈依佛陀，這世界就不會像現在一樣地貧窮險惡了。」		"Yes, it was a blessing," Panthaka said. "He appeared in the world out of compassion for living beings, in order to instruct us in the one great matter: the problem of birth and death. He taught us to awaken to the suffering of this world, and he taught us that selfish desire is the source of our suffering. He taught us how to end our suffering by following him on the Proper Path. He taught us morality, concentration, and wisdom to put our greed, anger, and delusion to rest. He himself, through lifetimes of cultivation and renunciation, put to rest all his own desires, and with kindness, compassion, joy, and giving he came to give us himself as an example. If all men and women could take refuge in him, this world would no longer be the poor and dangerous place that it is now."

摩訶都塔點點頭，如同口渴的人，得到清涼水般地，吸收這位比丘的法語。他試圖再說些什麼，卻已辦不到了。潘舍卡法師了解他的要求，就為他授三皈依，於是他便成為一個三寶弟子。接著潘舍卡法師又為他說菩薩的四弘誓願：		Mahaduta nodded. He drank in the Bhikshu's words like a thirsty man who is given cool water. He tried to speak, but could not continue. Understanding his request, Panthaka spoke the Three Refuges for him, so that he became a disciple of the Triple Jewel. Panthaka then repeated for him the Four Great Vows of the Bodhisattva:

眾生無邊誓願度煩惱無盡誓願斷法門無量誓願學佛道無上誓願成		Living beings are boundless; I vow to save them. Afflictions are endless; I vow to cut them off. Dharma-doors are countless; I vow to study them. The Buddhas' Way is unsurpassed; I vow to achieve it.

然後又念了三次普賢菩薩的懺悔偈：		He also repeated three times the repentance verse of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva:

往昔所造諸惡業皆由無始貪瞋癡從身語意之所生一切我今皆懺悔		Of all evil I have done in the past, Caused by beginningless greed, hatred, and stupidity And produced by body, mouth, and mind I now repent and reform.

還有這首偈頌：		And this verse:

罪從心起將心懺心若滅時罪亦亡心亡罪滅兩俱空是則名為真懺悔		Offenses arise from the mind; repentance is done by the mind. When the mind is extinguished, offenses are forgotten. Offenses extinguished and the mind forgotten─ both empty: That is called true repentance and reform.

當潘舍卡法師仍在誦念時，摩訶都塔嚥下了最後一口氣，含笑而逝。		As Panthaka was reciting it, Mahaduta breathed his last. He died with a smile on his face.

強盜懺悔　死亦度生		With true repentance, the robber crossed others over even after his death.

於是潘舍卡法師將朝聖之旅延後，立刻返回憍賞彌，到潘杜家說明一切。潘杜就召集了一批武裝人員，與潘舍卡法師一起回到山中。此時摩訶都塔的手下都已經逃走了；潘杜的錢袋真的是被藏在摩訶都塔所說的地方，而且王冠仍在裏面，絲毫無損。		Panthaka postponed his pilgrimage and returned to Kaushambi. He went immediately to Pandu's house to tell him of what had happened. Gathering an escort of armed men, Pandu returned to the mountains. Mahaduta's men had already fled. Pandu's purse was hidden exactly where Mahaduta had said it would be, and the crown was within it, unharmed.

當摩訶都塔的屍體被火化，骨灰被裝入罈中後，潘舍卡法師領著大家誦念《佛說阿彌陀經》及〈往生淨土咒〉。他簡要地說明業力，以及比業力更大的懺悔力量。他從《法句經》中引用了這首偈頌：		Panthaka came with them, and when the body of Mahaduta had been burned and the ashes collected in urns, Panthaka led the assembled company in the recitation of Sutras and mantras. He spoke briefly of the power of karma and of the even greater power of repentance and reform. He also quoted this verse:

自救真救度　自力勝他力皈依佛教導　同登正覺道		No one can save us but ourselves. Our strength is greater than that derived from others. We ourselves must walk the road to Proper Enlightenment With the Buddha as our Great Teacher and Guide

「我們的老師那拉達尊者，」潘舍卡法師繼續開示：「一直強調我們要為自己的行為負責，也要為自己的業報負責。獎懲我們的，不是神或其他的眾生，而是我們自己。一切唯心造，世界的好壞，都是我們自己創造的。今天被埋葬在地下的摩訶都塔，由於受邪惡思想的左右，過了罪惡的一生；除了不快樂外，其他一無所知。但最後他卻改變了，他真誠懺悔與改過自新的誓願，感動佛陀示現來庇祐他。他以寬恕的善行，走完了生命之旅，在安樂祥和中過世。我們應該可以以他做為借鏡！沒有一個人不是罪業凡夫，最後都要受到自己所織成的業網牽引。但只要真心懺悔，我們就能從中得到解脫。」		"Our Elder Master Narada," Panthaka continued, "has always stressed that we alone are responsible for our own actions, and that we are responsible for what happens to us as a result of our actions. No god or any other being rewards or punishes us. We reward ourselves; we punish ourselves. Everything arises from the mind, and so the world is exactly how we create it. This man Mahaduta, whom we have buried today, led an evil life, guided by evil thoughts, and knew nothing but unhappiness. Yet at the end he changed. His repentance and vows of reform moved the Buddha himself to appear to him and give him his blessing. His life ended with a deed of forgiveness, and he died as a happy man. We can all learn from his example, for none of us is blameless. We are all connected by the web of karma we have created, and we are all capable of the liberation that true repentance brings."

在摩訶都塔的墓碑上，潘舍卡法師寫下了強盜頭子的一生，以及最後的轉變：		Panthaka had the following summary of the robber chieftain's life and conversion inscribed on Mahaduta's headstone:

打劫者摩訶都塔長眠於此，他活在憤怒之中，亦為憤怒所擊倒。唯因臨終懺悔，歸還掠奪物，立志歸向正道，感應到佛陀含笑印證他的改過，摩訶般若波羅蜜多！		Here lies Mahaduta, highwayman. He lived in anger; anger felled him. At last repenting, he returned his spoils, Promising to walk the Proper Path. The Buddha smiled and certified his change. Maha Prajna Paramita!

墓碑立在山道邊，以「懺悔的強盜頭子之墓」而聞名。過了幾年，旁邊又建了一座廟宇，經過此地的旅人與朝聖者都會到這兒拜佛，並祈求旅途平安，也願所有的惡人都改過向善。		The headstone beside the mountain pass became known as the Repentant Robber's Tomb, and in later years a shrine was built beside it. There travelers and pilgrims bowed to the Buddha and prayed for a peaceful journey and the conversion of evil men.

慈悲寬大　確保人生		Kindness and generosity assure a happy future.

現在潘杜又富有了，而且比以前更富有。可是他現在對把錢布施出去，比把錢賺進來更熱衷；同時，他也把事業都交給兒子們去經營。他盡力教導他們：用盡方法賺來的財富並不能持久，唯有慈悲寬大，才能確保幸福的人生。		Pandu now became wealthy again, wealthier than he had ever been. Now, however, he was more interested in giving money away then in making it, and he gave over the operation of his business to his sons. He did his best to teach them that prosperity brought about by hard dealings will not last, and that by being generous and kind they would assure themselves of a happy future.

他在晚年安詳地走完了一生，當他意識到死期將至時，就把兒子、女兒和孫兒們都叫到身邊，告訴他們：「親愛的孩子們！將來在你的生活中，如果有任何不如意的事情，切莫責怪他人；即使事情看起來是他人引起的，還是要反省自己，看看自己是不是有什麼地方傲慢、自私、貪心或不慈悲。唯有改過自新才是你真正能掌握的。假如你覺得力不從心時，去找你的老師幫助你，並祈求佛菩薩加被。只要你真正改過了，好運與幸福便自然會降臨；但不要把它囤積起來，要布施出去，與他人分享。這樣福氣才不會枯竭。記住我所說的這首偈頌，那是我初識那拉達尊者時，他教導我的：		His end came peacefully in old age. When he realized that his death was near, he called his sons, daughters, and grandchildren to his bedside and told them: "My dear children, if in the future something should go wrong in your lives, don't blame others, even if they seem to be the cause of your unhappiness. Look within yourself. See where you have been proud, selfish, greedy, or unkind. Change that fault in yourself, for this is something that is always within your power. If change seems beyond you, seek help from your teacher, and pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for aid. Once you have changed your faults, good fortune and happiness will return to you naturally. When they have returned, do not hoard them, but share them with others. Then they will never be exhausted. Remember me by this verse, which the Venerable Narada taught me when I first knew him:

害人終歸害自己助人更得助力多覓求清淨光明道去此妄想我有我		He who hurts others hurts himself. He who helps others helps himself even more. To find the pure Way, the Path of Light, Let go of the falsehood that you have a self.

法界佛教總會 ‧ DRBA ／ BTTS ／ DRBU

▲Top