佛說解憂經
Sutra on the Cessation of Sorrow
西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試鴻臚卿傳教大師臣法天奉 詔譯
Translated by the Tripitaka Master Dharma Deva, a court official and missionary master, under imperial decree.
稽首歸依正等覺， 能度無邊大苦海。
恒以甘露潤群生， 令得涅槃我頂禮。
稽首歸依正法藏， 能止無邊苦惱因，
顯示過失利眾生， 令獲寂靜我頂禮。
稽首歸依大苾芻， 能與世間為福聚，
發行勤修安樂因， 善斷輪迴我頂禮。
I bow in homage to the Perfectly Enlightened One, Who can ferry beings across the vast ocean of suffering. Always moistening all beings with the nectar of Dharma, Leading them to Nirvana—to You, I offer my deepest reverence.
I bow in homage to the Treasury of True Dharma, Which can end all causes of affliction and pain, Revealing what is harmful to beings, Guiding them to peace—to You, I offer my deepest reverence.
I bow in homage to the Great Monastic Sangha, Who amass blessings for the world, Practicing diligently to cultivate the causes of happiness, Skillfully cutting off the cycle of rebirth—to You, I offer my deepest reverence.
愛別離最苦， 憂火鎮燒然，
若欲自安心， 端居作觀想。
譬如群鳥獸， 暫聚各分飛，
生死人亦然， 云何懷憂苦？
只自一有死， 眾人皆長生，
別離痛不任， 親姻須啼泣。
三界大輪迴， 無有免斯者，
平等受無常， 云何懷憂苦？
若人生貪愛， 孰知貪火燒，
如彼犛牛身， 愛尾遭人殺。
世人多迷醉， 欲逃嶮惡道，
設盡方便心， 不能免離苦。
如彼野麞鹿， 常被師子逐，
究竟不能逃， 云何懷憂苦？
大地及天上， 三界與四生，
未曾得見聞， 不受無常者。
亦如山野火， 焚燒草木時，
不擇花果林， 俱時成灰燼。
愚癡諸眾生， 顛倒生妄想，
身繫無常繩， 無人能可解。
色界梵世中， 禪味為安樂，
亦如樹臨河， 不久風水壞。
百億轉輪王， 千萬天帝釋，
念念即無常， 如風吹燈焰。
過去大神仙， 五通心自在，
往復騰空行， 猶被無常取。
金剛堅固身， 尚自示寂滅，
凡識如芭蕉， 云何欲久住？
大地妙高山， 及以四大海，
劫壞亦歸空， 何況眾生趣！
龍居深海裏， 眷屬常圍繞，
金翅鳥能食， 別離苦亦爾。
或人往他界， 欲避於無常，
如入摩竭魚， 口中求安隱。
如是欲色界， 及彼非非想，
未有於一物， 不被無常吞。
唯有正等覺， 是真依仗處，
信受汝諦聽， 能解諸憂惱。
The pain of parting is the sharpest sting, A blazing fire of sorrow burned within. If you seek peace for your own anxious heart, Sit calmly still and let true seeing start.
Like flocks of birds that gather, then take flight, Scattering in the air till out of sight— So life and death, a fleeting, passing show— Why cling to grief? Why let your sorrow grow?
Do you alone face death’s dark, narrow door, While all the others live forevermore? When parting grief is too much to be borne, Your weeping kin must face the lonely morn.
Through three great realms—Samsara's endless round— Not one escapes, a safe and certain ground. All face impermanence, none can be free— Why, then, give way to sorrow's misery?
If greed for love takes root within the mind, Who knows that fire by which it is confined? Like the wild yak whose silken tail is prized, For that one beauty, it gets killed, despised.
The world is drunken, blind to danger’s way; It tries to flee the bad road where it strays. Though every cunning trick it may employ, It cannot ever truly escape its sorrow's alloy.
Like a wild deer that's hunted on the plain, By hungry lions chased again, again, Nowhere to hide, no refuge can be found— Why, then, let this sad feeling still abound?
From earth to heaven, in all the three realms' space, From every birth—the four kinds in their place— No one is seen or heard of, anywhere, Who lives untouched by change, free from life's wear.
It is like fire sweeping over land; It burns the thicket, scorching with its brand. No forest grove, with flower and fruit so fair, Can stand against it—all turns to ash there.
Foolish beings, lost in their crazed mind, Upside down thoughts by which they are confined, Are bound by the rope of impermanence so fast, And none can loose that cable—it is cast.
Even in the realm of form and pure delight, Where peaceful meditation seems so bright, Like a tree by the river's bending side, Wind and water soon its strength divide.
A hundred million universal kings, Thousands of lordly gods on golden wings, Each passing moment, change relentlessly, Like a candle flame in a stormy breeze.
The mighty sages of a bygone time, With mastery of powers sublime, Who freely soared through skies both near and far, Were taken even so by change's war.
His diamond body, strong and beyond all fray, Showed even he passed on and went away. And your own mortal being, like a plantain tree— So hollow at the core—how long can you be free?
The solid earth, the mountain's lofty peak, And all four oceans wide—they too are weak. When worlds dissolve, they all to nothing come, So what of beings, newly born and numb!
The dragon king deep in the ocean sea, Surrounded by his family constantly, Is hunted still by the Garuda bird's sharp beak; The pain of parting that all beings seek.
Some travel to another realm to try To flee from change—they can't but live and die— Like entering the mouth of the great Makara fish For safety—that is not a wise one's wish.
Thus in the realms of form and of desire, And in the peak where thought itself expires, Not one thing ever has been, or will be, That change has not completely swallowed free.
The only safe and true, reliable place, Is the Fully Awakened One—His grace, His peace. So listen now, believe the truth; He can untie your sorrow from its root.
如是我聞：
Thus I have heard:
一時佛在舍衛國祇樹給孤獨園。
爾時世尊告苾芻言：「眾生無數，輪迴無邊，如蟻循環，無有窮盡。眾生貪愛，無明障閉，如陷泥中，而不能出。過去有情，輪迴往復，數不能知。苾芻！所有大地之土都聚一處，和為泥丸，大小如豆，數彼眾生無始劫來所生父母子孫，每一人下一泥丸，如是泥丸下盡，父母子孫數不能盡。苾芻！如是無邊輪迴眾生，貪愛無明，顛倒陷愛欲泥中，生死輪迴，不知其數，是故令汝學斷輪迴。」
佛言：「苾芻！如是補特伽羅輪迴眾生以骨作聚，如妙高山，不壞不爛。如是無學聲聞，證四聖諦，了知此苦，真實為苦、苦滅，證苦聖諦。彼補特伽羅見此屍骨不知是苦，亦不能滅三界煩惱。若滅三界煩惱，證須陀洹不空法，決定得菩提。由於七生天、人之中，作斷輪迴，除滅煩惱。七生滿已，聖諦現前，正見智慧，滅盡餘惑，到涅槃寂靜，彼補特伽羅方得解脫輪迴之苦！」
佛言：「苾芻！如人眷屬，互相愛樂。以貪愛故，廣造諸業，生死輪迴。譬如野象陷泥坑中，無有出期。又彼眷屬，如恒河沙，父母養育，皆如親子。至後世中，隨其報應，各各不同——或為僕從，或為冤家，互相瞋恨，欺辱打罵；或為傍類，互相食噉，或被殺害——如是種種，諸趣輪迴，如七仙眾，或聚或散；亦如天雨，生其水漚，或生或滅。如是眾生，愚癡大力，迷惑顛倒，不了輪迴；於其眷屬，妄生樂想，造種種業，未有須臾得清淨住。
「又彼有情，無始輪迴，入地獄中，所飲銅汁，過大海水；如彼猪狗，食不淨物，如妙高山。又彼有情，生死別離，愛戀泣淚，亦如海水。又彼有情，更相殺害，積聚彼頭，過梵天界，虫食膿血，亦如海水。又餓鬼趣，以宿慳貪，受飢渴苦，如遇飲食即成煙焰。鬼報滿已，設生人中，貧窮飢困，種種苦惱，說不能盡。
「又彼有情，以修福善，生忉利天等境界殊勝，恒受快樂；貪愛熾盛，如火燒乾草，報壽盡時，即墮惡趣。譬如飛禽折其兩翼，剎那落地，受種種苦。是故汝等，學斷輪迴，速求解脫。」
佛言：「苾芻！譬如江河、大地、日月、星辰、須彌盧山及諸聚落世界，未壞而得久住，常在世間。今此經典亦復如是，世界未壞，法亦久住。於意云何？為與一切有情止息輪迴故。」
苾芻聞已，信受奉行。
佛說解憂經