---
title: "太虛大師全書．第二編　五乘共學 · 乙　世界眾生可說起源"
description: "太虚大师著《太虛大師全書·第二編 五乘共學》成书于民国时期，是近代佛教革新运动的重要文献。作者太虚为民国高僧，倡导人间佛教。本编以五乘（人、天、声闻、缘觉、菩萨）佛法为框架，系统阐述佛教基本教义，强调人乘正法为出世之基，融通世间与出世间法。该书为现代佛教教育及人间佛教实践提供核心理论依据，在近代佛教复兴中具有承前启后的重要地位，是研究中国佛教现代化转型的必读经典。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cmpjj90nw00e5t1th10e5lva8"
---

### 乙　世界眾生可說起源

> Chapter 2: On the Origin of Sentient Beings

就一個世界上的眾生講，可以說有起源。世界又分大千世界和小千世界，如大千世界壞了，經過壞空到了成劫，在世界起源的次第上，天是最初而有，可以說是生命的起源。頂明顯的就是小千世界中的一個小世界，即大梵天所範圍的世界，這世界經過火災的燒壞，到了成劫，最先生成的就是大梵天的器界和大梵天身；大梵天的生命，可以說是這個世界生命的起源。因為這個小世界最初是大梵天先產生，復由世界共業與各別業力的繼續生起，漸漸就有梵輔天、梵眾天，乃至人間。而大梵天見了在它以後生起的一切，便說是它所生；後來一切也因見它生得早些，也都認為是它所生；大梵是父，餘皆是子，由此就發生了父子的關係。這樣看來，以「神」為生命的起源，可以說是從大梵天的觀念產生。從佛法來說，這種觀念根本就是錯誤。因為世界一切的生起，一是共同的業報，一是各別的業報，由這兩種業力總於一處，就生起了世界的一切。不過先後次第的不同，并不是從大梵天所生；連大梵天本身也都是業報所生。但在業報的事實上，確有大梵天是最初先生，有了這樣的事實，就使一般宗教生起錯誤的觀念，以為一切都是從大梵天所生。其實、有情各隨業報而生，就是一切事物的生起，也都是有情共業的依報，并不是大梵天所生的。然若就一個世界來說，可以說大梵天是生命的起源。

> For the beings of a single world, we can speak of an origin. Worlds are divided into great thousand worlds and small thousand worlds. When a great thousand world is destroyed, it passes through the stages of destruction and emptiness and enters the period of formation. In the sequence of a world's origin, the heavens appear first, and they can be considered the origin of life. The clearest example is a single small world within a small thousand world—that is, the world ruled by the Great Brahma Heaven. When this world is burned by fire and destroyed, and then enters the period of formation, the very first things to arise are the physical realm of the Great Brahma Heaven and the body of the Great Brahma. The life of the Great Brahma can be considered the origin of life in this world. Because in this small world, the Great Brahma is produced first. Then, through the continued arising of the collective karma of the world and the individual karma of beings, gradually the Brahma Minister Heaven, the Brahma Multitude Heaven, and even the human realm come into existence. The Great Brahma, seeing everything that arises after it, claims to have created it. Then, everything else, seeing that the Great Brahma arose earlier, also believes it to be the creator. Thus, the Great Brahma is seen as the father, and everything else as its children, establishing a father-child relationship. From this perspective, the idea of a "god" as the origin of life can be said to have originated from the concept of the Great Brahma. According to the Buddhist teachings, this view is fundamentally mistaken. Because the arising of everything in a world results, first, from collective karmic rewards and, second, from individual karmic rewards. These two types of karma, gathered in one place, give rise to everything in the world. However, this happens in a sequence of earlier and later—it is not that everything is born from the Great Brahma. Even the Great Brahma itself is born from karmic rewards. Nevertheless, in the factual process of karmic rewards, it is true that the Great Brahma is the first to arise. Having this fact leads some religions to the mistaken view that everything is born from the Great Brahma. In reality, sentient beings are born according to their own karmic rewards. All things arise as the dependent results of the collective karma of sentient beings—they are not created by the Great Brahma. Yet, if we speak regarding a single world, we can say the Great Brahma is the origin of life.