This is an extremely short sutra. With punctuation, the text contains just under 250 Chinese characters. It is possibly one of the shortest texts in the Chinese Buddhist canon.
In the preparation of this bilingual text, I have consulted two sources:
The Chinese text was taken from here http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/BDLM/sutra/chi_pdf/sutra9/T15n0599.pdf
The English translation <So far the only one I know of> comes from here.
https://www.fodian.net/world/0599.html It was done by an anonymous translator, and is fairly good. I have only altered it in two places of the title, to remedy the now non-standard romanization of Chinese
This sutra was evidently popular enough for it to be translated into Tangut, a now-extinct language spoken in in what is now Northwestern China A transcription of this translation in its truly extraordinary writing system can be found here: https://www.babelstone.co.uk/Tangut/DragonKing.html
*** *** ***
佛為海龍王說法印經
大唐三藏法師義淨奉 詔譯
如是我聞。一時薄伽梵。在海龍王宮。與大苾芻眾千二百五十人俱。并與眾多菩薩摩訶薩俱。
Thus have I heard, At one time the Bhagavan was in Ocean Dragon King's palace, along with one thousand two hundred and fifty great monks, and many Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas.
爾時娑竭羅龍王。即從座起。前禮佛足白言。世尊。頗有受持少法得福多不。
At that time, Sagara the dragon king arose from his seat, went ahead,bowed to the feet of the Buddha, & said: "World-Honored One, is it possible to accept & uphold a few Dharmas but gain a lot of blessings?"
佛告海龍王。有四殊勝法。若有受持讀誦解了其義。用功雖少獲福甚多。即與讀誦八萬四千法藏。
The Buddha told Ocean Dragon King: "There are four especially exalted Dharmas, if one can accept, uphold, read, and recite them, and can understand their meanings, although he spends little effort, he will gain lots of blessings. The merits and virtues that he gains will be the same as reading and reciting eighty-four thousand Dharma-Stores."
云何為四。所謂念誦。
"What are these four? They are:*
諸行無常。一切皆苦。
諸法無我。寂滅為樂。
All movements are impermanence.
All beings suffer
Everything has no ego
The tranquil extinction is the Bliss."
*A better translation would go " "What are these four?" The Buddha recited thus: "
龍王當知。是謂四殊勝法。菩薩摩訶薩無盡法智。早證無生。速至圓寂。是故汝等常應念誦
"Dragon king, these are the Four especially exalted Dharmas, which can grant the exhaustless Dharma-wisdom to the Bodhisattvas, make them achieve the uncreated stage earlier, and reach the Perfect Tranquility quickly. Therefore, you all should often recite and be mindful of them."
爾時世尊。說是四句法印經時。彼諸聲聞。大菩薩眾。及天龍八部。阿蘇羅揵達婆等。聞佛所說。皆大歡喜。信受奉行
When the World-Honored One spoke this Dharma-Seal Sutra of the four sentences, those Voice-Hearers, great Bodhisattvas, and the eight kinds of super-mundane beings, Including the gods, dragons, Asuras, Gandharvas, and so forth, having heard the Buddha's words, were greatly delighted. They accepted the teachings with faith, and began upholding and practicing them.
********************
Here is a picture of the scripture:
No comments:
Post a Comment