21. The Past

往昔於此閻浮提，  

二不放逸長者子，

於佛法中而出家，  

猶如犀牛依山林。

In the past, in this Jambudvīpa,
Two sons of a householder who were not negligent,
Left home to enter the Buddha's Dharma,
Like rhinoceroses relying on mountains and forests. 

得於四禪有神通，  

善諸偈論無所畏，

地及虛空相悉知，  

於空中行如鳥飛。

They attained the four dhyānas and had spiritual powers,
Were skilled in all verses and treatises, fearless,
Understood the characteristics of earth and space,
And could travel through the sky like flying birds. 

於寒林中安住時，  

林花繁茂甚奇特、

一切異鳥悉來歸，  

二長者子共語言。

When they peacefully abided in a cool forest grove,
The forest flowers were luxuriant and extremely wondrous,
All kinds of strange birds came to gather
When the two sons of the householder spoke with each other.

爾時有王出遊獵，  

聞其語音至其所，

時王恭敬而聽法，  

於彼法師深愛敬。

At that time, a king went out hunting, 

Heard their voices and came to them, 

The king respectfully listened to the Dharma, 

And deeply loved and respected the Dharma masters. 

時王共相慰問言，  

發是語已在前坐。

The king then exchanged greetings with them, 

And sat down in front of them. 

時王具有多眷屬，  

從王行者滿六億，

二中有一是法師，  

見王告言：

The king had many attendants, 

Six hundred million people following the king.

Those two Dharma masters, among, them, together, 

Saw the king and said:

『善諦聽，

諸佛出世甚難值，  

惟願大王勿放逸。

'Listen well,

The appearance of buddhas in the world is extremely rare,

We only pray that the great king will not be negligent.

壽命迅速不久停，  

如山瀑水激川流，

為老、病、死所纏逼，  

無有能救如己業。

Life is fleeting and does not last long,

Like a mountain torrent rushing downstream,

Bound and oppressed by old age, sickness, and death,

There is no one who can save you like your own practice.

惟願大王護正法，  

建立諸佛十力法，

於後惡世末代時，  

應當住於如法朋。』

I only pray that the great king will protect the true Dharma,

Establishing the Dharma of the ten-powered buddhas;

In the evil world of the latter age,

You should abide as a friend of the Dharma.'

如是無量聰慧者，  

以慈心故向王說，

王及六億諸眷屬，  

咸發無上菩提心。

Thus, those immeasurably wise ones, 

With compassionate minds, spoke to the king;

The king and his six koṭis of retinues, 

All gave rise to the unsurpassed bodhicitta. 

時王聞是淨法句、  

調柔寂滅妙語言，

善心踊躍而愛樂，  

頭面禮敬而辭去。

At that time, the king heard these pure Dharma phrases, 

The gentle, tranquil, and wondrous words, 

His good mind leapt with joy and delight, 

Bowed his head in reverence and took leave. 

時有無量餘比丘，  

為利養故入王宮，

王知彼眾行不端、  

并於有德不恭敬。

At that time, there were countless other bhikṣus, 

Who entered the king's palace for the sake of offerings and out of respect, 

The king knew that their conduct was not upright, 

And they were not respectful towards those with virtue. 

過去導師法已盡、  

未來惡世增長時，

德器之人甚尠少，  

多有無量放逸者。

The Dharma of the past guides had already ended, 

After that, during that age of decline, 

Those who are vessels of virtue were extremely rare, 

And there were countless of those who were negligent. 

剛強慳慢諸比丘，  

為求利養著諸見，

於佛法中不正解，  

以諸非法向王說：

The bhikṣus who were stubborn, stingy, and arrogant, 

Seeking offerings and respect, attached to various views, 

Did not truly understand the Buddha-Dharma, 

And spoke to the king with various non-dharmas:

『應當殺害彼法師，  

本為王說空斷者，

勸王及我修空斷，  

都不示王真涅槃。

'We should kill those Dharma masters

Who originally taught the king emptiness and cessation,

Encouraging the king and us to cultivate emptiness and cessation,

Not showing the king true nirvāṇa at all.

於其業報悉散壞，  

諂者說於陰空無，

若能殺害彼法師，  

必令大法得久住。』

He has destroyed all karmic retribution;

The deceitful one speaks of the emptiness and non-existence of the aggregates;

If we can kill those Dharma masters,

We will surely enable the great Dharma to endure for a long time.'

爾時常有護王神，  

是王過去善知識，

長夜護王令離惡，  

彼天告王如是言：

At that time, there was always a divine protector of the king,
Who was the king's good friend from the past,
Protecting the king for a long time, causing him to avoid evil.
That deva told the king, saying:

『願王慎勿起是心，  

惡知識言甚可畏，

莫於聰慧法師所，  

用惡人言興殺害。

'May the king be careful not to give rise to this thought! 

The words of evil friends are extremely frightening. 

Do not, at the place of the wise and sagacious Dharma masters,
Use the words of evil people to give rise to killing and harming. 

大王可不憶念耶？  

林間比丘所說者。

於後末代惡世時，  

王應安住如法朋。』

Great king, do you not remember
What the monks in the forest said? 

In the future, in the evil world of the latter age,
The king should abide in accordance with the Dharma.'

天為彼王說實語，  

於諸佛法莫捨離。

 
The deity spoke true words for that king,
Not to abandon the Buddhadharma.

時王更有餘惡弟，  

在於邊方鎮國境，

時惡比丘往教化：  

At that time, the king had another evil younger brother,
Who was in charge of a border region,
And at that time, an evil monk went to teach him: 

『令殺法師說空斷，

勸我昔來久修行，  

不欲令我求涅槃。

'Advise him to kill the Dharma masters who speak of emptiness and cessation
And encourage me to practice for a long time,
Not wanting me to seek nirvāṇa.

大王！汝兄甚愚惡，  

都自不欲令汝活。』

Great king! Your elder brother is extremely foolish and evil,
He does not want you to live at all.'

有二比丘為惡師，  

以神通力遊空行：

There were two monks who were bad teachers,

Who used their spiritual powers to travel through the air:

『以我知故來至此，  

今悉具向大王說，

汝可速殺二呪師，  

必使及時勿後悔。』

'Because we know, we have come here!

Now we shall tell the great king everything:

You should quickly kill the two mantra-masters,

Be sure to do it in timely manner; do not have regrets it later.'

王弟尋時被鉀仗，  

順惡人言故往彼，

并及一切諸軍眾，  

詣彼林中比丘所。

The king's younger brother then put on armour;

Following the words of the evil people, he went there, 

Together with all the armies, 

Going to the forest to the bhikṣu. 

依林所有龍、夜叉，  

知彼王弟惡心來，

雨沙礫石大可畏，  

王及軍眾悉摧滅。

The nāgas and yakṣas in the forest, 

Knowing the evil intentions of the king's younger brother, 

Rained down sand, gravel, and stones, greatly terrifying, 

Destroying the king['s younger brother] and his armies. 

今當觀惡知識言，  

摧滅如是大王眾，

於法師所起恚心，  

於六十生墮阿鼻；

Now we should observe these words of evil friends, 

Destroying such a great king['s younger brother's] retinue, 

Making him give rise to anger towards the Dharma masters

And making him fall, for sixty lives, into Avīci Hell; 

時彼取著惡比丘，  

勸化如是剎利王，

於後滿足十億生，  

受於無量地獄苦。

At that time, the evil bhikṣu of attachment, 

Persuading and transforming such a kṣatriya king, 

Afterward, for ten billion lives,

Experienced immeasurable suffering in the hells. 

彼天勸導彼王者、  

及餘擁護於法師，

見於恒河沙數佛，  

覲佛供養及修行。

The devas who advised and guided that king, 

And the others who protected the Dharma masters, 

Seeing buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, 

Paid homage to the Buddhas, made offerings, and practised the Dharma. 

是王眷屬滿六億，  

皆共王去聽法者，

其所發於道心者，  

各別世界得成佛。

That king's retinue of six hundred million, 

All who went together with the king to listen to the Dharma, 

Those who gave rise to the aspiration for the Path, 

Each attained Buddhahood in separate worlds. 

彼佛壽命多億歲，  

智慧無等不思議；

彼人悉修是三昧，  

說已皆當般涅槃。

The lifespan of those Buddhas was many billions of years, 

Their wisdom being incomparable and inconceivable; 

Those people all cultivating this samādhi, 

Having spoken it [to others], they will all attain parinirvāṇa. 

得聞如是勝妙智，  

能集尸羅功德法，

勇猛精進不放逸，  

常遠一切惡知識。

Obtaining a hearing of such supreme and wondrous wisdom, 

They were able to gather the meritorious Dharma teachings of morality;

Vigorously advancing, not being negligent, 

They always stayed far away from all evil friends.

Translator's Note: According to the Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts, and the Tibetan, in this story, the two Dharma masters were Dīpaṅkara and Śākyamuni in a past life; Maitreya was the king; Candraprabha was the deva who helped him; Devadatta was the evil younger brother.